Elevating Can Gio specialties

On September 23, in Can Gio, the District People's Committee coordinated with the Department of Industry and Trade to organize a workshop on "Can Gio specialties and solutions to build the brand of Ho Chi Minh City's agricultural specialties". Leaders of the Can Gio District People's Committee, farmers and enterprises are struggling with solutions to enhance the brand value and selling price of specialties here.

Many forgotten specialties

Mr. Truong Tien Trien, Vice Chairman of Can Gio District People's Committee, stated that for a long time, the locality has owned many specialties but they do not have a brand, and their introduction to the outside world is not appropriate, so they have not developed to their full potential.

"Can Gio has a natural area equal to 1/3 of the total area of Ho Chi Minh City. Currently, the district has 43,000 hectares of land for agricultural production, including 10,000 hectares of aquaculture with an output of 30,000 tons/year. The district has 200 hectares of mango in Can Thanh town and Long Hoa commune. This is the Hoa Loc mango variety grown in Can Gio, fertilized by farmers with fish protein, so the quality is high, the taste is very special" - Mr. Trien introduced.

Mr. Trien said that in the past 10 years, Can Gio has developed a particularly valuable product: bird's nest. Can Gio bird's nest is considered to be of better quality than other areas. Up to now, the whole district has about 530 bird's nest houses, with an output of about 14 tons of bird's nest per year.

In 2019, Can Gio mango, bird’s nest, and pineapple fish products were granted trademark registration certificates by the Intellectual Property Office. In the near future, two products, oysters and coconut honey, will also be granted this certificate.

"In the past, Can Gio's products have been almost forgotten. We really want to listen to the opinions of local people, businesses, experts, scientists , and state management agencies to specify Can Gio's typical products; have solutions to ensure sustainable supply and demand, and protect Can Gio's brand" - Mr. Trien expressed.

Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City, said that a survey of agricultural production facilities in Can Gio showed that many products were rich, diverse and of high quality. However, the common weakness of the facilities was that they were all produced by a single, dedicated individual owner who was responsible for the entire process from start to finish, so efficiency was not high.

Can Gio bird's nest products are considered to be of high quality, with many opportunities for brand development.

Great opportunity

Many experts and businesses believe that with its unique soil, Can Gio is the most suitable and only locality to develop specialty agricultural product brands for Ho Chi Minh City.

Mr. Nguyen Quach Nhi, Sales Director of Tiki Consumer Food Industry, commented that Ho Chi Minh City and Can Gio are facing opportunities to expand and develop the bird's nest brand. The world bird's nest market size is more than 8 billion USD; the Vietnamese market size is 800 million USD, with an average growth rate of 20%/year. Currently, Vietnamese bird's nest is considered to be of the best quality by the world's largest consumer markets and is priced higher than similar products from other countries.

"In particular, Can Gio bird's nest, although not yet branded, is considered to have superior quality. Many large bird's nest producers have registered production area codes in Can Gio," said Mr. Nhi.

With these advantages, Can Gio bird's nest products have been allowed by Ho Chi Minh City to pilot the building of a specialty brand for the city. The goal is to build and develop Can Gio bird's nest to become a major brand of Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam.

From another perspective, distribution enterprises believe that the output of bird's nest as well as other specialties of Can Gio is still very limited. Therefore, it is necessary to plan a systematic farming area, promote product output, demonstrate to consumers the difference of Can Gio bird's nest compared to other localities; promote brand promotion, promote product consumption...

Mr. Vo Hoang Anh, Director of the Private Label Department - Ho Chi Minh City Union of Trading Cooperatives (Saigon Co.op), said that manufacturers must identify the advantages of each specific product and choose appropriate positioning to create their own competitiveness for their goods. "There must be specialized enterprises to coordinate production and maintain stable quality to build consumer trust," Mr. Hoang Anh emphasized.

Some other distribution systems such as SATRA, Central Retail, AEON, MM Mega Market... also affirm that Can Gio products are of good quality, suitable for modern distribution channels, and have advantages in transporting to Ho Chi Minh City for consumption... Unfortunately, the presence of Can Gio specialties in supermarkets is not much. The systems are committed to being ready to participate from the beginning with producers and farmers here to support the management of production stages, quality management to reach the market...

Must strongly apply technology

Dr. Nguyen Tran Chan - expert in research on knowledge economy development and intellectual property at Van Lang University, Director of Icome Institute of Technology - noted that Can Gio needs to promote geographical indications, trade indications... for products with strengths. Along with that, applying technology for deep processing, applying digitalization to production to increase added value for products.

Mr. Vo Tuong Quan, Director of the Center for Research on Mechanical Technology Equipment - Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, emphasized that in order to build a brand and bring products further, it is necessary to invest in technological lines, use machinery and equipment to support farming and production.

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