Enhancing the brand of Cau Ke wax coconut

As a coastal area in the Mekong Delta, the province is famous for its specialty wax coconut, a special fruit with a fragrant, delicious flavor and high economic value. With more than a century of attachment to the land and people of Cau Ke, wax coconut is also a testament to the cultural and economic connection and the aspiration for sustainable agricultural development.

As a coastal area in the Mekong Delta, the province is famous for its specialty wax coconut, a special fruit with a fragrant, delicious flavor and high economic value. With more than a century of attachment to the land and people of Cau Ke, wax coconut is also a testament to the cultural and economic connection and the aspiration for sustainable agricultural development.

Song Loc commune officials survey Mr. Dang Minh Be's (left) coconut embryo culture garden.

In 1924, during his study trip to Cambodia, Venerable Thach So brought two wax coconut trees from Battambang to plant at Cho Pagoda (now in Cau Ke commune). Thanks to the suitable soil and climate, wax coconut quickly adapted and became a "unique" specialty only found in Vinh Long .

Before being recognized as a brand, wax coconut was present in life, beliefs and contributed to promoting the image of Cau Ke homeland. On the occasion of Vu Lan Thang Hoi, wax coconut always appeared with other fruits and became a symbol of community solidarity and hospitality of the Khmer people.

High economic efficiency

Mr. Thach Chanh (Chong No 2 hamlet, An Phu Tan commune) has converted 1.5 hectares of rice land to grow wax coconut since 2009, earning 250-300 million VND/year. According to Mr. Chanh, from a few dozen initial experimental plants, after earning a high income of 140,000-200,000 VND/fruit, he has expanded the area with 150 trees that produce 300-400 fruits per month, selling for 60,000-120,000 VND/fruit.

Initially, only a few Khmer households planted in Cau Ke area, with a selling price many times higher than that of normal coconuts, bringing high economic efficiency to the people, from which it gradually spread in the Khmer community in the South. The family of Mrs. Son Thi Hai (Bot Chech hamlet, Song Loc commune) has been growing wax coconut for more than 10 years. With 1.2 hectares of coconut, of which 5 hectares of wax coconut produce stable fruit, earning a monthly income of 5-8 million VND. The efficiency of wax coconut trees has helped many Khmer households improve their lives, gradually replacing ineffective rice crops.

In the past 20 years, the area of ​​wax coconut in the province has increased rapidly. In 2005, there were only 43 hectares, by 2025 it reached more than 1,360 hectares, with an economic value 10 times higher than that of normal coconut. To meet the increasing demand, researchers have successfully applied the technique of planting embryo-cultured wax coconut, helping to increase the wax ratio to 80-90%, while the wax ratio of normal wax coconut is from 10-20%. Thanks to that, the profit from embryo-cultured wax coconut reaches 700 million VND/ha, many times higher than that of growing rice and normal coconut.

Previously, the output of wax coconut depended on traders. Recently, through the cooperative and enterprise model, the production and consumption methods have been gradually changed. Hoa Tan Wax Coconut Cooperative (An Phu Tan commune) with 43 members and an area of ​​32 hectares has built a brand and linked to consume more than 2 million fruits/year. In parallel, a number of dynamic local enterprises have invested in deep processing.

Cau Ke Wax Coconut Processing Company Limited and Phat Dang One Member Co., Ltd. are pioneers in processing many product lines such as cakes, candies, ice cream, soft drinks, yogurt from wax coconut,... both meeting the diverse needs of consumers, extending the product life cycle, increasing economic value many times over compared to selling raw materials.

Brand enhancement

Typically, Mr. Dang Minh Be's family (Binh La hamlet, Song Loc commune) from a household business boldly developed into an enterprise in 2022. With the goal of deep processing wax coconut and building an exclusive brand, Mr. Be invested in a modern production line with more than 15 billion VND to process wax coconut candy and ice cream.

After successfully launching the wax coconut jam product, he continued to commercialize the wax coconut cream and it was distributed at the Bach Hoa Xanh Supermarket system, contributing to raising the Vinh Long wax coconut brand. The company's products meet 3-star standards and are on the way to being supported by the local authorities to upgrade to 4-star status.

Mr. Be said: “To proactively source input materials and increase profits, my wife and I successfully researched a wax coconut growing model using embryo implantation techniques on 4 hectares, with a wax yield of 94-97% depending on the season, yielding 1,000-1,600 fruits per month. In addition, I also propagated 15,000-20,000 wax coconut trees per year (800,000 VND/seedling), linking production and consumption, helping many households in the area participate in planting and stabilizing income.

In Song Loc commune, the current coconut area is more than 1,642 hectares, of which wax coconut is 14.4 hectares. In 2024, the commune will be granted an export growing area code to China with 343.02 hectares and 840.13 hectares of coconut have been certified organic, bringing a competitive advantage in the international market. From September 2025, the price of dry coconut fluctuates from 180,000 to 220,000 VND/dozen (12 fruits), farmers earn about 120 million VND/ha/year. This is an important driving force for the locality to continue developing raw material areas associated with the value chain.

Mr. Ngo Hong Thanh - Chairman of Song Loc Commune People's Committee said: "Wax coconut has many advantages such as being easy to grow, long-lasting, drought and salinity resistant, high consumption demand, and an established brand. Due to scattered and small-scale production, a chain of linkages has not yet been formed, and processing and promotion are still limited. With the goal of developing coconut trees to reach 1,644 hectares by 2030; the commune focuses on developing organic coconuts associated with granting growing area codes aiming to export 30% of the area. At the same time, focus on developing and replicating effective models; diversifying products; strengthening specialized production cooperatives associated with linking cultivation and consumption".

Article and photos: MY NHAN

Source: https://baovinhlong.com.vn/kinh-te/nong-nghiep/202509/nang-tam-thuong-hieu-dua-sap-cau-ke-2e619a3/