Value chain builder for Dong Din pineapple

As a former pineapple farmer, Mr. Chuong understands better than anyone the situation of a good harvest but low prices. There were times when the pineapples were ripe, fragrant and full of honey, but no one bought them, lying around in the corner of the house. Feeling sorry for them, his mother squeezed the juice and mixed it with flour to make pineapple cakes. This rustic dish was so popular that his family decided to expand the scale of production and gradually build the Phong Duong pineapple cake brand.

However, when entering the market, the product soon encountered difficulties due to small-scale production, lack of stable raw materials and lack of competitiveness. From the policy of agricultural - farmer - rural development, Mr. Chuong realized that if agricultural products wanted to have a position, they had to cooperate. In 2018, he gathered relatives and established Dong Din Agricultural and General Business Cooperative, aiming for a new cooperative model associated with the value chain.

Mr. Chuong recalls: “2018 was also the time when the One Commune One Product (OCOP) Program began to be implemented. I saw an opportunity to bring my hometown pineapple into the sustainable processing and consumption chain. To do this, the cooperative had to gather pineapple growers in the area and commit to consuming agricultural products with clear contracts. Initially, we mobilized relatives to be the core, then expanded to people in the area.”

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Chuong (second from left) introduces customers to the cooperative's products.

Together with the founding members, Mr. Chuong consolidated the cooperative's raw material area of ​​more than 30 hectares, built a 250 m² factory, invested in a system of choppers, presses, mixers, dryers, ovens, packaging lines and transportation vehicles. When the production platform was stable, he focused on building the brand and improving product quality.

As a result, by 2022, Dong Din Cooperative has 9 products meeting 4-star and 3-star OCOP standards; of which 5 are processed from pineapple. Specifically, dried pineapple products and pineapple fruit meet 4-star OCOP standards; pineapple cakes, pineapple wine, and pineapple vinegar meet 3-star OCOP standards. The Cooperative has become the unit with the most OCOP products in the province in the period 2019 - 2022.

In addition, he also actively participates in trade promotion programs inside and outside the province, brings products to fairs, supply-demand connection conferences, participates in e-commerce platforms to introduce products and promote Dong Din pineapple area. Thanks to this approach, the cooperative's products are not only present in supermarkets but also follow foreign tourists to many countries around the world .

Not stopping at processing and consumption, Mr. Chuong also aims for a bigger goal: regenerating the Dong Din hill land. He and the cooperative have researched the production of organic fertilizers, instructing people to use household waste as organic fertilizers to improve barren hill land. He is also building a model combining production with eco -tourism , aiming to increase the value of pineapples and create more income for the community.

Mr. Nguyen Truong Thi, Chairman of the People's Committee of Phu Hoa 1 Commune, commented: "Dong Din Cooperative has greatly supported the locality in bringing traditional agricultural products such as pineapple to the market, opening up consumption opportunities for hundreds of hectares of pineapple in the Dong Din growing area. This Cooperative is also active in environmental protection activities in residential areas and production areas, and is a typical green economic model that needs to be replicated."

With those efforts, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Chuong has just been awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Union for his outstanding achievements in the patriotic emulation movement for the period 2020 - 2025.

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/kinh-te/202512/nguoi-xay-dung-chuoi-gia-tri-cho-khom-dong-din-ee71aa3/