"Mai An Tiêm" products from Dak Lak

From 2024 to the present, Dak Lak province has had 5 products from 5 cooperatives honored with the Mai An Tiem Award (Coop Gold Product Awards).

Bringing local agricultural products to distant markets.

Five products from cooperatives in Dak Lak province received the Mai An Tiem Award: Ea Tu coffee from the Ea Tu Fair Agricultural Service Cooperative (Tan An ward), macadamia nuts from the Macca Ea H'leo Agricultural Production, Trade and Service Cooperative (Ea Hiao commune), dark chocolate from the Ea Kar District Agricultural Production, Purchase, Processing and Consumption Cocoa Cooperative (Ea Knop commune), Hoa Phong silkworm wine from the Hoa Phong Agricultural Business and Service Cooperative (Tay Hoa commune), and Hoa Dong lotus seed powder from the Hoa Dong Agricultural Business and Service Cooperative (Hoa Thinh commune).

Each product tells a unique story about the journey of bringing local agricultural products to a wider market. For Hoa Phong Agricultural Business and Service Cooperative, the silkworm wine product originated from a mulberry cultivation and silkworm farming village with over 40 years of history. Since its first appearance at the provincial trade fair in 2013, the product has been gradually standardized, its packaging improved, and its quality enhanced to meet market demands.

Mr. Nguyen Van Dong, Director of Hoa Phong Agricultural Business and Service Cooperative, said that after successfully building its brand, in 2022, the cooperative's mulberry wine product received OCOP 3-star certification. Previously, the wine was only sold in small bottles with banana stoppers, consumed on a small scale within the village. Now, it is sold in glass bottles with labels, sealed stoppers, technical specifications, and food safety certifications, making it eligible for sale in stores, restaurants, and supermarkets.

Another notable milestone was at the end of 2024, when the Macca Ea H'leo Agricultural Production, Trade and Service Cooperative signed a contract to officially export 35 tons of macadamia nuts to South Korea. From the orchards in Ea Hiao commune, local macadamia products have entered the international market, opening up new consumption opportunities for Dak Lak's agricultural products.

Similarly, Ea Tu coffee is gradually asserting its position in the international market. Mr. Tran Dinh Trong, Director of the Ea Tu Fair Agricultural Service Cooperative, said that the cooperative is linking with businesses to build a high-quality coffee production chain that meets export standards for the US market, while also implementing production according to FLO certification to enhance product value.

Representatives of the Ea Tu Fair Agricultural Service Cooperative introduce Ea Tu coffee products.

Developing together with the community.

A unique feature of the Ea Tu Fair Agricultural Service Cooperative is that 90% of its members are from the Ede ethnic minority. From small-scale production, the cooperative has gradually guided people to cultivate crops using centralized processes, applying mechanization and modern techniques to improve production efficiency. According to Mr. Tran Dinh Trong, it is this strong bond and community spirit that has helped Ea Tu coffee gradually reach further markets.

From the old Hoa Dong to the present-day Hoa Thinh, the lotus plant, once a crop converted from less productive rice fields, has become a symbol of the revival of this flood-prone region. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Minh, Director of the Hoa Dong Agricultural Service Cooperative, said: “In 2018, the cooperative collaborated with the Farmers' Association and the Women's Union of the commune to pilot lotus cultivation in the Bau Ao area on 2.4 hectares. To enhance the value of the lotus plant, the cooperative participated in the One Commune One Product Program, achieving a 3-star OCOP certification at the provincial level and being recognized as a typical rural industrial product in 2021.”

Currently, the cooperative's products are available in supermarkets and e-commerce platforms. To enhance production capacity, the cooperative has invested in machinery and equipment to complete a closed-loop production line, from drying and grinding machines to crushing and packaging machines. Not stopping at just one product, the cooperative has also developed many other products from lotus raw materials, such as dried lotus, lotus heart tea, and peeled fresh lotus. Lotus cultivation yields three times the income of rice farming, so the area planted with lotus in the locality has also increased to about 40 hectares.

According to the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance, 2026 will be the second time the organization holds the Mai An Tiêm Award (the first was in 2024) to recognize the spirit of overcoming difficulties and creativity in community-based entrepreneurship. The Vietnam Cooperative Alliance hopes that the spirit of Mai An Tiêm will continue to spread so that more and more cooperatives will successfully manage local agricultural products, thereby contributing to improving the lives of members and changing the face of agriculture and rural areas towards modernization.

Minh Duyen

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/kinh-te/202605/nhung-san-pham-mai-an-tiem-cua-dak-lak-1056774/