OCOP brings agricultural products far and wide

With a diverse ecosystem and rich products, Ca Mau possesses a unique culinary culture with many famous dishes such as: dried shrimp, crab, salted crab, shrimp crackers, fish sauce... On this foundation, the "One Commune One Product" (OCOP) Program is like a "passport" to help enhance the value of specialties, expand the market, thereby creating sustainable livelihoods for people, becoming an important driving force to promote rural economic development.

• OCOP subjects are busy preparing for Ca Mau Crab Festival
• OCOP product development: A breakthrough for cooperatives
• When OCOP products become "cultural ambassadors"
• Highlights of the space displaying documents, images and OCOP products

Elevating specialties

After more than 5 years of implementing the "One Commune One Product" Program, the province now has 343 OCOP products, including 266 3-star products, 75 4-star products and 2 5-star products. Of these, 129 products of 53 cooperatives have been recognized as 3-star and 4-star OCOP. In addition, cooperatives in the province also have more than 50 products that have been recognized for quality standards, with QR codes to trace their origin, packaging and labels. These are potential products for cooperatives to file for OCOP product recognition in the near future.

OCOP product of dried shrimp from Ngoc Giau, Tan Tien commune. (Photo: HUYNH LAM)

Mr. Quach Minh Xuyen, Director of Minh Quach Cooperative, Tran Phan Commune, shared: “Building and developing OCOP products not only helps people increase their income, but also contributes to promoting the image and products of Ca Mau to other provinces, and further exporting abroad. At the same time, Minh Quach Cooperative also creates regular jobs for 10 local workers, with an average income of 4-4.5 million VND/person/month.

Tran Van Thoi dried banana products are famous far and wide. (Photo: HUYNH LAM)

According to many entities, OCOP is a “passport” for products to enter large distribution channels and new markets. Many units recorded a 20-50% increase in revenue, even doubling after achieving certification, gradually affirming their position as high-end specialties, associated with the story of the land, cultural factors, and clean production processes. This change helps the Ca Mau agricultural product brand gradually gain a firm foothold on the map of Vietnamese agricultural products, appearing in many demanding provincial and municipal markets in the country and internationally.

Notably, the subjects have applied the circular economic model, aiming at green production, saving resources, reducing waste and protecting the environment. This is an important factor to meet the increasingly strict environmental standards of export markets, while catching up with the global green consumption trend.

The Provincial Cooperative Union organized exchanges and signed contracts to purchase OCOP products.

Ms. Cao Ngoc Hang, Director and Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Bac Lieu Clean Agricultural Products Cooperative No. 1, expressed: "Hopefully, in the new term, the province will pay more attention to building and promoting OCOP products; have policies to encourage and facilitate cooperatives and entities to access capital sources; quickly resolve related procedures and documents, contributing to promoting the development of OCOP products as well as helping to increase income for rural people."

The ecosystem supports the subject

The special feature of the OCOP Program in Ca Mau is the ecosystem that supports entities in building OCOP products from production to consumption. The province has organized many training courses, technical guidance, packaging improvement, label design, digital technology application and marketing skills improvement. OCOP product introduction points are built everywhere, combined with online booths on Shopee, Postmart, Voso, Lazada, TikTok and on websites. In particular, the social networking platform TikTok has been exploited by many entities in recent years to promote and sell OCOP products.

U Minh dried snakehead fish brand product. (Photo: HUYNH LAM)

Mr. Nguyen Van Vu, Chairman of the Provincial Cooperative Union, said: “Building and developing OCOP products not only helps increase the value of agricultural products, but also contributes to promoting and introducing the products, potentials and strengths of Ca Mau. Therefore, in recent times, the Provincial Cooperative Union has always created conditions for cooperatives to borrow capital from the Provincial Cooperative Development Support Fund to invest in expanding production, innovating technology, in order to support cooperatives in improving management capacity, developing markets and promoting trade”.

Nam Can Crab Brand - Ca Mau. (Photo: HUYNH LAM)

To continue developing the OCOP Program, the province has been focusing on improving product quality through investment in technology, improving packaging, transparent traceability, and meeting international standards. Promoting e-commerce by taking advantage of domestic and foreign e-commerce platforms, livestream sales, and digital marketing to reach global customers. At the same time, training human resources with production skills, business administration, foreign languages, and international trade for OCOP subjects, as well as shortening processes and procedures for subjects and cooperatives to access development support and product branding.

Ut Son bird's nest, Vam Xang hamlet, Phu Tan, Ca Mau. Photo: H.LAM

When the government, businesses and people are united, the countryside will have the strength to become the driving force for development, contributing to the economic growth of the province, helping to improve the quality of life of the community. OCOP Ca Mau is a typical success story, where the typical products of the southernmost land have reached the level of becoming high-quality Vietnamese brands.

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Sharing about the development orientation of OCOP products in the coming time, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Van Su said: “After the merger, Ca Mau is a locality with a lot of potential and advantages to develop OCOP products, many quality OCOP products, not only supplying domestically but also exporting to many large markets such as: Japan, Australia, Canada...

In the coming time, the province will promote the brand through form, quality and attractive product stories, linked to the origin and source of the product. Encourage green production, use of renewable energy and environmentally friendly packaging, opening up a path for sustainable development, harmonizing between preserving identity and global integration.

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Nguyen Linh - Chi Linh

Source: https://baocamau.vn/ocop-dua-nong-san-vuon-xa-a123216.html