Prospects for developing national 5-star OCOP products of Thai Nguyen

In 2024, Thai Nguyen will have 2 OCOP products ranked 5 stars at the national level, including 1 product of Hao Dat Tea Cooperative (Tan Cuong, Thai Nguyen City).

PV:   Please share the difference between 5-star OCOP products - the highest ranked national products and lower ranked OCOP products?

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nam: According to Decision No. 919/QD-TTg, OCOP products are tourism products and services of local origin, branded, with cultural characteristics and advantages of the locality. OCOP products are evaluated and classified according to 3 levels: district level, provincial level and central level.

After evaluation, the product is classified from 1 star to 5 stars. The certificate is only granted to OCOP products that achieve from 3 to 5 stars, valid for 36 months from the date of issuance by the competent authority.

5-star OCOP products (national level) are typical products, with high quality standards and meeting export conditions, with an average total score of 90 to 100 points.

PV: How do you evaluate the potential for developing 5-star OCOP products in Thai Nguyen?

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nam: In the ranking, Thai Nguyen currently has 4 national 5-star OCOP products. Specifically, the products: "Shrimp Tea", "Dinh Tea" of Hao Dat Tea Cooperative (Tan Cuong Commune, Thai Nguyen City); Viet Cuong vermicelli products of Viet Cuong Vermicelli Cooperative (Hoa Thuong Town, Dong Hy District); "Tay ethnic cultural tourism in Thai Hai village" of Thai Hai Company Limited Branch (Thinh Duc Commune, Thai Nguyen City - 1 of the first 2 5-star OCOP tourism products in the country).

This is a remarkable result for Thai Nguyen because the capital Hanoi also has only 6 products rated 5 stars (out of a total of over 3,300 OCOP products of Hanoi).

In addition to the above-mentioned ranked products, Thai Nguyen has many potential products to develop to 5-star level (national level) because the whole province has 94 products that have achieved 4-star OCOP (in addition, there are also some 3-star products that can be developed to 5-star).

Thai Nguyen is submitting to the Central OCOP Product Classification and Evaluation Council for evaluation and classification of two potential 5-star products, namely "Shiitake Mushroom" of Phu Gia Biotechnology Company Limited (Dai Tu) and "Homeland Fragrant Shrimp Tea" of Phu Luong Agricultural Cooperative (products to be evaluated and classified in 2024).

In 2025 and the following years, the province will continue to support and guide to have more products achieve national 5-star OCOP.

PV: Thai Nguyen has effectively implemented the One Commune One Product (OCOP) Program by promoting the potential and strengths of localities in terms of specialty products and rural industries; becoming a driving force for economic development in rural areas. However, the development of national OCOP products in Thai Nguyen is still quite modest. According to you, what are the difficulties in developing 5-star OCOP products for entities in Thai Nguyen?

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nam: The biggest challenge for OCOP products that meet 5-star standards is that the product must be unique (typical), based on the strengths and advantages of local materials, culture and indigenous knowledge (regional characteristics), community participation..., have very high quality standards and meet the conditions for export (meeting minimum requirements such as: Capacity, large production scale; Having a unique, concise, and succinct product story and having unique messages about the product/culture/intelligence/local identity; Intellectual property; Electronic traceability; Having quality management certification according to international standards, meeting food safety conditions for export and other legal procedures as required by the target market...). The review process is very strict (average score from 90-100).

Therefore, in order to have more OCOP products achieving 5-star national rating, with the assigned functions and tasks, we are continuing to review, plan to guide and support entities with 4-star products, with 5-star potential to upgrade quality, complete the minimum requirements to meet and the dossier to submit to the Central for assessment and recognition.

In particular, guiding and supporting OCOP entities to build 5-star product profiles; a part of the funding for entities in consulting, building product stories, packaging, labels, intellectual property registration, electronic traceability, etc.

However, with the support of the State, the subjects also need to improve their spirit and responsibility, trying to overcome the limitations in the process of developing products from 4-star to 5-star such as: Continuously improving product quality, hygiene, food safety, promoting marketing, building brands...

PV: Thank you!

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202505/trien-vong-phat-trien-san-pham-ocop-5-sao-cap-quoc-gia-cua-thai-nguyen-04821b9/