Branding for agricultural products

Hong Gia Thanh products, Phu Ninh district successfully built a brand, increasing income for growers.

Brand building - affirming product quality

Every year from the middle of the seventh lunar month onwards, persimmon growers in Gia Thanh commune, Phu Ninh district, are bustling with traders and visitors who come to buy seedless persimmons to eat and give as gifts. Now, local persimmon growers no longer have to worry about output but can confidently invest in renovating mixed gardens, expanding acreage, and applying technical advances to improve the productivity and quality of persimmons.

Mr. Han Van Khanh, Director of Hong Gia Thanh Cooperative, said: In 2017, Phu Ninh District People's Committee implemented a project to create, manage and develop the collective trademark "Gia Thanh seedless persimmon". In 2019, the Department of Intellectual Property ( Ministry of Science and Technology ) granted the collective trademark certificate "Gia Thanh seedless persimmon" to this fruit and granted a license to use the collective trademark for members of the Cooperative. After being granted the certificate, the Cooperative was granted labels and invested in printing packaging with full information, helping customers to easily trace the origin, so that consumers can feel secure and avoid confusion between fake and genuine goods.

In addition to Gia Thanh persimmon, the province has a number of products such as green tea, Doan Hung grapefruit, Dan Quyen banana, Tam Nong district, safe vegetables in Lam Thao district... that have gradually built their own brands and established a foothold with consumers. After the products were granted brand and trademark certificates, the value of the goods was increased by 15-20% compared to before.

According to experts in the agricultural sector, building a brand is the way to help local agricultural products become competitive in the market. Through building a brand, people can improve their knowledge about agriculture, rural areas, farming processes, selecting production varieties, preserving and marketing products; managing sales, carrying out intellectual property registration for trademarks, collective trademarks, geographical indications to avoid infringement... This is also the basis for protecting and developing unique products, typical of each region and promoting and attracting tourists.

It can be affirmed that building a brand is a very necessary issue for agricultural products so that the products have a firm position in the market, improve efficiency and economic value. Therefore, in addition to the general policies of the province, localities also have their own mechanisms to build and develop brands for agricultural products so that the products can affirm their position in the market.

Currently, the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program is developing very successfully in localities in the province. This is an advantage for localities to build concentrated commodity production areas, invest in improving product quality, build linkage chains, both increasing product value and contributing to expanding the consumption market for agricultural products.

Having built a brand, Tu Xa Safe Vegetable Production Cooperative, Lam Thao district has successfully brought its products into supermarket systems, increasing income for its members.

Focus on sustainable development

However, building and protecting brands is still difficult due to the limited application of science and technology in agricultural production; post-harvest products are not yet systematic, lack of investment in marketing, market research, etc. These are factors that hinder the strategy of building agricultural product brands. On the other hand, funding for this activity largely depends on trade promotion programs or is integrated into other fields' programs. Enterprises purchasing agricultural products in localities are not yet interested in building and developing brands. Most agricultural products are grown and produced on a small scale, and the source of plant and animal breeds lacks control and direction. The production process is still mainly based on experience and customs; harvesting, processing, and post-harvest preservation technology is still primitive; the application of science in agricultural production and processing is not much, leading to inconsistent and unstable quality. Products with collective trademarks are mainly determined by their quality by color, shape, taste... based mainly on senses, so it is very difficult to quantify and set common standards for that product.

Comrade Vu Quoc Tuan - Head of the Department of Rural Development said: In the coming time, the Department will continue to coordinate with departments, branches and localities to build typical agricultural product brands of each region associated with OCOP. In addition, proactively coordinate with units to organize fairs to promote and introduce products recognized as collective brands so that businesses can cooperate with cooperatives to consume products in the domestic market and towards export.

At the same time, the Department of Agriculture and Environment continues to coordinate to promote propaganda to raise farmers' awareness of the importance and benefits of building brands and trademarks to create consistent product quality, meeting food safety requirements; promote the construction of safe and sustainable food supply chain models associated with concentrated planning areas, combining trade promotion, supporting the search for output for safe food products, supporting the building of brands for specialty agricultural food products... creating an important premise towards modern agriculture and international integration.

At the same time, it is necessary to have policies to support economic entities in upgrading and perfecting products, focusing on innovation and improving technology, technical processes, expanding raw material areas; improving product quality... Focus on reviewing and selecting products associated with local advantages and strengths, prioritizing new product ideas based on the application of science and technology, especially processed products, deep processing products, traditional products. Improve the effectiveness of domestic market trade promotion activities, strengthen export-oriented trade promotion activities; promote the application of information technology in trade promotion activities.

In addition, it is necessary to continue to pay attention to and promote the branding of agricultural products through e-commerce platforms, especially for e-commerce platforms specializing in agricultural products, thereby not only creating strong growth opportunities for the agricultural sector but also opening up long-term development potential, which will help Vietnamese agricultural products increasingly affirm their brands and reach further. This helps to increase product value, while contributing to creating a strong change in the way of production, consumption and development of the province's agricultural sector in the future.

Phan Cuong

Source: https://baophutho.vn/xay-dung-thuong-hieu-cho-nong-san-232106.htm