Building brands for Quang Nam agricultural products

Brand building is an inevitable trend in product competition in the market. Photo: Q.VIET

Positioning of goods

The Department of Intellectual Property (Ministry of Science and Technology) has issued a Certificate of Geographical Indication Registration for Ngoc Linh ginseng products since 2016 and the Department of Science and Technology manages this famous geographical indication. That is how Quang Nam has long built a brand for Ngoc Linh ginseng products.

A brand represents the image, reputation, and status of Ngoc Linh ginseng, affirming its quality. It serves as a way to differentiate it from similar products and is also a means of marketing, advertising, and promoting Ngoc Linh ginseng. Thanks to its brand, Ngoc Linh ginseng from Quang Nam gains a competitive advantage, winning over consumers and dominating the market.

The competitive trend of the market, especially the strict requirements of the importing country, requires goods to build a brand, have a clear origin and be certified and protected by the competent authority.

Ms. Ha Thi Anh Tuyet - Deputy Head of Technology Management Department (Department of Science and Technology) said that along with Ngoc Linh ginseng, Quang Nam also has Tra My geographical indication for cinnamon products and Cu Lao Cham - Hoi An geographical indication for bird's nest products.

The Intellectual Property Office has granted more than 90 certification marks and collective marks for goods, specialty products, craft villages, and traditional craft villages of Quang Nam. More than 2,000 common marks have also been protected for products and services of production and business establishments in the province.

In fact, after being certified with the trademark, many products continue to affirm their advantages and reach further in the export market such as Caromi cassava pho (Que Son), braised mackerel, frog Quang noodles, Mrs. Ba Hoi's banh chung (Tam Ky), and brown rice bars of Duy Oanh Green Agriculture Cooperative (Duy Xuyen).

Ms. Ha Thi Anh Tuyet stated that, as the state management agency for intellectual property in the province, the Department of Science and Technology always pays attention to and coordinates with consulting units, departments, and the People's Committees of districts, towns, and cities to organize many surveys and assessments of the potential for building product brands, as well as organizing scientific workshops to evaluate and select advantageous products to be included in the list of products for brand building and development in stages, and submit them to the Provincial People's Committee for approval.

Brand support

In recent times, many programs and projects... to build and develop brands in general and agricultural product brands in particular have been implemented from the central to local levels to build national brands and regional and local brands.

Branded goods will be chosen by consumers to buy. Photo: Q.VIET

To build a national brand, the Government has approved and implemented many programs such as the strategy for building the Vietnamese food brand, the national brand program (Vietnam Value), the intellectual property development program until 2030, the strategy for sustainable agricultural and rural development for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050...

The purpose of the programs is to build and promote brands, trade names, geographical indications and names of origin of Vietnamese goods in domestic and foreign markets so that Vietnamese goods can promote their value and enhance their competitiveness.

According to Mr. Nguyen Phi Thanh, Director of the Department of Science and Technology, in order to improve the quality of goods and build brands for them, businesses and cooperatives need to promote production linkages to develop the value of goods along the chain and ensure traceability of origin and quality.

Enterprises need to apply science and technology to improve productivity, product quality, reduce costs and still maintain the typical, traditional values of the products.

It is necessary to focus investment on raw materials for production, and to build models for cultivation and processing to create a raw material supply area that ensures quality. The important issue is to strengthen trade promotion to open up markets for the products.

Building and developing brands for agricultural products will expand consumer markets, helping consumers feel satisfied, confident, and prioritize the use of these goods. Agricultural product brands serve as a bridge for exporting goods, contributing to the development of sustainable agriculture and creating momentum for socio-economic development.

Mr. Nguyen Phi Thanh said that the Department of Science and Technology continues to advise the Provincial People's Committee to assign tasks to localities on building brands and trademarks of agricultural products.

The functional sector provides training and propaganda to help businesses and cooperatives better understand the benefits of trademark registration, the benefits and effectiveness of building brands for key local products.

“We manage the quality and post-check products bearing the brands of organizations and individuals who are granted the right to use the trademarks of local key products and goods,” said Mr. Thanh.

According to the Department of Science and Technology, in order to effectively operate the system for managing geographical indications and trademarks, in addition to regulations on the use of geographical indications and trademarks, it is necessary to develop procedures for granting and revoking the right to use geographical indications and trademarks; procedures for controlling the quality of products bearing geographical indications and trademarks; procedures for controlling and managing the production and business activities of the products; technical procedures for production, harvesting, preservation and processing of products; procedures for tracing the origin and provenance of products; and regulations on the use of trademark and geographical indication samples on goods and services.

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