It can be said that OCOP is a form of “industrialization” in the countryside. Hundreds of years of history have shown that farmers in our countryside often choose to leave their farms and villages to go to the city to make a living, go to factories, industrial parks, and even go abroad to find work.
During the country's renovation period, many farmers' children, despite having education and job opportunities in urban areas, decided to return to their hometowns to start a business. Now, the "One Commune One Product" movement was born, so that local agricultural and forestry products could be processed more refinedly, more deeply, with origin and quality right in their hometowns. From there, in the countryside, models of "industrial" production of goods that are hygienic and safe for health have been created.
Ky Son beef jerky, Ky Son ginger, black canarium, Thanh Chuong pickled cucumber, wild eel, herbal eggs, Sen oranges, Quynh Luu spirulina, Nam Dan tapioca starch, Minh Sang green tea, Dien Chau shrimp, eggplant cake, gai cake, molasses, Nam Dan lotus tea, dong vermicelli... which have been made by the hands of mothers and sisters in the countryside for hundreds of years, are now supported by the government, supported with training, investment in technology and science to have more standardized products, meeting the increasingly high demands of the market.
With the largest land potential in the country, leading agricultural strengths have attracted investors and attracted the start-up movement, Nghe An is a locality with many successful and branded agricultural and forestry factories such as TH milk, Tate & Lyle sugar (FDI capital), Shan Tuyet tea, tapioca flour, wood chips... but with the program "One commune, one product", after 4 years, many more brands have appeared with a foothold in the market, creating more jobs for thousands of rural workers. Rural land is awakened with the planting of more areas of cassava, purple sugarcane, ginseng, organic vegetables, organic tea, herbal rice, bamboo, bamboo, oranges, grapefruit, roses, medicinal herbs under the forest canopy... Those are the values that the OCOP program has created in Nghe An countryside in particular.
Giving up a high-paying job at a Korean company, Mr. Nguyen Son Tin (born in 1992, in Minh Hop commune, Quy Hop district) returned to his hometown to start a business with dried fruit products. In 2021, Mr. Tin invested billions of VND to build a factory, equip machinery and put it into operation. Local strengths such as bananas, jackfruit, pineapples, fresh oranges... often faced the situation of "good harvest but low price, good price but bad harvest" due to limitations in post-harvest preservation. Currently, with a modern drying line, each year, Mr. Nguyen Son Tin's HASAFOOD Joint Stock Company has purchased about 100 tons of fresh oranges, processed into dried and freeze-dried orange slices; 50-70 tons of fresh jackfruit into crispy jackfruit products; 80 tons of bananas into crispy banana products, freeze-dried bananas; Dozens of tons of pineapples and dozens of tons of fresh tea buds into matcha green tea powder products... creating jobs and income for nearly 30 local workers. Mr. Tin said: "Oranges, bananas, jackfruit, green tea... are all key crops in the locality. The OCOP program has helped new entrepreneurs like us to promote our intelligence and get rich legitimately in our homeland."
Obviously, the OCOP certificate is like a passport that helps entities better access the market, approach new partners, create initial trust for products when standing on the shelves of supermarket chains, fairs... However, to reach the world market, the producers themselves must have a strategy, accept investment, risk, improve the product and above all, must have passion and determination to pursue.
One of the mandatory criteria for upgrading the OCOP star rating is product consumption through e-commerce channels, having a website to promote the products. In addition, grasping the current consumer trend of online shopping, therefore, in recent times, OCOP product manufacturers have proactively put their products on e-commerce platforms in many ways, promoting the market through online channels...
Online transactions are a vital trading channel for goods and OCOP entities are no exception... Owning up to 7 3-star OCOP products, Phu Quy Medicinal Materials Cooperative (Hamlet 4, Nghia Thuan Commune, Thai Hoa Town) has revenue that creates jobs for nearly 20 workers. In particular, Phu Quy Medicinal Materials Cooperative's products always have stable output, and are sold out as soon as they are produced thanks to online sales. The cooperative's operators have clearly identified the advantages of online business and sales through e-commerce channels, so they have invested in this area early.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Dieu Thuy - Director of Phu Quy Medicinal Herbs Cooperative said: “We make the most of advertising and selling products through Websites, Fanpages, Zalo and e-commerce channels such as Shopee, Tiki, Lazada... Each individual Facebook, Zalo in the distribution system becomes an online sales "channel", thereby creating a widespread spread. Pu Mat medicinal herbs, Nam Dan lotus tea, mushrooms, ATC tea... are also consumed strongly thanks to online sales. Selling and promoting images and brands on e-commerce platforms increases brand awareness and revenue for the entities. Selling through e-commerce channels requires investment in human resources, must have qualified customer care staff, grasp customer psychology and know how to advise customers, create trust for customers; must know how to build a vivid, attractive image...".
Applying technology and putting products on e-commerce platforms has opened up many consumption opportunities for many OCOP products, especially reaching out to foreign markets. Mr. Nguyen Van Hoc - the owner of 15 OCOP products, said: "Since our establishment, we have focused on putting our products on e-commerce platforms. In particular, 15 products with OCOP stars are considered "tickets" that open up opportunities for us to easily get on the shelves of famous e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Lazada, Facebook". Mr. Tran Dinh Toan, owner of the ATC mushroom brand in Vinh city, shared: "Although we know that putting products in supermarkets is difficult, it is a fair race, we regularly work to make our products accessible to the most valuable consumption channels". Mr. Pham Ngoc Thang, Sy Thang Agricultural, Forestry and Aquatic Products Processing Import-Export Company admitted: Now, to sell products, leaders and employees must interact and expand relationships on social networks and our company also regularly sells to partners around the world via Zalo, Facebook...
Currently, Nghe An Provincial People's Committee has been promoting propaganda and communication to raise awareness of enterprises, cooperatives, producers and increasing support to bring all OCOP products to participate in major e-commerce platforms such as: Postmart.vn, Lazada, Shopee, Tiki... to expand the consumption market. However, due to limited economic and human resources, many cooperatives and enterprises are still outside the e-commerce platform. Therefore, the desire for communication support is still the desire of many subjects, especially in the context of Facebook, Zalo... limiting interaction.
This is always true for policies and guidelines when implemented at the grassroots level in general and the OCOP program in particular in Nghe An. Wherever the government cares, supports, and closely follows, there are many OCOP products with many quality products. Nam Dan district is an example, from a purely agricultural district, after 4 years of implementing OCOP associated with the policy of building Nam Dan into a model New Rural district in terms of "Culture associated with tourism", Nam Dan has 70 OCOP products, including many 4-star products, becoming the locality with the most OCOP products in Nghe An.
In association with tourism, Nam Dan has a number of community tourism models, rural experiences, more than ever, familiar products of Nam Dan specialties such as: soy sauce, tapioca starch, lemon, lotus tea ... are supported by the policy mechanism of the province and district. Chairman of Nam Dan District People's Committee Nguyen Hong Son said: "Nam Dan has many rural products, traditional occupations, lotus villages, lotus flowers, long-standing soy sauce profession, many communes growing tapioca, ham, persimmon, lemon craft villages ... OCOP is an opportunity for farmers to grasp science, research, learn and get rich. The district regularly organizes fairs, encourages subjects to participate in exhibitions, introductions, building raw material areas, promoting information and propaganda to help subjects".
Mr. Tran Dinh Son - Dai Hue Green Cooperative with Nam Anh cassava starch products is very excited when the district always chooses products to introduce in events and due to the hot weather, the strong consumption of the products helps him restore cassava crops in the locality. Nam Dan also coordinates with the Japanese organization JICA to guide farmers in clean production. In the districts of Que Phong, Con Cuong, Anh Son, Quynh Luu, Tan Ky, with the role of close leadership of the locality, famous local products such as community tourism (Con Cuong), deer antlers, exported South American bananas, honey, lotus peanuts, tea, mu tun wine, medicinal herbs, essential oils, bo giang... have the opportunity to shine, to reach friends from all over.
Nghe An has had the drastic participation of the entire political system, from the policy mechanism for OCOP issued by the Provincial People's Council to implementation at the grassroots level. The evaluation and classification of OCOP products has been carried out methodically, with the participation of many functional agencies, with the number of products ranking second nationwide (after Hanoi) and many exported products, currently more than 65% of products are introduced and traded on e-commerce platforms, 11 products have been signed and brought to large shopping centers and supermarkets. The province has also organized and participated in more than 100 fairs and conferences connecting supply and demand, promoting trade inside and outside the province. This is a remarkable success of Nghe An, demonstrating the attention and direction of Party committees and authorities at all levels.
Ms. Vo Thi Nhung - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: Achieving the above OCOP results is a process of striving with the highest determination of Nghe An's agricultural sector and the participation of the entire political system in the province, the attention and direction of all levels and sectors, including the greatest role of local leaders. In addition, OCOP products are promoted based on the strengths and advantages of raw materials associated with the culture and traditions of each locality; The role and creativity of the subjects, the initiative of the people and the community are key factors to promote the development of OCOP products.
However, OCOP Nghe An needs to limit the phenomenon of "a hundred flowers blooming", "blooming early and fading late", striving to prioritize resources to develop products that are "treasures of the village", tourism products, refined and deep processing of agricultural products in large quantities such as rice, corn, high-quality foods, medicinal herbs under the forest canopy, livestock products, etc. Subjects need to regularly apply digital transformation in production, operation, consumption, and sustainable development of branded products that are competitive in the domestic and international markets, contributing to sustainable rural development, green rural areas, and smart rural areas in localities.
