Nghe An craft villages flexibly approach the market

Diversify products

Households producing Tay Lan incense sticks in Nghi Truong commune (Nghi Loc) proactively change designs and diversify products to expand the market. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Since the beginning of the year, households producing incense sticks inTay Lan incense making village, Nghi Truong commune (Nghi Loc) is busy with domestic orders and orders from neighboring Laos. “Previously, revenue mainly depended on the Lunar New Year production season and the January festival season. But now, orders are almost year-round, sold within the province, to neighboring provinces and exported to Laos. On average, the factory sells about 3,000 - 5,000 incense sticks to the market every day; since the beginning of the year, nearly 700,000 sticks have been exported to Laos,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Ly, the owner of an incense production household in Tay Lan Incense Stick Craft Village.

According to the producers in the craft village, the reason why Tay Lan incense sticks are increasingly dominating the market and being favored by consumers is because the producers have gradually approached science and technology, bringing machinery into production to achieve higher productivity, making the incense sticks more even and more beautiful. In particular, in the production process, it is necessary to always maintain the heart, reputation, and clean production from raw materials, manufacturing process and packaging.

The Diem Bamboo and Rattan Craft Village Cooperative focuses on producing sophisticated handicraft products. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“Instead of using toxic chemicals to make incense, the people of Tay Lan incense stick craft village choose to make incense from herbal ingredients, without chemical impregnation. Therefore, it is very popular with consumers. The annual revenue from incense stick production has increased, creating regular jobs for more than 100 workers and nearly 200 seasonal workers with good incomes,” said Mr. Nguyen Doan Tan - Deputy Head of Tay Lan incense stick craft village.

There is time,Diem bamboo and rattan weaving village, Chau Khe commune (Con Cuong) is facing the risk of being "erased" when its products cannot compete with similar products that are mass-produced, have diverse designs, and are cheap in the market. Faced with this situation, each member of the craft village is struggling to find ways to change and adapt to the market.

Ms. Lang Thi Hoa - Director of the Cooperative of the Bamboo and Rattan Craft Village of Diem said: "After the meeting, we realized that to save the craft village from the deadlock, we have to change from the products we make. Now that rattan trays, rattan chairs or rattan and bamboo baskets are no longer popular, not popular and cannot compete with plastic and stainless steel products, we have switched to weaving more sophisticated products, handicrafts, and souvenirs to sell on the market.

Diverse and rich designs, suitable to consumer tastes, have "saved" the Diem Bamboo and Rattan Craft Village Cooperative from the risk of being lost. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Therefore, we have learned and experimented with weaving cosmetic boxes, handbags, school supply boxes, fruit plates, interior decoration items with modern patterns and diverse designs... Thanks to that, gradually, our craft village products have been accepted by the market, and there have been more orders."

Diversity of designs and customer preferences is considered one of the vital factors that help craft village products compete in the market. In recent years, many craft village production establishments such as Hoa Tien brocade weaving (Quy Chau); Diem bamboo and rattan weaving (Con Cuong); Tay Lan incense sticks (Nghi Loc); Thuan Giang and Nam Thang carpentry villages (Quynh Luu); Binh Minh seafood processing (Cua Lo town) ... have chosen to develop in this direction.

“In order for craft villages to survive, production facilities and enterprises need to restructure products based on market demand research, review existing product portfolios, identify key products that need to be maintained and developed, and resolutely eliminate products that have no market. New technologies must be applied, focus on improving product quality, researching and innovating designs, exploiting the market…”

Mr. Nguyen Ho Lam - Deputy Head of the Department of Rural Development.

Connecting e-commerce with tourism development

Thai Minh brocade weaving village (Phây Thái Minh village, Tiên Kỳ commune, Tân Kỳ district). Photo: Thanh Phuc

In recent years, e-commerce has become quite vibrant, becoming a popular business method. Thanks to promoting online sales and transactions on e-commerce platforms, some craft villages have had good growth.

In many craft villages, revenue from e-commerce accounts for an average of 50% of total revenue. For example, atThai Minh brocade weaving village(Phặt Thái Minh village, Tiên Kỳ commune, Tân Kỳ district), if in the past, brocade weaving products such as skirts, blanket covers, pillow covers, scarves, bags... were woven by the people and sold to the Thai people in the villages in the district and neighboring districts, now, thanks to promotion on Zalo, Facebook, and participation in trading floors, Thai Minh brocade weaving products are increasingly known to the public.

Thanks to the implementation of the Homestay community tourism model, many tourists have come to the village to visit and relax, and Thai Minh textile products have also had the opportunity to be known by many people. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Ms. Lao Thi Hai - Head of Thai Minh brocade weaving village said: "Recently, the weaving products of the villagers have been connected to wider consumption, in addition to the domestic market, they have reached out to other provinces and even to Laos. In particular, thanks to the implementation of the Homestay community tourism model, many tourists have come to the village to visit, relax, and buy the village's handmade weaving products as gifts, so Thai Minh weaving products also have the opportunity to be known by many people".

Also following the general trend of e-commerce, in the past 2 years, Hai Giang 1 Fish Sauce Processing Village (Nghi Hai Ward, Cua Lo Town) has changed product designs on the one hand, and promoted methods of promoting and consuming Hai Giang fish sauce products on digital platforms on the other hand. According to preliminary statistics, each year Hai Giang 1 Fish Sauce Processing Village supplies the market with about 300,000 liters of fish sauce. Of which, up to 30% of products are consumed through e-commerce channels.

Every year, Hai Giang 1 fish sauce village supplies the market with about 300,000 liters of fish sauce. Of which, up to 30% of the products are consumed through e-commerce channels. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Currently, in addition to investing in infrastructure systems, environmental landscapes; creating check-in points for tourists; building booths and product display counters, the craft village has also changed its production line for tourists to visit and experience. At the same time, replacing the annealing tanks from cement and plastic to jars and earthenware pots; packaging plastic bottles in volumes of 1 liter, 2 liters, 5 liters into glass bottles with more compact volumes, packaged in beautiful paper boxes, suitable for tourists, gifts, etc.

This is a new step forward to help the craft village improve its production line, improve the production environment, access and expand the market. Thanks to that, the revenue of Hai Giang 1 Fish Sauce Craft Village reaches 30-40 billion VND/year, an increase of 20% compared to before.

Jobmarket initiative, finding outlets for craft village products through innovating designs, diversifying products; promoting trade promotion activities, advertising and displaying... are being strongly implemented by craft village production facilities to connect with customers and find outlets for products.

Tourists visit and experience the seafood processing village of Binh Minh (Nghi Thuy, Cua Lo town). Photo: Thanh Phuc

In particular, through social networking platforms, the product consumption market has also become larger, not only domestically but also internationally. At the same time, linking the development of traditional craft villages with tourism that is being formed will open up new markets, potential that craft villages can exploit, increasing revenue and income for craft village workers...