Need to build brand of craft village products

(Baonghean) -Currently, in Hung Nguyen district, there are 5 recognized craft villages and some villages with professions such as Hung Tan sticky rice wine, Hung Long carpentry, Hung Thinh welding, Hung Xuan peanut oil pressing. Although the craft villages have been recognized for a long time, there is currently no craft village that has built a product brand.

LAlthough the Dong Nhat rice paper and peanut candy craft (Hung Chau commune) has been around for a long time and its products are of good quality, it has not yet built a brand. Therefore, rice paper and peanut candy are produced in Dong Nhat village - Hung Chau, but the labels are not from the village. Currently, there are 20 households in the village specializing in producing rice paper and peanut candy with an average income of 150 million to 200 million VND/household/year. In addition, it also creates jobs for dozens of regular workers with an income of 1.5 - 3 million VND/person/month. Ms. Nguyen Thi Phu - one of the households specializing in producing cu do candy in the craft village said: Thanks to this traditional craft, they have raised 4 adult children. From selling only 5 peanut candy packs a day, switching to making cu do, Ms. Phu sold 10 packs, then 20 packs, 50 packs... Up to now, her family's products have been sold on stalls in Vinh market, Xuan An market, and Củi temple - Ha Tinh.

To have enough products to supply the market, they borrowed more capital, hired workers, and did packaging. There are always two regular workers in the house, with a monthly salary of 1.5 - 2 million VND/person. During the off-season, they have to hire more workers to have enough products to deliver. In addition to selling to the market, Phu's cu do is also ordered by many regular customers as gifts when they go away or have guests visit their home. On average, Phu's facility produces more than 100 bags of cu do of all kinds every day. The family's life is getting better and better thanks to the peanut candy making business. However, Ms. Phu also has many concerns: “Having been in the business for many years, I know that in the past, due to difficult life, consumers did not pay attention to the brand and label of the product. But now, when traditional craft villages are being maintained and developed strongly everywhere, naming your products is very important. Only then can you affirm how the brand of the product of that craft village is different from the products of other craft villages. If there is no brand or label clearly stating the place of production and expiry date, consumers are reluctant to buy because they are afraid that the product is not of good quality, or if something happens while using the product, who can they complain to?”

The rice paper and peanut candy production profession of Dong Nhat - Hung Chau Craft Village brings stable income to the people.

Ms. Nhung's family cooks an average of 3 pots of wine every day, producing about 30 liters of finished product. According to the current market price, each liter of wine costs 35,000 VND, so each day her family earns more than 1 million VND, not including the by-products of wine, which is enough to feed 10 pigs in the barn. However, what Ms. Nhung and other households in Phuc My craft village are most concerned about right now is that the Phuc My wine brand is still not on the market and is not known to many consumers. Many families in the craft village still have to borrow wine brands from other craft villages to sell.

Ms. Ba Thi Dung - Deputy Head of the District's Agriculture Department shared: Actually, the craft villages have been recognized but are still self-reliant. After being recognized as a craft village, in addition to the province's support in building rural roads to craft villages to facilitate product transportation, the district and commune have not yet stepped in to support policies and exploit output markets for products to develop sustainable craft villages... but everything still depends on the dynamism of the households in the craft village. Despite being a craft village, the products made do not have a brand, each household consumes and finds its own output. Therefore, recently, Hung Nguyen district has assigned the Agriculture Department to directly guide Hung Chau commune to immediately build a brand for Phuc My village's rice wine products.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hai - Chairman of Hung Chau Agricultural Cooperative - who was assigned by Hung Chau Commune People's Committee to directly connect with relevant departments and branches to build the brand of Phuc My wine products, said: His family also specializes in making wine, a traditional profession of Phuc My village. However, Phuc My village wine is delicious but not many people know it on the market, people mainly know about Nghi Phu and Nghi An wine. How to affirm the brand of Phuc My sticky rice wine, Dong Nhat peanut candy is something that people in the profession always worry about. In the immediate future, Hung Chau Commune is focusing on building the brand of Phuc My sticky rice wine. Currently, the logo for the product named "Hung Nguyen sticky rice wine specialty - Phuc My village, Hung Chau commune" has been built and the next steps are being urgently carried out such as establishing a Craft Village Association, conducting study tours to craft villages that have already had a brand such as Lang Van wine - Bac Giang to learn the process of industrial wine production but still keep the flavor of the product intact...

With such urgent initiatives, hopefully in the near future, craft villages in Hung Nguyen district will soon build their own brands, affirming the typical products of their homeland.

Article and photos: Thanh Thuy