When talking about local specialties, we cannot help but mention the famous and delicious Nam Dan soy sauce that is still popularly known as “Thanh Chuong pickled mustard, Nam Dan soy sauce”. Soy sauce is a familiar dish in the daily meals of many families in Nghe An. For those who are far from home, the flavor of Nam Dan soy sauce is always a memory, reminding them of their homeland - a land of “spiritual land, talented people”, rich in historical and cultural traditions.
To contribute to preserving and spreading the typical products of their homeland, many households in Nam Dan district still pass on the craft of making soy sauce from generation to generation, including the soy sauce product brand "Sa Nam Huong Duong" of Sa Nam Soy Sauce Production and Processing Agricultural Cooperative, which was recognized as meeting the "4-star" OCOP standard in 2019, and was also certified by the Provincial People's Committee as a typical rural industrial product at the provincial level.
Ms. Ho Thi Huong - Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Director of the Sa Nam Huong Duong Agricultural Cooperative for Production and Processing of Soy Sauce shared: Previously, the basic processing step was based on traditional experience, but when registering to participate in the One Commune One Product OCOP Program, the facility researched and invested to improve quality, ensure food hygiene and safety standards, focus on packaging, labels, barcodes, product traceability stamps, etc. Sa Nam Soy Sauce has also spread widely with consumption 2-3 times higher than before; not only consumed domestically in the province but also spread to many other provinces and cities and in the near future will enter supermarkets.
Unlike the OCOP Sa Nam soy sauce product built on the basis of traditional local specialties, OCOP products from lotus were built and developed starting from lotus trees grown in Uncle Ho's hometown. From only the native pink lotus variety of the ancient lotus line with purple stripes with a modest area in Kim Lien commune, up to now, in Nam Dan district, there have been 27 lotus varieties of the white and pink lotus line with a total area of over 50 hectares in the communes: Nam Giang, Nam Anh, Nam Thanh, Thuong Tan Loc, Khanh Son... Uncle Ho's hometown lotus not only creates a highlight in the landscape and cultural space of the countryside, but from the lotus tree, through the Uncle Ho's Hometown Lotus Cooperative, 15 lotus products have been built, of which 11 products meet the OCOP standards of "4 stars" and "3 stars" to serve the needs and tastes of the people, especially tourists.
Currently, the products of lotus leaf tea; lotus flower tea; lotus tea; lotus rice tea; lotus heart tea; white lotus queen tea; and dried lotus seeds of Sen Que Bac Cooperative are ordered by customers in almost all provinces and cities across the country. Notably, in 2020, OCOP Sen Que Bac products were available in the Korean market through a Korean distribution enterprise. According to Mr. Pham Kim Tien - Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director of Sen Que Bac Cooperative, the "ambition" of the Cooperative is to bring the products to the world market.
In addition to the two typical local products mentioned above, Nam Dan district currently has a total of 73 products that meet OCOP standards from "3 stars" to "4 stars" - leading the whole province in terms of quantity and quality of OCOP products. OCOP products in Nam Dan district are built and developed in 2 groups: Group of traditional local products; Group based on exploiting available raw materials in the area is the group with the most products, such as products from Uncle Ho's hometown lotus, from cassava, lemons on Thien Nhan mountain range, ham products, salted chicken, honey, brown rice, rice vermicelli... Divided by usage groups, including food group, herbal group, beverage group; rural tourism service group; souvenir group, furniture, decoration...
Nam Dan is still an agricultural district. In recent years, with the promotion of the application of science and technology along with the dynamism and adaptation to market needs of the people, the district's agricultural economy has improved in the direction of commodities. Small-scale industry, trade and services have also developed in a diverse manner. This is an important basis for the district to implement the One Commune One Product (OCOP) Program according to the general policy of the Government and the One Commune One Product Project of Nghe An province in the period of 2019-2020, with a vision to 2030.
According to comrade Nguyen Hong Son - Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Nam Dan district, with the awareness that OCOP products are the "brand" of the locality, associated with building tourism products; building and developing OCOP products to ensure the implementation of the criteria of advanced new rural areas, increasing income for people, the district has directed very strongly, attaching responsibility to the heads of Party committees and authorities, especially communes that do not have products yet, must build them and have products.
The district requires localities to carefully consider and select products to build on the basis of proposals from product owners during the direction process, avoiding the idea of following trends or doing things "for show". In addition to the responsibility of product manufacturers, specialized units at district and commune levels also participate in supporting the completion of product cycles and standards. The products selected for inclusion in the OCOP product development roadmap are key products with brands and consumption markets in the district, on that basis spreading to markets outside the district and outside the province. With that direction, currently 19/19 communes and towns have OCOP products with a total of 73 products.
The Chairman of Nam Dan District People's Committee also said that in the orientation of developing OCOP products of Nam Dan district, it is associated with tourism development, so in the coming time, the district will focus on directing the construction of booths to display and introduce products at tourist and service destinations in the area; at the same time, strengthen promotion, connection, and spread products nationwide and reach out to the world market through trade promotion activities, trade fairs, exhibitions; promote on media, websites, etc.
At the same time, continue to diversify and improve the quality of OCOP products, focusing on products with potential to serve tourism well, creating resonance to complete the goal of making Nam Dan a model new rural district in cultural development associated with tourism by 2025.
