Cua Lo's seafood specialties elevated to OCOP status.
(Baonghean.vn) - Besides swimming, relaxing, and learning about local customs and traditions, tourists visiting Cua Lo also have the opportunity to buy local specialties. To meet this demand, Cua Lo has developed many OCOP (One Commune One Product) products over the years...
A wide variety of seafood specialties
“In just two weeks, our seafood shop will undergo a complete makeover in preparation for the tourist season,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Tai, owner of Tam Tai seafood shop in Nghi Thuy ward, Cua Lo town, proudly showing off the newly redesigned shop. The new shop still occupies an area of approximately 40 square meters.2Instead of simply having a few freezers to store seafood and a display case to showcase the company's specialty shredded mackerel fish floss, the facility now invests heavily in its design, interior, and layout.
Regarding this change, the shop owner added: "Due to our connections with travel companies, our shop is quite busy during the tourist season. Therefore, to make it more appealing, we believe that in addition to product quality, the display area also needs investment and attention. This will create a positive impression on customers when they visit the shop."
Tam Tai Seafood is one of the largest seafood suppliers in Cua Lo town. Besides developing seafaring, fishing, and cold storage businesses, the company has expanded into seafood processing in recent years. Three of its products have been recognized as OCOP (One Commune One Product) products: grilled mackerel, mackerel fish cakes, and mackerel floss. In preparation for the tourist season, in addition to renovating the shop, the family is also focusing on purchasing and stocking up on goods to serve the peak season.
Sharing more about this, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tai said: "March and September are the seafood harvesting seasons. This year, in particular, we've had a bumper crop of mackerel, and we've been able to purchase a lot of seafood every day, all of which is guaranteed to be of high quality. The products will be carefully processed and packaged to make it convenient for customers who come from far away to shop."
After more than a year of registering and having her products recognized as OCOP (One Commune One Product), Ms. Phan Thi Phuong - representative of Son Huyen seafood processing facility (Nghi Hai ward) said: Previously, despite having more than 20 years of experience in freezing and processing seafood, her family's methods were completely traditional, including in product promotion and sales. That's why in previous years, even though her family had been approached many times by travel companies or owners of electric vehicles to connect with tourists to visit and buy products, they had refused.
However, over the past year, after three of their products – special squid patties, seafood spring rolls, and battered shrimp – were recognized as OCOP products, the family has had many opportunities to participate in seminars, training courses, and trade fairs to showcase their products. As a result, their marketing and sales methods have changed. Therefore, their business is no longer limited to markets and small traders, but has expanded to reach a wider audience by connecting through social media and partnering with travel and tourism companies.
On this occasion, despite being busy preparing to promote their products at the International Trade Fair in Hanoi as introduced by the Nghe An Trade Promotion Center, Ms. Phan Thi Phuong's family is also preparing the facilities to open another store near the Vinpearl Cua Lo entertainment complex.
With many years of experience in seafood processing, we are confident in the quality of our family's OCOP products. In the near future, when we open our new store, we aim to not only showcase our products but also implement a complete, integrated production process.
Visitors can directly observe the product processing and packaging process while shopping.
Improve product quality
In just three years since its implementation, Cua Lo town has had more than 20 products recognized as OCOP products, including 3 products recognized as 4-star OCOP products and the rest as 3-star OCOP products. While previously OCOP products mainly consisted of fish sauce, shrimp paste, and pickled shrimp, the program has now expanded to include many new products in the seafood processing industry such as grilled mackerel, squid patties, mackerel patties, shredded dried fish, peanut candy, and nutritional cereals.
Accompanying the units in the process of preparing dossiers and procedures for OCOP product recognition, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Chung - an officer of the Economic Department - People's Committee of Cua Lo town, said: Most people engaged in seafood processing businesses in Cua Lo have many years of experience in production and business and they have a stable customer base.
Therefore, when we first launched the OCOP program, we faced many difficulties because many businesses were reluctant to change, afraid of cumbersome procedures and strict standards and regulations. However, now that more and more products are registered and recognized as OCOP products, people have begun to change their thinking. They realize that if their family's product has been recognized as an OCOP product, they have a "ticket" guaranteeing safety and reliability to reach consumers.
Nguyen Thi Hao's seafood business (Nghi Hai ward) is the latest establishment to complete the procedures so that its processed products will soon be recognized as OCOP products. With five main products including squid patties, mackerel patties, shrimp wrapped in rice paper, crispy fried shrimp, and seafood spring rolls… these are all popular items, showcasing the unique flavors of Cua Lo seafood.
With high expectations for this program, Ms. Hao added: “Once recognized as OCOP products, they will have labels, their quality will be protected, and customers will feel confident choosing our products. This is also an opportunity for us to introduce and promote our products, build our brand, and boost distribution and consumption, increasing production volume.”
With an increasing variety of products, tourists visiting Cua Lo will have more opportunities to choose meaningful souvenirs to take home during this year's tourist season. It is known that during the 2024 tourist season, Cua Lo town will organize many activities related to the 30th anniversary of its establishment, such as: a street music festival on weekend nights, a fishing festival, and a lantern festival.
In particular, activities will be organized to link Cua Lo tourism with historical and cultural sites, spiritual landmarks, and traditional craft villages with OCOP products; and typical industrial and agricultural products in the area. Hopefully, these will be new experiences that help tourists better understand Cua Lo and trust and choose quality products produced and processed by the people of this coastal town.
Since 2020, the People's Committee of Cua Lo town has issued Decision No. 3434/QD-UBND dated December 31, 2020, approving the project "Application of science and technology in seafood exploitation and processing and clean agricultural production associated with creating products to serve tourism 2020 - 2025 and subsequent years".
Accordingly, the People's Committee of the town will provide support of 10 million VND for products that meet the OCOP 3-star standard; 15 million VND for products that meet the OCOP 4-star standard; and 20 million VND for products that meet the OCOP 5-star standard.