Finding a direction for craft village products: Lesson 1: Lack of branding

(Baonghean) - After 15 years of implementing Resolution No. 06/NQ-TU on industrial and handicraft development and craft village construction in the 2011-2020 period, our province has 133 craft villages and more than 400 villages with crafts. Craft villages have solved a large number of surplus labor in the locality, especially labor in rural areas; gradually solved the problem of "leaving agriculture but not leaving home", stabilizing social security; contributing to preserving the unique culture of each region and each locality. However, many craft villages face many difficulties in production and especially in product consumption...

"Secret" output...

Among the recognized craft villages in the province, the bamboo and rattan weaving craft village accounts for the largest number with 43 craft villages and more than 13 thousand workers, including more than 3,700 regular workers. Previously, bamboo and rattan weaving craft villages developed strongly at many times, contributing significantly to solving the labor problem in rural areas, preserving national culture and creating many export products, bringing high economic efficiency. However, in recent years, most bamboo and rattan weaving craft villages have only developed moderately because they cannot take the initiative in raw material sources, prices have increased, while output is difficult. According to the 2014 classification of craft villages by the Provincial Cooperative Union, out of 43 craft villages, only Nghi Loc district has 14/14 bamboo and rattan weaving craft villages that maintain stability, while the remaining bamboo and rattan weaving craft villages in other districts are operating sluggishly. For example, Dien Chau district has 4 craft villages, all of which are classified as weak; Quynh Luu district has 9 craft villages, but only Dong Van rattan and bamboo weaving village in Quynh Dien commune is operating stably, while the remaining 8 craft villages are all in a weak state.

Production of bamboo and rattan products for export in Quynh Dien commune (Quynh Luu).

The value of rattan and bamboo weaving is still low, the development is still spontaneous, scattered, unsustainable, and the production scale is small. Moreover, the production style is still heavily influenced by leisure farming, the linkage is not tight, the designs and markets are limited, so there is no price competition. Previously, the whole province had more than 10 enterprises that purchased products for rattan and bamboo weaving villages, but now there are only 6 enterprises, most of which are small-scale, with weak adaptability and quick response to market fluctuations. Therefore, although rattan and bamboo weaving products of Nghe An craft villages are present in many international markets, the price is low and the number of orders has decreased.

Along with rattan and bamboo weaving, many years ago, brocade was one of the products that our province invested a lot in, especially to support the development of the profession and promote the introduction of products. This is also an item that is expected to become a tourism product, because brocade weaving is a long-standing traditional profession of the mountainous districts of Western Nghe An and an inseparable cultural feature of the ethnic minorities. However, the problem of product consumption has encountered many difficulties and this is one of the reasons why the industry has "stagnated" and has not developed as expected. Hoa Tien brocade weaving village cooperative produces over 4,000 products of all kinds each year, mainly consumed through an intermediary unit, the Hanoi Center for Research and Linkage of Brocade and Fine Arts. Consumption through fairs is very little because each year the unit is only supported to participate in one or two fairs.

Ms. Ha Thi Phuong Van, Head of Hai Van Brocade Textile Cooperative, after nearly 10 years of working on training brocade weaving for the districts of Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Thanh Chuong, Tan Ky, Quy Chau and devoting much effort to Nghe An brocade products, confided: “Although Nghe An brocade products have many unique patterns, they are difficult to sell. Because workers in our province are not up to date, they only make traditional products, according to personal preferences, so they have not attracted tourists. For example, it takes us one or two months to make products worth 500,000 - 700,000 VND, while tourists only need small, pretty products at reasonable prices. If we receive a large order, it is difficult to complete because the workers in the brocade weaving profession are mainly middle-aged people, working during the off-season, so they have not determined this as a main source of income, their skills are not high, there is a lack of skilled workers to create new products...”.

Along with bamboo and rattan weaving, brocade, carpentry, stone making, and the craft of making handicraft products from seashells are also increasingly fading away and being competed with by products from other provinces and cities right at home. Concerned about this issue, Mr. Tran Van Huy, Head of Policy Consulting Department - Cooperative Alliance, said: For a long time, we have only developed craft villages based on quantity but have not invested in quality, lacking key industries. Therefore, the products are similar to each other, without investment, without the mark of the craft village, regional color. We have not invested much in product design and quality. The reason is that there is a lack of skilled craftsmen in many craft villages, especially highly skilled craftsmen. Craft villages still develop spontaneously, following the tradition of father to son, without really having a fundamental strategy to develop the products of the craft village. On the other hand, the production activities of craft villages are mainly on a family scale, so investment in technological equipment to improve productivity and reduce product costs is very limited. The production links between families are not tight, so they have not taken advantage of common services to reduce production and circulation costs. Therefore, in addition to the ability to compete in design, the ability to compete in price of craft village products also faces many difficulties. Craft villages still produce what they have, with familiar designs, not what the market needs.

The difficulty of building a brand

In the current context of trade liberalization, for the province's traditional craft villages to develop sustainably, building a brand is necessary and the right direction. When building a brand, it will increase the competitiveness of the product, finding a consumer market will be more convenient, especially, exported products will not have to go through intermediaries or use the brand of partners when exporting, thereby increasing the value and revenue of the craft village. But the sad reality is that the craft village products in our province do not have a "famous" brand in the region and become a famous product throughout the country such as Ngu Hanh Son stone (Da Nang city), Hue sesame candy, Dong Ky wood (Bac Ninh), Ben Tre coconut candy... The reason is that the building and labeling of brands has not been invested in and focused on; Nghe An's craft village products are mixed among countless other products...

The Dong Ha confectionery village, Xuan Bac (Dien Van commune, Dien Chau district) has a history of over 70 years with over 150 households living off the craft. Peanut candy is the main one. This candy is different from Cu Do of Ha Tinh because it has the sweetness of sugarcane and of the fruit, the nutty taste of peanuts and the crunchiness that only the local people have. The villagers are also very proud because the village's products are present all over the country and are widely accepted by consumers. The total revenue of the first 6 months of 2015 of the craft village alone is over 17 billion VND.

But because there is no brand, the confectionery of Dong Ha and Xuan Bac is confused with products from other regions. Some places even counterfeit and imitate the village's products, producing low-quality products, causing loss of reputation. In that situation, to protect the "reputation" of the craft village, business households create their own brand and comfort themselves that regular customers will listen to the "reputation" to choose the right quality products. Some households even go to Hanoi to put labels, write specific addresses and phone numbers under each product so that customers can verify the quality. Mr. Hoang Tien Long, Vice Chairman of Dien Van Commune People's Committee, said: "Building a brand is not easy because the craft village must develop on a large scale, but now in Dien Van it is only on a family scale."

In recent years, Nghe An has had a number of policies for craft villages to build brands, register labels and products. Thanks to that, a number of products have been protected exclusively such as Quy Chau incense, Lien Duc incense (Thanh Chuong), Thuy Lieu incense (Thai Hoa), Hai Giang 1 fish sauce (Cua Lo town), Cua Hoi fish sauce, Phuc My wine (Hung Nguyen)... However, building brands for craft villages is still very difficult and the number of craft villages that have collective brands only accounts for a very small percentage. One of the reasons why many people in craft villages are not interested in building brands is the "relying on tradition" mentality of the craftsmen themselves. According to them, because of the long tradition, many people will know the products of their craft village, so building a brand is... redundant. For example, in Phuc My wine-making craft village, up to now, this is the only wine-making craft village in the whole province that has built a brand. Mr. Le Xuan Cuc, Head of the craft village, shared: “Phuc My wine-making village has been around for nearly 100 years, but its products are still “unknown” on the market because they are not labeled. The good news is that the craft village has now received support and assistance in building its brand. The villagers are very confident that their products are no longer mixed with other products.”

Another reason why craft villages in our province are not very interested in building product brands is because of the manual, fragmented, small-scale production by households, most of which are conducted separately "each doing their own thing", so the connection between households in the craft village is not high. Meanwhile, investing in modern machinery and equipment and introducing and promoting products costs a lot of money. At Quynh Doi incense craft village, Mr. Ho Quoc Viet, Head of the craft village association, was also concerned when he heard that the district was building a brand for the craft village: "I think, if a collective brand has been built, there must be a common development mechanism for the craft village. If the brand is built but still developed on a household scale, it will be difficult for the brand to develop. Many households even do not want to use the collective brand for fear of affecting the reputation and quality of their family's products...".

(To be continued)

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