Building brand, enhancing the value of Nghe An agricultural products

Create processed products, spread the brand

Established in 2021, Ban Ve Agricultural Production and Service Cooperative (Tuong Duong) determined to follow the path of livestock development, focusing on locally raised natural products such as pigs and fish. After a while, realizing that pig farming was not suitable because it required large capital, techniques and strict farming processes, member households almost completely switched to fish farming on the Ban Ve Hydropower Reservoir.

With the support of the district at 15 million VND/fish cage, natural food sources on the hydroelectric reservoir, people also grow bananas, elephant grass, develop organic fish farming sources and are very popular in the market. However, according to Mr. Luong Van Dong - Director of the cooperative: Only selling fresh fish, not processed, so preservation and consumption are limited, the value of the product is not raised as expected.

In 2024, the Cooperative will receive advice and support from the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development to develop additional processed products.

“We are supported in designing beautiful product models and images, packaging, stamps, product labels with barcodes, QR codes, investment instructions for purchasing necessary machines such as bone grinders, pellet machines, vacuum machines, additional processing of goby products, cleaning, vacuuming and freezing for long-distance transport, and making fish cakes,” said Mr. Luong Van Dong.

Currently, the cooperative is still being supported by the branch to promote the brand, sell processed products at trial prices, and consume 1-2 tons of fish cakes, 1 ton of goby fish, goby fish, and cut fish each year.

As a traditional and specialty product, Nam Dan soy sauce has long been known and favored by customers near and far. In 2019, the soy sauce product brand "Sa Nam Huong Duong" of Sa Nam Soy Sauce Production and Processing Agricultural Cooperative was recognized as meeting 4-star OCOP standards, and was also certified by the Provincial People's Committee as a typical rural industrial product at the provincial level.

However, due to the simple design and bottle, and lack of investment in branding, stamps, and labels, the product has not really spread widely.

Ms. Ho Thi Xuan Huong - Director of Sa Nam Huong Duong Soy Sauce Production and Processing Agricultural Cooperative shared: Previously, the products did not have labels or brands, so they were just made and sold like that, the products were mixed with other products, had no brand, and were mostly only recognized by regular customers, trusted and came to buy.

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Since receiving support from the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development in packaging design, labels, stamps, labels, participation in fairs, product promotion, and supply-demand connection, Sa Nam soy sauce has spread widely with consumption 2-3 times higher than before, currently producing 200-300 liters/day; not only consumed domestically but also spread to many places. We have affirmed our brand, many people buy it as gifts to send to all provinces and cities, from there, customers know it more widely, welcome and favor it.

Ms. Ho Thi Xuan Huong - Director of Sa Nam Huong Duong Soy Sauce Production and Processing Agricultural Cooperative shared

Expanding consumer markets

With a large area, diverse terrain and climate, Nghe An has abundant and rich agricultural resources. However, in processing and building product brands, there are still many limitations and shortcomings, affecting the improvement of product quality and value. Production is mainly fragmented, manual, and small-scale; the number of establishments interested in product design and brand is not much, and they are not proactive in developing the consumption market.

In order to build brands and trace the origin of products, in recent times, the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development has focused on many activities. At the food safety training courses organized by the department from 40 to 50 classes/year, businesses and establishments are propagandized, disseminated to improve knowledge as well as awareness of the importance, necessity and benefits of investing in building brands and product designs.

At the same time, select facilities that have demand and good production but the products have not reached the market to consult and support in creating eye-catching product brand recognition, equip bottles, plastic bags, design and print stamps, labels, issue QR Codes, support product traceability... so that consumers know and have better choices; invest and complete facilities and equipment to meet requirements such as water lines, sanitation works...

From there, businesses are equipped with knowledge as well as awareness of the importance of ensuring food safety and hygiene. Many units with messy facilities have been fully equipped and more orderly; some facilities have not made stamps and labels or have made them but they are sketchy and in violation of regulations, have been guided and supported to create QR Codes, beautiful labels, with full information that needs to be looked up.

Some traditional products, after being supported, have expanded their markets, consumed in supermarkets, and given as gifts thanks to their beautiful designs. Implemented since 2021, up to now, the department has supported 12 establishments and businesses in the province to build product brands.

“We focus on surveying and evaluating the current state of facilities to carry out scientific and technical transfers in agricultural, forestry and fishery processing and organize training courses to support the transfer of processing processes, build product brands and agricultural, forestry and fishery processing models for facilities. Support the design of packaging models, labels, and build product brands for facilities”, said Mr. Nguyen Thai Tuan - Head of the Department of Professional Affairs, Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development.
In the past time, the department has supported the construction of 162 QR Codes, printed and distributed 262,000 stamps containing QR Codes, 29,000 labels and 824 kg of packaging and trays containing products for agricultural, forestry and fishery production establishments. Since the beginning of the year, it has supported the printing of 122,500 labels containing QR Codes, identifying safe products for units; provided support for 10 QR Codes, bringing the total number of codes issued to 162 for 129 establishments.

Along with supporting agricultural product branding, the department focuses on supporting units participating in trade promotion activities, product consumption, through consumption channels, coordinating with provinces and cities to boost product consumption, such as participating in fairs, introducing and promoting products, working to bring them into the supermarket system.

Since the beginning of the year, safe agricultural, forestry and fishery production establishments have participated in fairs such as: Conference on trade and promotion of agricultural, forestry and fishery products between Hanoi City and Nghe An, Ninh Binh and Lam Dong provinces; Fair for promoting trade of agriculture and OCOP products in Hanoi 2024; Trade and Tourism Fair of Tuyen Quang province 2024. It is expected that in 2024, the department will support participation in 20 fairs with nearly 100 booths for nearly 200 product groups participating.
It can be affirmed that although it has not been implemented on many models, the initial results have shown certain changes, supporting businesses, production and processing facilities to develop, contributing to the successful construction of OCOP products.

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In reality, businesses and production facilities that are conscious and focus on building product brands, promoting trade and expanding consumer markets have all developed very well, with products increasingly improved and consumed well and stably.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ha - Head of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development of Nghe An province