HCM City (VNS/VNA)ꩲ – Food producers in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta are ramping up production under their 'One commune - One product' (OCOP) programme to meet demand for the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) festival.

In the lead-up to the festival, which falls on January 29, sales of high-quality and specialty products, especially OCOP items, normally increase significantly. The delta, which is the country’s largest producer of rice, fruits and seafood, has nearly 3,000 OCOP products rated between three and five stars. These OCOP products are mostly food, fruits, seafood, rice and related products. In Long An province, OCOP products such as organic purple rice, processed Chinese white olive products, and red chilli salt in Vinh Hung district are in high demand in domestic and foreign markets during Tet. Chinese white olives are grown in many border areas in Vinh Hung and are used to make various processed products such as dried, sweet, and spiced white olives mixed with chilli, salt and sugar. Tran Thi Ngoc Lan, owner of Ngoc Lan production establishment in Vinh Hung, produces nine types of processed Chinese white olive products, many kinds of red chilli salt, tamarind sauce and other products. Her Chinese white olive products have been recognised as three-star OCOP items and are awaiting four-star recognition. For this Tet, she has received orders to export 1.2 tonnes of products to many markets, including the US, Singapore, the Republic of Korea and Australia. The export quantity matches that of last Tet, but amid current economic challenges, with people in many countries reducing their year-end spending, this achievement is an unexpected success for a small business in a remote border area. “The prices of domestically sold and exported products are the same. After deducting cost, I earn a profit of 20%,” she said. In Kien Giang province, producers are busy producing high-quality OCOP products to meet the demand of consumers, maintain their brand names and improve incomes. The Hon Dat Hoa Loc Mango Co-operative in Hon Dat district’s Tho Son commune is estimated to supply more than 500 tonnes of Hoa Loc mangoes for domestic and export markets during this Tet. According to Vo Thanh Do, its director, two years after receiving recognition for producing a four-star OCOP product, the cooperative’s Hoa Loc mangoes have been bought by many traders so its sales are stable. The cooperative has more than 150 members who grow Hoa Loc mango on a total of 431ha under Vietnamese good agricultural practices (VietGAP) standards. The price of the cooperative’s Hoa Loc mangoes is 60,000 - 65,000 VND (2.4 - 2.6 USD) per kg this Tet, increasing the profit from mango farming to 200 million VND (7,900 USD) per hectare annually. The Hieu Phat Agricultural Service Cooperative in Vinh Thuan district’s Phong Dong commune produces 700 kg – 1 tonne of various kinds of dried fish and fermented fish a month in normal days. It has three three-star OCOP products – dried shrimp, fermented sour shrimp and dried snakehead fish. Le Thi Kim Thoa, its director, said in lunar November and December (December of last year and January) before this Tet, retailers and consumers had increased placing orders for Tet, so the sale quantity was double compared to normal times. The number of consumers ordering products had increased in the past month so she had mobilised more than 20 workers to buy input materials, process and dry shrimp and fish, and package finished products, she said. “The cooperative always puts product quality and food safety first, does not use artificial colour and preservatives, and dries shrimp and fish under the sun so they have a sweet and fragrant taste,” she said.

Food safety

Local authorities in the delta’s 12 provinces and Can Tho city are strengthening the inspection of the quality and food safety of products for Tet. They are enhancing the awareness of producers, traders and consumers about food safety. Vo Thi Muoi, owner of Oanh Muoi glutinous rice snowflake cake producing establishment in Long An province’s Can Duoc district, said: “This Tet, my establishment produces more than 1,000 cakes based on the orders of customers. To ensure food safety, I check each stage of the production process and carefully select input materials for making the cake.” Huynh Minh Phuc, director of the Long An provincial Department of Health and deputy head of the province Inter-sectoral Steering Committee on Food Safety and Hygiene, said that to ensure food safety during Tet and Spring festivals in 2025, the steering committee had set up a plan to secure food safety in producing, processing, trading and consuming food products. The plan also targets to increase inspecting and preventing the production and trading of fake and poor food products, and prevent and control food poisoning, according to Phuc. It mobilises all resources to promote food safety regulations and educate the public on food safety, encouraging participation in preventing the production and trading of fake and substandard food products. It also aims to prevent food poisoning and increases warnings of the risk of food safety during Tet and Spring festivals this year. Long An has set up inspection teams at all levels to inspect food safety at food producing places to protect the rights and health of consumers. At a meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s inspection team early this month, Can Tho city pledged to secure the supply of safe and quality foods for local people this Tet. Speaking at the meeting, Tran Thanh Nam, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, urged the city to enhance advocacy efforts on food safety and the value of OCOP products. The city has 198 OCOP products rated between three and four stars./.