Upgrading OCOP products

The rating of OCOP products symbolizes their quality and competitiveness in the market as well as potential for commodity-oriented product development.

Ramie cake of Nga Toi production facility is the first product in Ninh Giang district, Hai Duong province, to win a three-star OCOP certificate and then a four-star one in 2022.

The rating was upgraded thanks to the facility’s purchase of more machines for gradual shift to automation and improvement of packaging and labels.

All input materials are produced under VietGAP. Especially, sticky rice is taken from high quality rice cultivation areas in Chi Linh city and Kinh Mon provincial town.

“Our sales have doubled since upgrading, exceeding 2,000 cakes/day,” said Nguyen Thi Nga, the facility owner.

Bach Dang Clean Agricultural Product Production and Trading Cooperative successfully upgraded its Dai Uyen red-fleshed dragon fruit from three to four stars in the same year of 2022.

This is also one of the first OCOP products in Kinh Mon provincial town to be certified in 2020.

There are more than 60 ha of red-fleshed dragon fruit in the provincial town’s Bach Dang commune, including 11.5 ha of Bach Dang Clean Agricultural Product Production and Trading Cooperative which have been granted a GlobalGAP certificate and a production unit code for export to Australia, the US, and China.

After more than four years of implementation, Hai Duong province has got 138 three-star and 94 four-star OCOP products, two of which have been proposed for five-star certification.

Nga Toi ramie cake and Dai Uyen red-fleshed dragon fruit are the first two products in the province to achieve the goal of upgrading from three to four stars.

These are typical products with good market access and potential to earn five stars, assessed the provincial Rural Development Division.

Hai Duong aims to annually have at least 50 products given three stars or more, including a minimum of one five-star product, and upgrade about 10% of OCOP products, with priority given to product development in association with building brands and rural tourism services.

TRAN HIEN