Increase product value

Branding is necessary

The above story shared by Ms. Vo Thi Tam Dan - Director of Golden Dragon Tea Joint Stock Company in a discussion on "Building a national brand for Vietnamese agricultural products", shows the necessity of building and developing brands for agricultural products.

Vietnam is a country with many of the world's leading agricultural exports such as rice, coffee, pepper, cashews, fruits, vegetables, seafood... Almost every locality has famous specialties associated with the place name. However, currently, very few agricultural products are registered for trademark protection. Many Vietnamese agricultural exports do not have their own logos or labels, and have not fully participated in the global value chain... This is what makes the value of the products low.

It is necessary to build brands for Vietnamese agricultural products. Photo: Thanh Thuy

Discussing this issue, Mr. Pham Ngoc Anh Tung - founder of Foodmap recalled that 6 years ago, Vietnamese oolong tea was only sold for 9 USD/kg, while Taiwan exported the same type to the US for up to 100 USD/kg. Mr. Tung emphasized that most of Vietnam's agricultural products are mainly exported in raw form. If we know how to increase product value, build brands and improve quality, we can completely double or even triple the export value.

Many studies have shown that branding agricultural products is necessary because of its important role in agricultural and rural development, contributing to preserving traditional cultural values, preserving biodiversity, promoting the development of production and trade activities and increasing the added value of Vietnam's agricultural products.

Obviously, building and developing brands for agricultural products will bring high value, but why is it that up to 80% of Vietnam's agricultural export products have not yet built a brand, do not have their own logos or labels...?

An economic expert analyzed that this shows that Vietnam has only participated in the stage of creating the least value in the global agricultural value chain. The reason comes from all three parties (the State, enterprises and farmers). For example, promoting the brand of Vietnamese agricultural products is not strong enough. Meanwhile, enterprises do not have a large enough area, so if they want to export, they have to go through traders. Farmers also do not want to "break the banks of their fields" to participate in large-scale production. If these difficulties are resolved, building agricultural product brands will be easier.

Positive signals

The story of developing honey beekeeping associated with building OCOP products in Nam Nhun district (Lai Chau) is a positive signal. Taking advantage of the forest area of ​​more than 79.5 thousand hectares, in Nam Nhun district, there have been many honey beekeeping models that have brought efficiency to households and cooperatives.

Up to now, Nam Nhun has been supported with 1,249 beekeeping boxes for 2 cooperatives and 18 households, with a total cost of over 874 million VND. Beekeeping households focus on applying techniques in the stages of raising, exploiting and preserving honey. Thanks to that, they have successfully built 3 honey products that meet 3-star OCOP standards, namely: Honey from the upper Da River; Le Loi macadamia honey; Le Loi wild flower honey. In the near future, it is expected that there will be more turmeric starch honey from the upper Da River and bee pollen from the upper Da River.

With an economic value of 2-2.5 million VND/barrel/year, many households in Nam Nhun not only escaped poverty but also identified it as a new economic development direction that could help them get rich.

To build a brand for honey products, the specialized agency of Nam Nhun district has advised, supported, and guided the subjects registering to participate in the evaluation and classification of OCOP products to invest in machinery and equipment to ensure the process of exploitation, processing, and preservation of products; design of brands, models, packaging, and trademark registration. The local Party Committee and government also pay attention to supporting enterprises, cooperatives, and households to develop production and business plans, access capital sources, and markets.

In Thanh Hoa, a locality with many agricultural products, the province identifies brand building and development as a "fulcrum" for sustainable development of agricultural products, creating trust among consumers, expanding consumption markets, and increasing income for people.

Accordingly, the agricultural sector and localities in Thanh Hoa have focused on planning growing areas and building specialized growing areas in the direction of VietGAP, GlobalGAP, Organic... At the same time, actively attracting investment in deep processing of fruit products to increase product value.

Currently, there are a number of products that have been granted collective trademarks such as Nhu Xuan oranges and guavas; Van Du oranges (Thach Thanh); Mai An Tiem watermelons (Nga Son); Luan Van grapefruit (Tho Xuan) granted geographical indications... and OCOP products in Tho Xuan, Nhu Xuan, Thach Thanh, Yen Dinh districts...

According to statistics, Thanh Hoa province has 62 trademark protection certificates for agricultural and craft village products and 42 other agricultural, forestry and fishery products with certified trademarks.

The local people themselves also realize that the above figures are quite modest compared to the number of nearly 200 agricultural products in the province. The reason for the "limitation" in agricultural product brands is that the people and the agricultural management agencies are not aware of building brands for their products.

The story of Thanh Hoa province is just an example. This situation exists in many localities across the country. To promote product value, experts say that localities need to continue to encourage organizations and individuals to innovate, improve production processes and product quality, increase the application of digital technology in product management and trade; focus on investing in building brands and trademarks of agricultural products associated with the strengths of each region, thereby expanding consumption markets and aiming for export.

In particular, it is necessary to consider that each agricultural product is a "cultural ambassador" of a locality. Each product represents the traditions, customs, and living habits of the people there. When visiting and shopping for products, tourists always need to be fully informed about the special features of the product, from the source of raw materials, processing, production, and even the value of use...

Therefore, building agricultural product brands cannot be delayed as it directly creates economic value as well as contributes to preserving traditional cultural values ​​in the context of deep integration as today.

Although it is in the top 15 largest agricultural exporting countries in the world, Vietnam's agricultural products are still mainly exported in raw form, with low economic value, and even have to carry foreign brands.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/xay-dung-va-phat-trien-thuong-hieu-nong-san-gia-tang-gia-tri-san-pham-353268.html