Fruit and vegetable processing industry: Need policies to attract investment

According to the assessment of functional units, Quang Ngai has great potential to develop the fruit and vegetable processing industry. However, there are still many barriers, so each year the fruit and vegetable processing industry in the province only meets less than 10% of the output. Ngoc Bao Thy Mushroom Company Limited, in Quang Phu Ward (Quang Ngai City) is one of the few enterprises in the province operating in the field of fruit and vegetable processing. Although it has just started operating, the products of this enterprise, especially dried and soft-dried fruits, are favored by consumers.

Director of Ngoc Bao Thy Mushroom Company, Huynh Thanh Ha, said that the province has a large number of agricultural products and vegetables, but they are mainly consumed in fresh form, which can easily lead to a backlog of output. After participating in the "rescue" of agricultural products and vegetables, he came up with the idea of ​​drying them manually to extend their shelf life. Realizing the potential of dried fruits and vegetables, Mr. Ha learned and processed some simple products. While working, Mr. Ha learned from experience and monitored and probed market reactions to adjust and improve the processing process.

Dried fruit products of Ngoc Bao Thy Mushroom Company Limited, in Quang Phu Ward (Quang Ngai City) are popular with consumers.

Ngoc Bao Thy Mushroom Company Limited has used advanced drying technology, without using sugar or preservatives but still retaining the natural flavor, ensuring product quality. Each year, the company processes and supplies 10 tons of finished products (equivalent to 50 tons of raw materials) to the market, but at times there are not enough products to supply the market. To ensure the source of raw materials for production, Ngoc Bao Thy Mushroom Company Limited cooperates with cooperatives and gardeners in the province, mainly in Nghia Hanh district to form a supply chain that ensures food safety standards. This is also one of the agricultural, forestry and fishery supply chains that has been granted a certificate of safe food supply chain products by the specialized agency under the Department of Agriculture and Environment.

According to the assessment of the Deputy Head of the Department of Rural Development, Quality Management and Agricultural Product Market of the province, Dang Tan Thuong, the disadvantages of fruits and vegetables are that they are difficult to preserve, the output fluctuates, the quality depends greatly on weather conditions, and the price is unstable. Therefore, processing fruits and vegetables not only helps control the cost but also increases the value and competitiveness of goods in the market, contributing to solving the problem of "good harvest, low price" and vice versa. Thereby, helping farmers feel secure in production, associated with maintaining and improving quality, meeting market requirements.

One of the difficulties in fruit and vegetable processing is small-scale production, which is highly seasonal, causing unstable output and quality. Director of Ngoc Bao Thy Mushroom Company Limited Huynh Thanh Ha said that, in addition to the cost of investing in a storage system and equipment and technology, one of the major "bottlenecks" in the fruit and vegetable processing sector is the passive source of raw materials. At times, the company had to struggle to find raw materials, leading to high production costs. Along with that, people have not paid attention to post-harvest processing, leading to a high loss rate (from 20 - 25%), products are uneven and unstable in size, taste, color, nutrition, etc. Meanwhile, the market for processed fruit and vegetable products is narrow, consumers are picky about products, leading to a high level of competition in both quality and price. Therefore, the company hopes that the authorities will form and manage reasonable growing areas to avoid shortages of raw materials, or raw materials that do not meet requirements on pesticide residues, food safety standards, traceability, etc.

Using an advanced drying system helps dried fruit products of Ngoc Bao Thy Mushroom Company Limited retain their flavor and ensure food safety.

In addition, one of the barriers to the development of the fruit and vegetable processing industry is that there are no large-scale enterprises in the province, mainly small enterprises and households, leading to low competitive value. Therefore, together with enterprises, local authorities need to make efforts to participate in planning and building concentrated and commodity production areas; encourage cooperatives and people to cooperate with enterprises and processing facilities to produce and supply products to meet market demand...

Vice Chairman of Duc Pho Town People's Committee Tran Ngoc Sang said that deep processing and refined processing are fundamental solutions to increase the efficiency of agricultural production as well as people's income. Therefore, the specialized sector needs to research and advise the province to issue mechanisms and policies to attract enterprises with financial and technological potential to act as "locomotives" to lead the development of linkage chains, build processing facilities... At the same time, encourage enterprises and cooperatives to shift product structure towards deep processing and refined processing. Thereby, forming and developing the fruit and vegetable processing industry towards linking value chains from production - processing - consumption stages, contributing to increasing the proportion of products with high added value, aiming at export markets.

Mr. Dinh Van Danh, in Bieu Qua village, Long Son commune (Minh Long) invested in growing jackfruit because the product is purchased by processing facilities at high and stable prices.

In addition, the fruit and vegetable processing industry needs to promote research and apply advanced technology to improve productivity and product quality. Digital transformation and the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in management will help the processing industry create safe and quality products, while protecting the environment. By proactively responding and finding appropriate solutions, the fruit and vegetable processing industry will have great opportunities to develop, increase the value of agricultural products and contribute positively to the province's economy.

Article and photos: THANH PHONG

RELATED NEWS:

Source: https://baoquangngai.vn/kinh-te/202504/nganh-che-bien-rau-qua-can-co-chinh-sach-thu-hut-dau-tu-ee1153c/