Immature OCOP products have difficulty entering supermarkets

Expecting supermarkets but also wanting to "go it alone", OCOP products cannot reach consumers through modern distribution channels.

Recently, many OCOP products has been affirming its quality, making its mark on the map of Vietnam and many countries in the world , but in reality, OCOP products are not yet attractive to consumers. Many enterprises, cooperatives, and production and business entities share that accessing and bringing products into the supermarket system is still facing many difficulties, especially for small-scale establishments, leading to a decrease in competitiveness...

OCOP products are promoted at Central Retail Vietnam's supermarket system. Photo: Vu Tan

Tien Duong Cooperative (Dong Anh District, Hanoi ) has 4 products recognized as OCOP, mainly organic vegetables, along with medicinal products such as golden flower tea and some copyrighted medicinal materials. Ms. Pham Thi Ly - Director of Tien Duong Organic Agricultural Cooperative - said that as a small cooperative, our products are chosen to be associated with local values. With Tien Duong, Dong Anh has been a safe vegetable production commune of the city for many years, the choice associated with local development is leafy vegetables. However, Dong Anh is in the process of becoming a district, we have to face the fact that the entire vegetable growing area is in the planning.

After the land improvement period, our products have been brought to consumers with great satisfaction. Currently, the quantity of our products is produced according to plan and meets the needs of local consumers, there is no longer enough quantity to put in supermarkets. That is the difficulty in expanding the area and getting stuck in urban planning. This year, Tien Duong Organic Agriculture Cooperative had to invest in cooperation with Soc Son, Thai Nguyen to have a stable source of planting to ensure the supply and quality of the output of the products.

Golden Cow Milk Joint Stock Company (Ba Vi District, Hanoi) currently has more than 10 products that meet 4-star OCOP standards, of which milk cakes and yogurt are typical. "If we can enter the supermarket channel, our brand will be known and trusted by many people and will certainly sell more products," Ms. Phan Uyen - Head of Sales Department of Golden Cow Milk Joint Stock Company - shared and said that the enterprise is currently only consuming through small retail stores, not yet accessing supermarket systems. The reason is that to enter the supermarket system, it is necessary to pay a fee to open the barcode and have to deposit goods and pay in installments. The representative of this enterprise proposed that the supermarket have a policy to support the fee to open the code to enter the supermarket system, and support the payment of goods for enterprises when bringing goods in to support manufacturers and distributors.

Also facing difficulties in bringing products into the modern retail system, Mr. Dam Van Dua - Director of Dong Cao General Service Cooperative stated the current situation, Dong Cao Service Cooperative (Me Linh district, Hanoi) has an area of 200 hectares with a vegetable output of 60,000 tons/year.

Although Hanoi City has a system supermarket modern but currently the consumption of vegetables of the Cooperative is mainly through traders of the traditional market system in Hanoi and the provinces. On average from 40 tons/day, especially during peak consumption periods during holidays and Tet, it can be up to 400 tons/day. The process of bringing green vegetables meeting OCOP standards into the supermarket system for consumption faces many difficulties in preservation and transportation.

The representative of Dong Cao General Service Cooperative also proposed that the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade support businesses in labeling OCOP products when bringing products into the retail consumption system, thereby the Cooperative can prove the origin of the products.

Meanwhile, the distribution side also has its own difficulties. Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Dung - Director Supermarket Co.op Mart Ha Dong said that the Saigon Co.op retail chain currently has more than 130 OCOP products. Vietnamese agricultural products are always given priority for sale in good locations, especially during peak harvest season. However, in order for OCOP products to enter this sales channel, they must meet requirements regarding the product introduction process, quality, and payment.

In addition, to OCOP products To be known to more customers, OCOP entities, in addition to focusing on ensuring product quality and output, also need to focus on designing eye-catching packaging to attract customers, through which consumers can understand the story of the product, creating a difference from OCOP products of other regions.

To date, the country has had more than 13,000 OCOP products with 3 stars or more. Of these, nearly 74% have 3 stars, nearly 25% have 4 stars, and 42 products have 5 stars, with the rest having 5-star potential. The OCOP program has attracted more than 7,400 participants, including cooperatives, enterprises, production facilities, and cooperative groups.

Although the OCOP “imprint” is relatively clear, the consumption of these products still has certain difficulties. One of the reasons for this problem is that there are few processed products and the production scale is still small, leading to limited competitiveness of the products.

In addition to the scale factor, the management capacity of the participants in the OCOP Program is weak, there is a lack of knowledge about the market economy, the understanding of some grassroots cadres and production entities about product quality management is limited, some key products face difficulties in capital and processing and preservation technology. In addition, the promotion and consumption of OCOP products have not been as expected.

In recent times, departments, branches, functions and distribution enterprises have also made great efforts to increase the presence of OCOP products on supermarket shelves.

Particularly for supermarket systems, in addition to 0% discount, some supermarkets have organized weekly goods and markets specializing in OCOP products right on the supermarket premises. In addition, distributors and supermarket systems also organize direct working sessions between businesses, cooperatives, and entities, from which, OCOP entities know the requirements, standards, and "in-stock" capabilities.

The support of authorities and supermarket systems is just a "catalyst". Obviously, the efforts of one side are not enough, the core problem must still come from the production subject. For OCOP products to enter supermarkets, they must "mature" and comply with the common rules of the market. retail modern.

Only when OCOP entities and modern retailers are on the same "track", can OCOP products "firmly establish" in this distribution channel.

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