OCOP products in Can Tho are diverse but purchasing power is not as expected

Purchasing power is limited

Recently, the agricultural sector of Can Tho City has organized many activities to introduce and promote OCOP products, including promoting the connection of OCOP products to tourist businesses, sightseeing spots, restaurants, etc. in the area.

Typically, the event of the OCOP Can Tho and Western region product introduction and sales point, the "Western Specialties" Festival with a scale of more than 50 booths of OCOP Mekong Delta specialty products and booths of Southern folk cakes, specialty fruits, unique cuisine ... attracted a large number of people and tourists to visit and experience.

However, the revenue of OCOP specialty product booths is not really commensurate with the number of visitors.

Photo: Yen Phuong — OCOP products are beautifully displayed at events in Can Tho . Photo: Organizing Committee

Sharing with Lao Dong Newspaper reporter, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City said that the tourist attractions here are very fun and interesting, and the food depends on each person's taste, but if choosing to buy OCOP products to enjoy or as gifts, it is not really attractive.

At the same time, when visiting the OCOP product booths, Ms. TT D. (Ngoc Hien district, Ca Mau province) also shared her pride when Ca Mau province had OCOP products displayed at the event along with typical OCOP products of Can Tho and the West, but she only visited and enjoyed the dishes at the rural market area and did not buy any OCOP products.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen (26 years old, a tourist from Kien Giang) said that although she knows that OCOP products have good value and quality, her family has always tended to buy items with cheaper prices than similar OCOP products.

According to some OCOP booth owners, not only at this event, but also at many other programs and events where they participated in displaying OCOP booths, purchasing power was still limited, not as expected.

Not clear about OCOP products

An OCOP product stall owner commented that currently most customers do not understand what OCOP products are. They also do not know what the concept of 3 stars or 4 stars is. If they do, they have only heard about it but do not really understand OCOP. This is one of the reasons why consumers are reluctant to approach the products.

It is worth mentioning that not only consumers, but sometimes even the product owners themselves do not fully understand the OCOP program and OCOP products.

Ms. Nguyen Hue (a tourist from Quang Nam) shared that at the recent Ao Ba Ba and Ao Dai Festival with a scale of 5,000 people in Can Tho City, she visited the Old Market Corner area and was introduced and invited by the stall owners to display OCOP products. However, when she asked what OCOP products meant, the sellers at this stall could not explain.

“Immediately after that, I directly shared the meaning of OCOP products with the people present at the booth, hoping that they could better understand the products they were selling so they could introduce them to people and tourists,” Ms. Hue expressed.

According to Vice Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee Nguyen Ngoc He, the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program is an economic development program in rural areas based on the advantages of promoting intelligence, creativity, resources, raw materials, and local culture.

After 4 years of implementing the OCOP program, Can Tho City now has over 100 products certified with 3-4 star OCOP, ranging from clean vegetables, fresh fruits, processed foods from agricultural products, tea products from plants, etc. In the coming time, Can Tho City will strive to train, guide, and help entities develop products certified with 5-star OCOP at the national level.

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