“Scars” of Vietnam’s rice industry

When the scandals are not worth it

In addition to the record export turnover in the first 11 months of 2023 reaching 4.41 billion USD, an increase of 36.3%, Vietnamese rice continues to receive good news when it is honored as "The best rice in the world".

Rice exports in 11 months of 2023 reached 4.41 billion USD

Specifically, within the framework of the Global Rice Trade Conference organized by The Rice Trader in the Philippines, Vietnamese rice surpassed its competitors and was honored with the first prize of "World's Best Rice". This title is a testament to the proactive research, selection of high-quality varieties, and methodical commercialization of Vietnamese enterprises.

Accordingly, Vietnam had 3 enterprises attending the conference and sending 6 rice samples to participate in the award. Specifically, Ho Quang Tri Private Enterprise sent 2 rice samples ST24, ST25; Loc Troi Group sent 2 rice samples LT28 and Nang Hoa 9, ThaiBinh Seed Group sent 2 rice samples TBR39-1 and A Sao sticky rice.

The whole of Vietnam should have celebrated this victory together. However, right after the information was released, there were arguments about whether "Vietnamese rice" or "ST25 rice" is the best in the world?

Due to the controversy from Vietnam, the organizers were forced to announce the winner 6 months earlier than expected. Accordingly, the rice variety that won the World's Best Rice Award in 2023 is ST25 rice from Vietnam, developed by Ho Quang Tri Private Enterprise. Apart from ST25, no other Vietnamese rice variety made it into the final Top 3 and no other rice variety affected the competition results.

Thus, after a week of controversy, all information has been clarified. The announcement of ST25 rice winning the world's best rice award in 2023 earlier than expected was announced by the organizing committee: "Faced with unforeseen problems, we felt the need to intervene to protect the integrity of the award and encourage the excellence of individuals that we highly value."

Being honored as the best rice in the world once again affirms the quality and reputation of Vietnamese rice in the international market. What should have been a common joy for the Vietnamese rice industry has instead become an unfortunate incident.

In fact, this is not the first time in Vietnam there has been a controversy over the owner of the world's best rice. In 2019, the announcement ceremony of the world's best rice award by The Rice Trader also had a controversy when information was inconsistent about whether the best rice was ST24 or ST25. After that, ST25 was announced by the organizers as the world's best rice.

In 2022, at the Vietnam Delicious Rice contest, there was also a scandal when the "father" of ST25 and the ST24 variety suspected and requested to re-evaluate the rice source of the units used to compete to see if there was any use of other people's rice that had been protected by intellectual property to compete.

To the brand story of Vietnamese rice

Currently, Vietnam maintains 11 groups of agricultural, forestry and fishery products with export turnover of 1 billion USD or more, of which 7 groups of products have export turnover of over 3 billion USD.

Despite achieving impressive export figures, 80% of agricultural exports have not yet built a brand, have no logo, private label, and have not fully participated in the global value chain. Many products are exported and sold in foreign markets under brands that are not owned by Vietnamese enterprises.

Of the total 13 national key agricultural products registered for protection in Vietnam, only 2 products have a Certified Trademark, including "Vietnamese Rice".

Although the Vietnamese Rice Certification Mark has been protected domestically and in a number of countries, it has not yet been granted to any business for use due to some remaining problems.

The reason is that the legal basis for managing and using certification marks is not complete . Registration for protection abroad is also difficult for two reasons: Lack of registration fees; some countries only accept protection in the form of regular trademarks, not protection in the form of certification marks.

Lack of cohesion is an inherent story for Vietnamese enterprises. This has made already weak enterprises even weaker. The saying of American billionaire Warren Buffett is “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together” or the proverb “Buy with friends, sell with partners” in all conditions and circumstances still retains its relevance and value.

Agricultural expert Hoang Trong Thuy commented that when participating in a competition, every business wants to win a prize. This is not only to affirm the brand of their rice varieties but also a matter of honor for the business. However, in commerce, businesses also have to consider between "trading" and developing the market. Because only when they create trust from customers, trust with discipline and ethics, then the market will be sustainable. And clearly, this incident has left an undeserved "scar" in the Vietnamese rice trade industry.

Looking to Southeast Asia, Thailand also focuses on building national brands for key agricultural products. The government prioritizes investment in building and developing national brands for the food industry. From the national brand "Thailand - Kitchen of the world" with the desire for Thailand to become the "kitchen" of the world, the growth rate of food exports of this country is at a very impressive figure of 10%/year.

Currently, Thai food is ranked 4th (after Italy, France and China) in terms of recognition among diners in the world, which also contributes significantly to promoting tourism and trade in this country.

With specific products, Thailand has been successful in building a national brand for products, especially products with their own characteristics. The THAI'S RICE brand is the national brand of Thailand used for many products such as: Thai Hom Mali, Thai Pathumthani (2 products in the national brand of rice).

The national brand “Thai's rice” is the Thai Government's guarantee of product characteristics, including quality, origin, tradition... for consumers around the world. This brand is managed by the Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce.

Thailand builds brand awareness based on the reputation of quality, taste of Thai rice in the market and the general image of Thai rice, improving the quality and variety of rice to differentiate from competitors.

Most importantly, the Government and the private sector have cooperated to promote the quality and taste of Thai rice in the world market.

The question is, what will happen to other agricultural, forestry and fishery products? If the Vietnamese rice industry still has the mindset of "trading", can Vietnamese rice go far?

Source link: https://congthuong.vn/vet-seo-cua-nganh-lua-gao-viet-290133.html