Next to the high-heat-drying oven, a group of local workers is diligently and carefully producing batches of bacon, sausages, pork ribs, and dried buffalo meat, with the typical fragrant flavour of Northwest spices. From here, the dishes of Gia Phu land are brought to the market, to the dining table and tray of each family in all parts of the country.
As the leader in the number of OCOP-starred products in Lao Cai province, Gia Phu Clean Food Processing Cooperative has five 3-star OCOP products, including: dried pork, dried buffalo meat, smoked pork loin, smoked ribs, and pork sausage. On average, it supplies the market with 3 quintals of dried pork of all kinds each month (equivalent to about 1 tonne of raw meat input).
During the last Lunar New Year, the cooperative sold 2 tonnes of sausages, dried meat and smoked meat of all kinds to more than 30 stores, agents and supermarkets nationwide; with clear and transparent traceability labels.
Director of Gia Phu Clean Food Processing Cooperative Vu Thi Tham said that every year, the cooperative brings to the market more than ten tonnes of products, creating an efficient production chain, creating stable and sustainable income for thousands of farmers from raising livestock to processing and distributing products.
Walking on the wide concrete inter-village road, with flowers blooming on both sides of the new countryside along the Red River, we came to Manh Huong Agricultural Products-Medical Cooperative.
Director the cooperative Nguyen Tien Manh said that from an heirloom herbal decoction taken from Hoang Lien Forest that specialises in fortifying and treating liver problems, Manh researched and invested in the installation of extraction and concentration lines, producing a highly concentrated form packed in glass jars.
Holding jars of packaged, eye-catching turmeric starch in his hands, Manh did not hide his joy when he turned his dream of starting a business from available medicinal plants into reality, bringing the family's traditional medicine to the community and serve the health of the community.
Every year, the Manh Huong Agro-Medical Products Cooperative brings about 3 tonnes of high-quality turmeric starch to market, creating jobs and stable incomes for people growing turmeric.
According to Chairman of Gia Phu Commune People's Committee Luu Hoang Dieu, the hard-working and dynamic nature of people living in the lowlands of Ha Nam, Hai Phong and Thai Binh has breathed the soul into this land, spreading it to the indigenous peoples, creating the will to start a career and get rich in their land. The new styled rural building programme invigorated the people here, through capital support, technical guidance, equipment for production, market opening...
Chairman of Bao Thang District People's Committee Ngo Minh Que also shared about the great potential of the land and human resources in the locality. The OCOP programme resonated with the desire to eradicate poverty for every citizen, creating a great change in the construction of new countryside.
The focus of the OCOP programme is to develop agricultural, non-agricultural products and services with advantages in each locality along the value chain. This spring, Bao Thang District leads the province in the number of OCOP products, with 26 products, including 25 products with 3 stars and 1 product with 4 stars. Gia Phu accounts for nearly half of the district's OCOP products and is the commune with the most OCOP products in Lao Cai Province.
Thanks to the development of OCOP, Gia Phu quickly reached the new styled rural standard. The cultivation value per unit area and the income per capita was the highest in the district; the rate of poor households decreased, the rate of rich households increased rapidly; and people's lives are constantly being improved and enhanced.
OCOP is the “key” to bring them opportunities from their own local specialties. It is a product only available in that land, or a way of making products according to family secrets passed down by ancestors for many generations.
Each product carries a local mark and will “tell” the buyer its story. Therefore, building a "product story" can help increase the price of OCOP products many times, but to do well, it must come from the pride of the people, the community, because only they can tell the history of how the product was formed and developed.
They are considered “ambassadors” who spread and increase the competitive advantage of traditional indigenous products in the 4.0 market.
