Vietnam to develop national rice brand

It representatives of more than 200 businesses that attended a conference on the issue held yesterday (Tuesday) in Kien Giang Province.

The prime minister approved a scheme to develop a Vietnamese rice brand back in May this year. Under the project, about 20% of local export rice would have a national brand name when entering the global supply chain by 2020; the figure is expected to increase to 50 percent by 2030. Although Vietnam is now among the leading rice exporters, the lack of brand name for its rice has resulted in low competitiveness in the international market. Jasmine, fragrant and sticky rice from the Mekong Delta region have been selected for the branding campaign.

"We should base the rice branding scheme on market demand and our production capacity. Otherwise it would be very wasteful. For example, Hai Hau fragrant rice is very good but we can’t produce this rice in large quantities, so marketing this brand will be a waste", said Huynh Minh Hue, General Secretary of the Vietnam Food Association.

"The most important factor for the rice branding scheme is market analysis. We need to know which rice types are actually in demand. Based on this we can select the varieties that need branding and marketing", said Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Ngoc De, Mekong Delta Farming Systems Research & Development Institute, Can Tho University.

Another issue for discussion is which rice varieties will be recognised as a national brand. According to the deputies, Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development should issue a set of clearly defined standards, including grain size and moisture content so that enterprises can focus on producing rice to meet these criteria.

"A national set of standards is needed for rice branding. For example, the varieties of aromatic rice selected for branding should be specified along with its farming and processing techniques in order to be named a national brand. This is the basis for businesses to base their production on", said Pham Van Huynh, Director, Can Tho Department of Agriculture & Rural Development.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development plans to soon issue these standards, according to Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Nam. It aims to improve the image recognition of Vietnamese rice and its competitiveness, as well as expanding market share in the world market.