Building brands for mountainous agricultural products

Currently, many products of ethnic minority and mountainous areas (EM&MN) have been invested in the direction of commodity production, building product brands associated with cultural traditions and production practices. This makes them attractive in the eyes of modern consumers. Many products have become local strengths and are consumed in distribution and export channels. In addition to focusing on directing and supporting the development of production according to the value chain, in recent times, ministries, branches and localities have accompanied farmers in building agricultural product brands to promote and reach out to larger markets.

Chi Lang custard apple products from Lang Son province are promoted at the Agricultural Products and Regional Specialties Market held in Hanoi.

Implementing Decision No. 1719/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister approving the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period, Phase I from 2021-2025 (National Target Program 1719), the Ministry of Industry and Trade is implementing two important tasks: guiding localities to implement the following activities: Investing in the construction, renovation and upgrading of the market network of ethnic minority areas; supporting the consumption of products of ethnic minority and mountainous areas to bring goods further, participating in the domestic market as well as exporting abroad.

Ethnic minority and mountainous areas have many typical agricultural products that are favored by the market. Therefore, in recent times, in parallel with finding solutions for consumption, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has coordinated with businesses and localities to implement many solutions to build brands for these agricultural products.

Bac Kan is one of the localities with many OCOP products. The whole province has 221 OCOP products with 3 stars or more, including 4 5-star OCOP products, 18 4-star OCOP products, and 199 3-star OCOP products. To achieve that, it shows the effectiveness of brand building starting from implementing production linkages according to the value chain for each product. Typically, products from turmeric are evidence of the methodical brand building of this locality. Instead of doing it in a fragmented and unbranded manner, Bac Kan has encouraged and supported businesses and cooperatives to invest in linking the cultivation and processing of turmeric.

Processing durian for export

Director of Tan Thanh Agricultural Cooperative (Bac Kan city) Nguyen Thi Hong Minh said that thanks to the support of the State and the province, the unit has invested in modern equipment and machinery with large capacity for production. Along with that, the products have been certified for food safety, have full packaging and barcodes according to regulations, and have been granted OCOP product certification. Not only that, the unit has built a brand with a modern production process, ensuring quality, so products from glutinous turmeric have been present in many large provinces and cities and for export. In addition, Bac Kan province also strives to position and protect the brand for products with unique characteristics. The province has many products granted geographical indications such as: Dong vermicelli; seedless persimmons; tangerines; green-necked ducks... and many products granted collective trademarks: Khau nua lech sticky rice; Bang Phuc snow shan tea; Khau nua Pai Cho Don; Bao thai Cho Don rice; Tai Ba Be sticky rice...

For products that have a brand, packaging, and label, the province continues to support promotion and consumption connections. According to the Department of Industry and Trade, the province has organized for management entities to bring products to participate in fairs and exhibitions in many provinces and cities, such as: Cultural promotion week, specialty sales at Novaworld Phan Thiet at Miami walking street, Novaworld Phan Thiet (Binh Thuan); Northwest-Dien Bien Industry and Trade Fair in 2024; Fair and exhibition of typical rural industrial products of Hanoi city and the northern region in 2024 in Hanoi city; Consumer Goods Festival 2024 program...

Or in localities, there are currently 40 agricultural products with place names supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Lao Cai Provincial People's Committee to build and have been protected by trademarks and geographical indications such as: Bac Ha plum, Bac Ha vegetable, Muong Khuong tangerine, Cao Son Oolong tea, Muc Bao Thang grapefruit, Sa Pa cold water fish, Nghia Do duck, Bao Yen dried buffalo meat, Muong Khuong - Bat Xat geographical indication for Seng Cu rice products...

The protected agricultural product trademarks of localities are being maintained, initially developed, used by organizations and individuals in production and business, the products bring economic value to the locality, promoting the development of agricultural economy. However, in the ethnic minority and mountainous areas, there are still thousands of high-quality mountainous products with beautiful stories. Therefore, building a brand for mountainous agricultural products is an important solution to increase product value.

Agricultural products of ethnic minorities and mountainous areas are introduced at fairs.

Sharing about the solution to build brands for mountainous agricultural products, Dr. Vo Tri Thanh - Director of the Institute for Brand Strategy and Competitiveness Research said that the strengths of ethnic minority and mountainous products are "having traditions, history, and cultural features that are worth cherishing and exploring". Therefore, building a brand is not too difficult if you associate the product with stories (cultural stories), with trends (green stories, lifestyles, green, safe, humane ways of living)...

According to Dr. Vo Tri Thanh, in order to write stories and build brands for ethnic minority products, businesses and people there do not have enough resources and capacity to do so, not to mention promoting. Therefore, it is necessary to have many large-scale businesses participate or combine forces from "many houses" to participate.

In order to continue promoting the branding and consumption of agricultural products for ethnic minorities and mountainous areas, following the achieved results, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has implemented the National Target Program 1719, setting out support mechanisms and policies to bring products of ethnic minorities and mountainous areas further, deeply participating in the domestic market as well as reaching out to the world. This is a strong step forward as well as a synchronous solution when in the National Target Program 1719, ministries, branches and localities are assigned very specific and clear tasks.

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