Hanoi Cultivates OCOP Products from Local Strengths

Through the One Commune One Product (OCOP) Program, many districts in Hanoi have effectively leveraged the advantages of craft villages and unique agricultural products to enhance commercial production and elevate the value of their products.

Many OCOP products serve as ambassadors, telling the stories of local specialties

Advantages from culture

Each OCOP-certified product tells a story about the culture and traditions of its community. The OCOP Program has helped localities establish specialty areas, promote cottage industries, and preserve traditional craft villages.

The OCOP Program has cast a positive and profound impact on rural economic development, enabled the transformation from small-scale agricultural production to value chain-based production, and aroused local potential products and comparative advantages, especially regional cultural values, to make OCOP products that integrate “multi-values” and align agricultural development with services and tourism. Through the program, many localities have planned specialty areas, encouraged cottage industries, preserved and developed traditional craft villages. Many OCOP products have been likened to ambassadors conveying stories of locally distinctive products.

In Tay Ho district, every lotus season, the family of Mr. Ngo Van Xiem and Mrs. Luu Thi Hien (Quang An ward) is busy harvesting and steeping lotus tea. Hien said: “Living in the lotus growing area of Bach Diep which is famous for making lotus tea, my family sent our lotus tea to the OCOP evaluation and classification competition and got four-star class certification. To make a kilo of good lotus tea, we need 1,500 Bach Diep lotus flowers blended with Thai Nguyen dried tea buds harvested for 21 days with seven times of lotus scenting and seven times of drying. The more times the tea is infused, the more the lotus scent blends and the longer the fragrance lasts. Good lotus tea produces green water, initially tastes bitter but later sweet. It typically has a gentle lotus scent, lingering in the mouth.” Since its participation in the OCOP Program, Hien Xiem-branded lotus tea of her family has become more known to customers.

Mrs. Do Thu Thuy from Do The Gia business household (Xuan La ward) sent mooncakes to the OCOP Program. She said: “My grandparents ran a cake shop in the Old Quarter, and my family continued the tradition. I chose to focus on developing green rice flakes and products like baked rice flake cakes and sticky rice flake cakes. I hope our family's specialties will be delicious gifts and help promote Hanoi's culture.”

Nguyen Dinh Hoa, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: Hanoi's traditional products and crafts reflect the talent of artisans and the city’s rich cultural heritage. The city boasts 1,136 active agricultural cooperatives, 1,695 farms, 149 linkage chains, and over 164 high-tech models. It also features more than 5,000 agricultural products with QR codes, including specialties like Son Tay’s Mia chicken and Thuong Mo yellow grapefruit, all incorporated into Hanoi's OCOP Program. These products enhance their economic value while promoting the cultural identity of Hanoi city.

On the right track

Hanoi is committed to developing its program in a substantive and sustainable way. Each OCOP product reflects not only economic value but also local cultural and traditional significance. The program prioritizes the development and standardization of agricultural products, particularly those from advantageous cottage industries and traditional craft villages.

According to Mr. Ngo Van Ngon, Deputy Chief of the Hanoi Office of New Rural Development Program Coordination, while the names and ingredients of OCOP products may be similar, each one tells a unique story rooted in its locality's history, culture and traditions, reflected in its packaging and labeling. Therefore, Hanoi focuses on the distinctiveness of its products rather than quantity. OCOP-certified products must showcase the unique characteristics of Hanoi's countryside, continuing to develop their own identity. This is the goal of OCOP product development, aligning with the essence of Hanoi.

Supported by authorities at all levels, when participating in the OCOP Program, producers in Hanoi have devoted much effort to researching and developing products from local advantages. Meritorious artisan Phan Thi Thuan (Phung Xa commune, My Duc district) said: I know how to draw silk from lotus plants to make threads. At first, the productivity was very low and it took a lot of work. From 2018 to 2020, I experimented with many models to improve the productivity and silk quality. To have good silk, we needed to improve lotus growing and apply science and technology to production. With meticulousness, lotus silk fabrics are durable, beautiful and unique. Lotus silk scarves are likely to be certified a 5-star OCOP.

“Each OCOP product serves as a "cultural ambassador," reflecting the traditions and customs of its locality. To preserve and promote these cultural values, we support producers with unique, strong products, helping them enhance output, quality and consumer awareness while emphasizing the cultural significance of their products,” Mr. Ngo Van Ngon added.

Highly appreciating Hanoi's utilization of indigenous cultural values and local strengths to make OCOP products, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said that Hanoi is on the right track, with each OCOP product embodying local cultural pride - an essential factor that distinguishes these products. Moving forward, producers and traders should focus on innovating packaging, enhancing product identity, increasing quality and added value, and leveraging local cultural values to create a strong product identity.

By Bao Ngoc, Vietnam Business Forum