Thai Nguyen accompanies cooperatives in mountainous, remote and isolated areas to build brands

When mentioning Thai Nguyen, many people will immediately think of the vast tea hills, the tea products that have built a name and famous brand both domestically and internationally. However, besides the economic value that tea trees bring, this place also has a lot of potential and strength to develop many quality agricultural products. From the "tea land", many members and women have been writing stories about change, about the journey of building local agricultural product brands.

Exploiting the potential of mountainous, remote and isolated areas to build a brand

Choosing drops of honey to build a career, Ms. Pham Hong Oanh shared that Ong Vang Agricultural Cooperative (Dong Hy commune, Thai Nguyen province) is currently maintaining about 700 - 800 colonies, exploiting 12 to 13 tons of honey each year. Depending on the flower season, the Cooperative will harvest honey products, such as honey from lychee flowers, longan flowers in March and April, honey from wild flowers from May to July, honey from apple flowers from August to September... Along with honey, Ong Vang Agricultural Cooperative also exploits dried pollen and provides breeding animals and transfers techniques to other farming households, expanding raw material areas and creating a linked ecosystem.

In 2024, the wild honey and honey pollen products of Ong Vang Agricultural Products Cooperative will be certified with 3-star OCOP. This is not only a "ticket" to the modern distribution system but also enhances the brand reputation, helping the cooperative to price its products better. Currently, the honey of Ong Vang Agricultural Products Cooperative is priced from 170,000 to 300,000 VND/liter depending on the type of flower, of which mint honey is a high-end product favored by the market. Not stopping at production, Ong Vang Agricultural Products Cooperative is implementing an experiential tourism plan in a bee garden combined with an orchard, allowing visitors to visit the beekeeping process and taste honey on the spot. This direction is expected to increase product value, expand promotion and attract visitors to Dong Hy commune.

Also in Thai Nguyen, but the story at Thien Phuc Medicinal Herbs Cooperative of Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh started with another plant, which is not a local strength, that is Bo Chinh ginseng. From her passion for precious medicinal herbs, Ms. Binh brought Bo Chinh ginseng from Quang Binh to grow at the Cooperative and turned her Cooperative into a place to produce high-quality medicinal herbs.

Currently, her products from Sam Bo Chinh such as ginseng powder, ginseng broth, ginseng chicken stew... are available in more than 15 provinces and cities; displayed at many fairs and agricultural conferences and included in the list of typical OCOP products of Thai Nguyen, bringing the cooperative's brand to many provinces and cities across the country.

From agricultural products, women like Ms. Pham Hong Oanh and Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh have become product owners and brand owners. This not only brings stable income, but also helps to retain workers in their hometowns, contributing to sustainable socio-economic development in mountainous, remote and isolated areas.

The common point of successful cooperatives in the mountainous areas of Thai Nguyen is that they associate products with stories. When products are associated with stories, the brand becomes familiar, easy to remember, and easy to create trust. And that is the factor that helps the product reach a large market. Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh confided: "We want customers, when holding the product in their hands, to not only see it as a product, but also feel the story, the people and the culture of the land that made it."

The role of trade promotion

The success of products from Ong Vang Agricultural Cooperative or Sam Bo Chinh of Thien Phuc Medicinal Cooperative has a strong imprint of trade promotion work and support from Thai Nguyen province. In particular, in addition to the support of the Women's Union, Farmers' Association, Provincial Cooperative Union..., the Department of Industry and Trade and related units have implemented many programs to support cooperatives in building brands and finding markets.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Chinh, Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Thai Nguyen province, said that in recent years, the Department of Industry and Trade of the province has closely coordinated with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to organize many specialized training programs for enterprises, cooperatives, and production and business establishments. The training programs are in the direction of hand-holding, practical skills training, thereby helping enterprises, cooperatives, and production and business establishments build brands and effectively promote product images. Thereby, creating many opportunities for brand development, enhancing competitiveness, contributing to promoting the digital transformation process, and developing the local socio-economy.

In the coming time, the Department of Industry and Trade of Thai Nguyen province will continue to accompany and support the connection of the business community, cooperatives, and production and business establishments of the province through many important trade promotion activities with outstanding events organized such as: Industry and Trade Fair - OCOP Thai Nguyen 2025; Agricultural Festival, OCOP, craft villages connecting tourism - Thai Nguyen 2025; Program "Promoting the colors of agricultural products in the 4.0 period - Thai Nguyen 2025" and continue to flexibly and creatively deploy trade promotion activities, connecting supply and demand for product consumption, contributing to bringing local products further.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/thai-nguyen-dong-hanh-cung-hop-tac-xa-mien-nui-vung-sau-vung-xa-xay-dung-thuong-hieu-20250814145328945.htm