OCOP agricultural product journey Thanh country

At the 200-year-old Khuc Phu traditional fish sauce village in Thanh Hoa, Le Gia’s journey started from the desire to beautify her homeland and the desire to preserve traditional cultural values.

Right from the first days of launching on the market, the startup story of young man Le Anh, CEO of Le Gia Food & Trading Service Co., Ltd. (Le Gia fish sauce) has inspired many people about the future of the profession and traditional craft villages, about the value, brand and competitiveness of Thanh’s agricultural products in domestic and foreign markets.

Le Ngoc Anh brought traditional Vietnamese fish sauce to countries around the world and built the first 5-star OCOP in Thanh Hoa province.

Looking back on the past journey, Le Anh always remembers the first order with only 40 jars of shrimp paste, with a revenue of less than one million VND, which still made him extremely happy, enthusiastically riding his motorbike nearly 50km, waiting in line all day to deliver the goods and then tottering back in the blazing summer sky. Or the days when we went to each tourist’s table at Hai Tien Marine Ecotourism Area, inviting them to taste the flavor of Le Gia fish sauce, sincerely listening and determinedly continuing the arduous journey.

After many hardships and challenges, Le Gia has now contributed to creating peaceful meals for many families. Le Gia has 1 product with national 5-star OCOP certification (Le Gia shrimp paste), 2 4-star OCOP products (Le Gia shrimp paste and fish sauce) and 1 3-star product (Le Gia black tiger shrimp paste). Le Gia fish sauce products have gradually affirmed their reputation, brand, and quality in the market, present in a system of large supermarkets, clean food stores, agents nationwide and exported to many demanding markets such as the US, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan, Korea...

Mr. Le Anh commented: “Exporting traditional fish sauce products is not only a purely commercial activity, but it is also an export of ancestral culinary culture, honoring the traditional values ​​of the Vietnamese people. Therefore, to successfully “export” abroad, the first thing is to do well and conquer the domestic market. Product quality is the deciding factor. Besides, we have made efforts, efforts, and dedication when exporting our homeland’s agricultural products abroad based on basic “axes”, which are: Determining export as an investment activity and perseverance; actively prepare the necessary hardening conditions; Actively promote multimodal trade”.

Trung Thanh canned pineapple

Trung Thanh Agricultural Product Processing Joint Stock Company is one of the leading enterprises in the field of fruit and vegetable processing and preservation in Vietnam.

In the story about the journey of exporting canned pineapple products to many foreign markets, Mr. Le Truong Tung, Director of Trung Thanh Agricultural Product Processing Joint Stock Company (Trung Thanh commune, Nong Cong) emphasized: “Brand and product quality are the prerequisite and key factors to bring Thanh’s agricultural products forward with long and steady steps on the journey to conquer the international market.” He always wondered: “Agriculture is considered a “pillar” for the Vietnamese economy, but in reality 70-80% still export raw goods so the value is not high. Besides, our export of agricultural products depends heavily on the Chinese market. The greater the dependence, the higher the risk. Cases of Vietnamese farmers “laughing and crying” when Chinese traders “turn their carts around” in the middle of the season or long lines of agricultural product containers stuck at the Vietnam-China border gate are no longer strange.

Trung Thanh Agricultural Product Processing Joint Stock Company, Trung Thanh commune (Nong Cong) currently owns 3 OCOP products with 4-star standards: Truong Tung canned pineapple, Truong Tung canned sweet corn, Truong Tung canned baby melon.

Stemming from that concern, in mid-2023 his company officially “enrolled” in the agricultural export market with the main product being canned pineapple. Mr. Tung wishes to make a small contribution to help farmers suffer less from “good harvest, poor prices”, reduce suffering due to the tricks of traders, and promote export activities of agricultural products in Thanh Hoa in particular and the whole country in general.

With the goal of enhancing the value of Vietnamese agricultural products and bringing the Vietnamese agricultural product brand far into the international market, in addition to strictly controlling input material sources, the company has maximized resources and experience after many years of processing, focusing on investing in modern machinery and equipment; training and improving qualifications and skills of officials and workers; Continuously improve and upgrade production processes...

According to Mr. Tung, foreign partners often have tours to learn about the scale and production process at the factory. After each visit and study, they expressed their satisfaction, appreciation and placed orders with the company. That is the motivation for us to constantly strive. On average every year, the company produces and exports about 8 thousand tons of agricultural products of all kinds, including 5 to 6 thousand tons of canned pineapple. In 2024, the company’s revenue is estimated to reach about 400 billion VND.

Trung Thanh Agricultural Product Processing Joint Stock Company, Trung Thanh commune (Nong Cong) currently owns 3 OCOP products with 4-star standards: Truong Tung canned pineapple, Truong Tung canned sweet corn, Truong Tung canned baby melon.

It is known that Trung Thanh Agricultural Product Processing Joint Stock Company is currently collaborating to develop 50 hectares of raw material area in Nong Cong district. To serve the production of agricultural products for export, in the coming time, the enterprise will expand raw material areas in other localities and continue to develop OCOP certified products.

Exporting agricultural products in general is still a journey with many difficulties and challenges. However, the story of the “export” journey of Le Gia fish sauce and canned pineapple of Trung Thanh Agricultural Product Processing Joint Stock Company are good signs, spreading the message of dynamism and creativity in production and market access.