FOR PROCESSING INDUSTRY TO CREATE NET GOLD FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

Since early February 2020, the outbreak of Covid-19 in China has caused trade in border crossings to be delayed, leading to congested agricultural products such as dragon fruits, watermelons, unable to clear customs. Hundreds of thousands of tons of dragon fruits in the major production localities, such as Binh Thuan and Long An, are at risk of not being sold. In this context, the remarkable event is that the Kao Sieu Luc chef's ABC cake chain has launched dragon fruit bread to "rescue'' this item when it cannot be exported to China. Mr. Kao Sieu Luc said, ABC has developed a new formula, replacing 60% of water in the flour mixture with dragon fruit smoothies to produce batches of fresh pink bread. This innovation quickly attracted the attention of customers, causing ABC to raise the production level to 20,000 pieces/day and limit the number of people to buy, one only buys five pieces /day. This interesting story shows that, thanks to deep processing, dragon fruit has not only been a forced export fresh but also can become a material for a new product that sells very well and gives higher value probably compared to normal. In particular, it opens up a new direction for the use of dragon fruit products in the long run.

From these small stories, it is shown that the processing of agricultural products to diversify products from rice, fruits, vegetables, etc. has partly solved the problem of backlog, agricultural congestion or lack of cold storage. ... Processing always plays an important role in the development of agricultural production, and in the present context it proves even more. According to many associations of agricultural product processing and export industry, in the context of Covid-19 epidemic, there is still a complicated situation and processed products (canned, frozen, concentrated, dried) are expected to continue to be consumed strongly due to convenience in transportation and consumption, especially in Vietnam markets that have advantages and are affected by Covid-19 epidemic such as China, Korea, Japan, EU...

Along with contributing to solving the situation of "rescuing" agricultural products, processing also plays an important role in helping businesses to take initiative in consumption markets, thereby keeping commodity prices and raising Vietnamese agriculture products. Typically, processing and exporting activities at Dong Giao Food Export Joint Stock Company (DOVECO). According to DOVECO's Board Chairman Dinh Cao Khue, most of the company's products are deep-processed vegetables, tubers, fruits, long shelf life, suitable for many markets in the world, because therefore, there is not much concern about the problem of goods backlogging in the raw material area or other objective risks. That's why when the Covid-19 outbreak broke out, most of the company's products were exported normally. Accordingly, agricultural products in raw material areas are still purchased and processed by the company on schedule. Currently, the company has invested in fruit and vegetable processing plants in two provinces: Ninh Binh and Bac Giang. And the latest is the inauguration of a Center for processing vegetables and fruits in Gia Lai province to process a wide range of vegetable, tuber and fruit products such as bananas, pineapples, dragon fruit, passion fruit, avocado, mango, durian, spinach, edamame, sweet corn, Japanese sweet potato, Japanese squash ...

Meanwhile, in the field of seafood, Deputy General Secretary of Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) Nguyen Hoai Nam also stated: When export markets fluctuate, which enterprises will promote Processing industry will have many advantages. The situation is the same, the Covid-19 epidemic caused many countries to stop importing fresh products, instead focusing on canning and frozen goods. Therefore, processed products are expected to continue to dominate in the future. In addition, the preservation of deep-processed goods is also much more convenient than fresh goods, so businesses minimize the risk of temporary inventory.

In particular, for the forestry and processing industry, it has brought a very high added value, as stated by the General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Wood and Forest Products, Ngo Sy Hoai: In 2019, wood export turnover and wood products have reached 11.2 billion USD - an impressive figure not only domestically but also internationally. Vietnam's wood processing industry has become a hen to lay golden eggs. This is because the industry has undergone a dramatic transition from outsourcing to foreigners to proactively designing brands, from cheap goods to high value-added furniture. Currently, there have been Vietnamese businesses signed interior decoration contracts of up to tens of millions of dollars for luxury hotels in the US, European countries or castles in the Middle East. Thus, we not only export wooden products but also export architectural space, living space with Vietnamese brand, bringing very high economic value.

Preliminary summary of 63 provinces and cities across the country shows that all provinces and cities currently have processing enterprises for the main agricultural, forestry and fishery products. The province has at least two processing industries (Lang Son, Bac Kan, Phu Tho and Da Nang); There are four localities: Ho Chi Minh City, Nghe An, Dong Nai and Binh Duong with 10 to 11 processing industries. Initially, some industries and businesses invested in technological innovation, focusing on applying advanced standards and technical regulations to meet food quality and safety requirements for markets like the US , EU, Japan. Processing of agriculture, forestry and fishery has created direct jobs for about 1.6 million laborers with an average income of 5 million to 7 million VND/person/month.

Source: https://nhandan.com.vn/

Publication date: Thursday, April 9, 2020.