Dong Nai's first 5-star OCOP product on the international playground

Within 2 years of implementing the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program, the province now has 46 OCOP products. In particular, the 3-in-1 pure cocoa powder product of Trong Duc Cocoa Co., Ltd (Phu Hoa commune, Dinh Quan district) is the first and only OCOP product that meets the 5-star standard of Dong Nai.

Mr. Dang Truong Khanh introduced a line of high-class chocolate products that are well exported to the Japanese market. Photo: B.NGUYEN

5-star OCOP is a high-quality product that meets international standards. This is not only a specialty of the mountainous district of Dinh Quan, but Dong Nai is asking the Central Government to recognize this 5-star product as a national OCOP product. In order to reach out to the international market, many years ago, Trong Duc Cocoa Co., Ltd. has built a chain of links from clean raw material areas to investment in deep processing and good export to fastidious markets.

* Unique Dinh Quan cocoa

Right from 2015, Trong Duc Cocoa Co., Ltd and Cocoa Ken Co.,Ltd, an enterprise with more than 40 years of operation in the field of traditional confectionery production and business in Japan, have cooperated with the goal of promoting and exporting chocolate and cocoa products of Dong Nai to the world market. This business has used a lot of raw materials from famous cocoa countries in the world to process chocolate. They also spent more than 10 years learning about the Vietnamese cocoa market, including Dong Nai cocoa, and then decided to cooperate with Trong Duc Cocoa Co., Ltd.

Mr. Nakano Toshimi, General Director of Cocoa Ken made many trips to Dong Nai, went to the factory "hands-on", instructing workers on techniques for processing high-class, handmade chocolate products. from cocoa beans of Dinh Quan land according to international standards.

Sharing the reason for choosing to cooperate with Trong Duc Cocoa Co., Ltd., a fledgling enterprise in the food processing industry, Mr. Nakano Toshimi said, Trong Duc has a very professional technique of brewing cocoa beans. Very good quality nuts to make premium chocolate bars with the most exquisite, wonderful taste. In addition, soil factors also contribute to the creation of Dong Nai cocoa beans, which have their own characteristics of being very aromatic, sour, and less bitter... These are the factors that make chocolates that do not cause boredom; This is a unique feature that makes a difference for the chocolate product line of Dong Nai compared to the famous traditional chocolate brands in the world.

According to some businesses in the cocoa industry, the quality of Dong Nai cocoa beans is highly appreciated because of the team of very diligent cocoa farmers who always adhere to strict principles and requirements in the production process. to make products that meet export standards to the most demanding markets.

In order for cocoa products to participate in the international playground, Trong Duc Cocoa Co., Ltd. has spent more than 10 years investing in building specialized farming areas with hundreds of hectares of UTZ certified cocoa trees (certificate of good production). international standards for cocoa) in many provinces and cities in the Southeast region. Dong Nai province alone has 210ha of UTZ certified cocoa. The cooperation with Japan to export "made in Vietnam" chocolate to the world market will be a lever for businesses to accelerate the standardization of 100% of the area meeting UTZ standards to have a clean raw material area that meets the requirements. export market demand.

* Exporting local specialties

The start-up story of Trong Duc Cocoa Co., Ltd. began with the fact that the military doctor, an elite physician - Dang Tuong Kham spent a lot of time researching cocoa trees in the 80s of the last century. More than 15 years ago, when he retired, Mr. Kham wanted to do something for agriculture and farmers, so he left Ho Chi Minh City to Dinh Quan land to develop cocoa trees. Then this career was continued by Kham's children.

Mr. Dang Truong Khanh (second from right) introduced the cocoa garden to visitors

According to Mr. Dang Truong Khanh, Director of Trong Duc Cocoa Co., Ltd.: “I signed contracts with farmers, provided technical guidance, received product off-take... with the criteria set by my father to ensure benefits for farmers, we may lose, but not let farmers lose." Trong Duc's development direction is to target the high-end and very high-end market, competing by quality and taste, not by cheap price. This is also the foundation for businesses to build their own brand for Dong Nai cocoa in particular, and Vietnamese cocoa in general in the international market.

Mr. Khanh added that the enterprise has invested millions of USD in the processing plant as well as in the raw material area. This is only the first stage, the company is continuing to invest in upgrading production as well as expanding distribution channels in both domestic and international markets.

Currently, in addition to exporting raw cocoa beans, Trong Duc has dozens of deeply processed products such as chocolate, cocoa liquor, cocoa powder, etc., which are sold well in the domestic market and have many typical products that are sold well in the domestic market. voted by consumers as High Quality Vietnamese Goods.

For many years, the products of this enterprise have also been exported to difficult markets such as Japan, Korea... Many times, cocoa products, especially Trong Duc's chocolate have participated in competitions. international as well as fairs, product promotion programs in Japan, Korea, the United States... and are highly appreciated.

According to Mr. Dang Truong Khanh, Director of Trong Duc Cocoa Co., Ltd.: “Truong Duc cooperates with Japanese enterprises to develop the brand, not to do pure processing. Products exported to the Japanese market are clearly marked "made in Vietnam" with the logo with the image of Ba Chong Dinh Quan Stone. Japanese consumers can sit on the spot to trace the origin of this chocolate bar from Dinh Quan, Dong Nai, even specifically to the farmer who planted the cocoa fruit.

Binh Nguyen