With just one day to go before Tet, cooperatives in Hanoi have prepared a supply of Tet specialties such as  gio cha (Vietnamese sausage), banh chung (sticky rice cake), nem (spring rolls), and mien (vermicelli).

Specialties for Tet

Young rice, Hanoi's specialty, is produced only twice a year, for about two months each time, after the spring and summer rice harvests. Photo: Khanh Huy/ The Hanoi Times

To supply the Lunar New Year market, the traditional craft village cooperative of Me Tri young rice flakes (Nam Tu Liem District) has prepared the best ingredients to produce  banh chung com (young rice cake), xoi com (young rice sticky rice), and banh com (young rice cake).

"This Lunar New Year, we expect to supply the market with about 10,000 products at the same price as in previous years," said Ngo Thi Thuc, director of the  cooperative, told the Hanoimoi Newspaper.

In the same spirit, the Nem Phuong Phuong Bac cooperative in Phung Chau Commune, Chuong My District, has increased its output to meet the demand for the Lunar New Year.

Nguyen Kim Hoan, director of Nem Phuong Phuong Bac Cooperative, said that this year the cooperative's main product is Phuong fermented pork, made of lean meat, pork skin, thinh (glutinous rice) and served with sung leaves. Thanks to the careful selection of ingredients and elaborate processing techniques, the cooperative's products have a unique and distinctive flavor and have steadily gained a position in the market over the past 10 years.

In Ung Hoa District, Nguyen Tien Thi, Director of Xa Cau Craft Village Cooperative (Quang Phu Cau Commune), reported that the cooperative has prepared a large quantity of herbal incense products such as black incense, pressed incense, round incense, and bud incense for this Lunar New Year.

Especially the black incense product is the best-selling item, with many orders in large quantities. At present, the cooperative has increased production to ensure sufficient supply for the market.

Strengthening connections and consumption

Locals make black insense at the Xa Cau Craft Village Cooperative, Quang Phu Cau commune, Ung Hoa district. Photo: Hanoimoi Newspaper

According to Nguyen Ngoc Bich, Director of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Support Center (Hanoi Cooperative Alliance), the Alliance has actively introduced and supported cooperatives in Hanoi to participate in trade promotion events held in various provinces and major cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong, Hai Duong, Thanh Hoa, and the Central Highlands and Mekong Delta regions.

Cooperatives have embraced e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Tiki, Hotdeal, Zanado and Sendo to showcase and sell their unique products and provide convenient access to consumers. Cooperatives' online sales are growing at an average annual growth rate of over 10%.

For the Tet season, cooperatives in Hanoi have made plans well in advance to meet people's consumption needs in a timely manner. Starting from November and December 2023, cooperatives began to receive Tet orders and introduce new designs.

Thanks to active participation in trade promotion programs and events, as well as support in connecting consumption from relevant agencies, the market of the collective economy is expanding, with more customers and new distribution channels in 2023 and early 2024.

Nguyen Trung Thanh, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi Cooperative Alliance, said that hundreds of cooperatives have received assistance in signing contracts and cooperation agreements with distribution companies, retailers, logistics, and e-commerce platforms. These linkages have facilitated product promotion and market expansion for cooperatives during the Tet period.

He stressed that this will continue to be the Alliance's main focus in the coming years.