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Mr. Tran Quang Tinh introduces the products by Viet Farm. Photo: Phan Anh

Although only exploiting the niche market, the processed products of organic farms are warmly welcomed by the market because they meet the needs of safe and handmade processed products of today's consumers.

 Healthy specialties

For many years, consumers have known about the organic vegetable and fruit products of the high-tech and safe production farm with a scale of tens of hectares of Viet Farm Co., Ltd in Xuan Truong Commune, Xuan Loc District. The farm's products have been certified by GlobalGAP and are in the process of being certified organic.

During the 2022 Lunar New Year, Viet Farm Co., Ltd. offers many unique specialties made from organic vegetables and fruits grown on the farm such as 5-flavoured young cantaloupe, cantaloupe wine, and melon juice, vegetables, freeze-dried fruits, etc. Mr. Tran Quang Tinh, Director of Viet Farm Co., Ltd. said: “It took me 2 years to produce a naturally fermented cantaloupe wine. During the making process must follow strict sterilization process. The farm's products are also unique because the raw materials put into processing are grown according to organic standards to produce unique flavors and quality that are not available anywhere else.

Currently, Viet Farm is continuing to promote research with the aim of providing the market with many unique and strange processed products, ensuring nutrition and especially safety from organic agricultural products produced by the farm itself. The farm's processed products from raw materials to the processing process are researched and invested in a way to have the best quality and taste. According to Mr. Tinh, the farm's 5-flavoured pickled young cantaloupe uses raw cantaloupes grown according to organic standards; The processing method is also very different because the farm uses a freeze-drying solution to keep the vitamins and nutrients of the fresh fruit. The pickling process is also completely sterilized so that the product is delicious and kept for a long time without the use of any additives or preservatives.

Self-processing, constantly diversifying products to be more proactive in output as well as adding value to agricultural products are the direction of clean production farms in the province today. Doc Mo Farm Cooperative (Doc Mo Farm) in Gia Tan 3 Commune, Thong Nhat District operates completely self-sufficient from meat, vegetables, fruits, medicinal herbs, etc. Farming follows convenient methods natural, chemical-free, self-composting green manure to improve soil and fertilize plants; raising pigs, chickens and ducks with bran, corn and garden vegetables. In daily life, the farm uses environmentally friendly materials such as: completely using glass bottles, paper bags instead of plastic; Bath water and shampoo are made from plants and herbs in the garden.

This farm is building a chain of links from production, processing combined with community tourism to improve the value of agricultural products. Accordingly, the farm has invested in a workshop to process agricultural products from organic ingredients produced on the spot such as sausages, bacon, fermented meat made according to traditional German methods; some herbal tea products, organic pepper, fruit jam.

The process of freezing fruits and vegetables at Viet Farm Co., Ltd, Xuan Loc District. Photo: Phan Anh

Entering the niche market

Organic production farms that invest in processing have different products and methods, but they all have the same goal of providing the best products for the community. Investing in quality is also what the farms have persistently done over the years. As a result, their products are increasingly accepted by consumers.

Mr. Pham Ngoc Tho, Director of Doc Mo Farm Cooperative shared that the farm is not only about producing bunches of clean vegetables and fruits for sale but also brings many other intangible values. Visitors to the farm can directly experience every stage of farming; self-harvesting and participating in the processing. According to Mr. Tho: “Customers who consume our organic products are those who have been to the farm. They come to the farm to observe themselves, learn about the process of farming to processing, so they trust the quality and are willing to pay high prices to buy delicious and safe products from the farm."

With the same opinion, Ms. Bui Thi Thuy, owner of Leaf's House in Vinh An Town, Vinh Cuu District said, La Farm is providing the market with dozens of handmade products such as: butterfly pea flower tea, honey mint tea to handmade products such as washing hair bags, soap made from bamboo charcoal, perilla leaf soap, herbal salt for foot bath, scented candles, etc. Currently, the farm is promoting the processed products that are locally abundant with raw materials such as soap, pomelo shampoo, grapefruit powder for face wash, steaming materials from grapefruit essential oil, etc. However, the market for products has faced difficulties in recent years because of the epidemic of Covid-19, but La Farm is still determined to expand investment in production as well as take care of packaging. La Farm is expanding cooperation with local eco-tourism sites to reach new customers as tourists.

In another perspective, Mr. Tran Quang Tinh added: "Investing in processing helps the farm to be more proactive in output and increase the value of agricultural products many times compared to selling the unprocessed product. I am building a closed process with every harvested product creating more value through deep processing. Therefore, I persevered for many years to research the most complete processing process, ensuring the highest quality."

Recently, in addition to the supermarket invested by businesses in Ho Chi Minh City, Farm Viet also provides these specialties for clean food stores, organic food and is also expanding its supply into the restaurants in big cities. The enterprise has invested in a farm of hundreds of hectares in Binh Thuan Province according to the integrated model of husbandry and cultivation and has also researched many products processed from organic raw materials produced by the farm such as various types of vegetables, freeze-dried fruits, smoked hill chicken, smoked duck.

Phan Anh