The journey to bring Lo Cuong rice paper far and wide

Concerns about developing traditional occupations

The Lo Cuong rice paper making village in Hai Duong City has existed for a long time. With the desire to bring more products from his hometown to consumers, Mr. Vu Van Thuong, Director of the Lo Cuong Rice Paper Cooperative, started his own business from his hometown.

In 2015, after a period of working in Hanoi, Mr. Thuong returned to his hometown to start a business. After spending a year researching the rice paper consumption market, Mr. Thuong realized that the products of the craft village were mainly sold in retail, had no brand name, and were not consumed much in the supermarket system. He collected rice paper from many households in the craft village to sell in all districts in the province. After being purchased, the rice paper was carefully packaged, clean, and labeled with the names: "Mien Xua" rice paper, "Mien Xua" dried vermicelli... with traceability so that consumers could easily find out product information.

If the craft village wants to develop more strongly and its products to be more widely known, households must cooperate in production. Thinking so, in 2022, Mr. Thuong and 10 members of the craft village together established a cooperative, creating momentum for the development of the craft village. At that time, Mr. Thuong was the youngest cooperative director in the province.

If in the past, rice paper making mainly relied on manual labor, each household produced individual batches of rice paper, after its establishment, the cooperative invested more than 2 billion VND to install an automatic rice paper production system and a wastewater treatment system to ensure proper procedures. In addition to the cooperative members, they hired 15 workers specializing in packaging goods with an income of 8-10 million VND/person (depending on the stage).

Expand the market

With the ambition to bring the traditional products of the homeland further on the domestic culinary map, Lo Cuong Rice Paper Cooperative constantly focuses on improving quality and design. Lo Cuong Rice Paper is made from traditional rice, right from the first steps such as importing rice materials, all are carefully selected to ensure the quality of the cake is always at the best level, ensuring export standards. The production process strictly adheres to hygiene standards.

In addition to adhering to strict standards, the cooperative also focuses on diversifying product designs. From a simple product of white rice paper, the cooperative has now developed more than 20 products of dried vermicelli and rice paper with many different designs and weights to meet the market's consumption needs.

Up to now, the products of Lo Cuong Rice Paper Cooperative have won the hearts of many consumers. Lo Cuong Rice Paper is present in 43 provinces and cities. Each month, the cooperative supplies the market with more than 80 tons of various types of rice paper.

Recognition of the cooperative's efforts not only comes from consumers, in December 2024, Lo Cuong Rice Paper Cooperative was honored to receive the Mai An Tiem Award - an award for cooperatives with quality products. This is the only unit in the province to receive this award.

Currently, the cooperative has rice paper and dried vermicelli products that meet 4-star OCOP standards and export standards. The diverse product packaging is printed with detailed traceability information, making it convenient for users to check the products.

In the last days of the year, the cooperative's production workshops are much busier. Compared to normal months, from November to the end of December of the lunar calendar, the cooperative supplies the market with more than 100 tons of rice paper with many different designs. After production and drying, the products will be brought out to dry again. After completion, they will be carefully packaged, ensuring food hygiene and safety before being distributed to consumers. Most of the rice paper consumed during Tet has been prepared by the cooperative since October and has a stable consumption source at supermarkets and clean agricultural product stores in provinces and cities.

After winning the Mai An Tiem Award, the cooperative's aspirations are even greater. In 2025, the cooperative plans to continue investing more than 3 billion VND to improve the production system in a modern direction, continue to reduce labor resources and thereby improve product quality and productivity.

In the upcoming development strategy, the cooperative focuses on two main directions: expanding the domestic market and gradually penetrating the international market. Currently, there is an order from Japan for 1,000 boxes of Lo Cuong rice paper, expected to be exported at the end of February this year and expanding the market to 7 other provinces and cities.

In the coming time, the cooperative will continue to strengthen the quality control process, actively participate in conferences, trade promotion fairs, and promote products to seek opportunities to sign distribution contracts.