From Eastern countryside products to the king, OCOP

Proud to have royal products

Hai Duong is a fertile land with many products with unique flavors. Many of these products were selected as gifts to bring to the capital to offer to the kings. Although they are rustic agricultural products, closely related to people's lives, with their unique delicious taste, these products have passed the strict selection rounds of the dynasties, becoming products presented to the king.

According to historical records, during the reign of Tu Duc (1847 - 1883), Mr. Hoang Van Com in Thanh Ha (Hai Duong) once attended a party with Chinese people and brought back 3 lychee seeds originating from Thieu Chau (China) to plant in his garden. However, only one lychee tree survived and produced delicious fruit. Since then, people have grafted young lychee trees from this precious tree to grow into the famous delicious lychee variety.

Among the lychee growing areas in Vietnam, Thanh Ha lychee is the most famous. Lychees harvested from trees in this area are often more fragrant and sweet than those from other places. The lychee fruit is round, moderately large, has a very thin skin, thick, juicy segments inside, and is especially almost free of worms like many other types of lychee. The lychee seeds are very small, plus the pulp is thick, fragrant, and has a sweet taste. That is why this type of lychee has passed the strict standards to be offered to ancient kings. Not only has it been a product offered to the king for many generations, Thanh Ha lychee has also been chosen as a gift to foreign countries.

Hai Duong also has another fruit that was once offered to the king, which is the tangerine. According to the book Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi, volume 17, about the tangerine fruit of Hai Duong province as follows: "Tanger: has another name, cam nhu, produced in the communes of Vu Xa, Nhu Tinh, Dong Quang, Tu Ky district and Luc Dap, Hoa Ung, Vinh Lai district, the fruit is small, sweet and fragrant, there is a tribute custom". Some woodblocks of the Nguyen Dynasty - World Documentary Heritage, prove the offering of tangerine fruit in Hai Duong to the capital under the Nguyen Dynasty every time Tet comes and spring comes. Hai Duong tangerine with its delicious, cool and sweet taste was chosen as an offering to the Nguyen kings and was very much loved by the kings.

In addition to fruits, green bean cake is also one of the dishes of Hai Duong that was chosen to be presented to the king. According to an old story, King Bao Dai had the opportunity to inspect Hai Duong town. Here, the people offered him a cake made from green beans. After enjoying this specialty cake, feeling the flavor as well as the feelings of the Hai Duong people, King Bao Dai praised it and issued a royal decree "Delicious cake". He allowed the people to print the image of a dragon on that cake and present it to the king to use at tea parties in the palace. That is the Golden Dragon green bean cake.

Elevate products to OCOP

From royal products, in modern times, many localities have restored, maintained and improved product quality. With the project "One Commune One Product", Hai Duong has raised the level of many agricultural products with their own unique characteristics. Many businesses and production households have boldly changed their methods, bringing hometown OCOP products closer to every home and can be brought everywhere.

Thanh Ha litchi has become a familiar gift to many people in many countries. In 2007, the product was granted a certificate of geographical indication "Thanh Ha litchi" by the Intellectual Property Office. Up to now, litchi has been recognized as a 4-star and 5-star OCOP product. In addition to the domestic market, Thanh Ha litchi has been exported to many countries around the world. Currently, Thanh Ha district has 191 litchi growing area codes for export to Japan, the United States, Australia, Thailand, China, etc. Thanh Ha currently has about 3,300 hectares of litchi, concentrated in localities in the concentrated litchi production planning area. Nearly 500 hectares of Thanh Ha litchi are recognized to meet VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards. Localities in the concentrated litchi production area strictly follow the planting and care process so that litchis achieve the highest quality and appearance, meeting the increasingly high criteria of the domestic and international markets.

Through many ups and downs of history, Hai Duong green bean cake is still a traditional dish that many people love. Hai Duong has many famous green bean cake manufacturers such as Bao Hien, Nguyen Huong, Hoa An, Hoang Gia, Gia Bao... In terms of creativity in the flavor of green bean cake, we must mention the brand Hoang Gia Golden Dragon Green Bean Cake of Hoang Giang Joint Stock Company (Hai Duong City). This is one of the few enterprises that have registered green bean cake products to become OCOP products. In addition to the original flavor, this brand has launched many new flavors such as taro, green rice flavor, coconut flavor, lotus flavor, durian... To improve its products, this company has launched the Royal Green Bean Cake product for the King. This is also the product that the unit is proposing to be recognized as a 5-star OCOP product. “The production process and product requirements are higher, no preservatives are used, and the packaging is also more luxurious. This Royal Green Bean Cake product also accounts for 50% of the company's consumption output, mainly sold in supermarkets, tourist shops, and customers order as gifts,” said Mr. Dao Quang Chuyen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hoang Giang Joint Stock Company.

Hai Duong has many other products that are recognized as OCOP products and have been upgraded to become gifts.