More five-star OCOP products labeled  

THE HANOI TIMES — The National Council for the Evaluation of the One Commune One Product (OCOP) products has granted five-star ratings to an additional 47 products, bringing the total to 126.

At the announcement event in Hanoi on June 24, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam shared this news and emphasized the importance of authenticity and local identity in OCOP development.

"What matters is that each product truly reflects the heart, land, village, and soul of the countryside, not the number of five-star products," he said.

The program has enabled small-scale producers, cooperatives, and artisans to build brands and access domestic and international markets. Several OCOP products have gained strong market recognition, which reinforces the ministry’s focus on cultivating products that convey authentic stories of their rural origins.

The selected products came from hundreds of items from dozens of provinces.

Less than 0.5% of more than 16,000 OCOP-certified products nationwide got the highest five-star rating for quality and cultural authenticity, which hold unique competitive advantages amid the growing demand for transparency and traceability.

However, many five-star products fail to tell a story or evoke an emotional response due to unattractive packaging. Nam said that a product’s packaging should tell a local story so that, at first glance, consumers can sense the spirit of its homeland.

Nam hoped that OCOP would continue to grow as a key export brand, driving rural development and cultural and economic transformation.

The ministry plans to select some five-star OCOP products for US supermarket chains.