Cau Ke Macapuno Company promotes OCOP Tra Vinh specialty

Cau Ke Macapuno Company (Vicosap) has cooperated with Hoa Tan Macapuno Cooperative (Cau Ke District, Tra Vinh Province) to build a raw material area for macapuno that meet food safety and hygiene standards.

Despite being a young start-up business that was established two years ago, the company has conducted research and investment in technology with the aim to improve the value of macapuno, a specialty of Tra Vinh Province.

The company has produced a variety of products from the juice, including candy, yogurt, and particularly, macapuno fiber that is unique in the market.

In addition, as a start-up business, Vicosap has also become an inspiration for the youth in Tra Vinh Province in particular and the Mekong Delta in general to realize their entrepreneurial ambitions through business cooperation with the company.

Vicosap is currently the first startup in the province to apply digital transformation by launching its website, Vicosap.vn, to develop its business activities. Notably, the website includes features of supporting agents and business partners of the company. Young people could register to become product sales collaborators of the e-commerce trading floor vicosap.vn.

According to Tran Duy Linh, Director of Vicosap, Vicosap.vn is now offering over 500 items for business collaboration, including products of the Company and a variety of regional specialties and OCOP products. In the future orientation, the company will increase the number of products on the website up to 1,000 products.

Cau Ke Macapuno Co., Ltd (Vicosap), headquartered in Hamlet 2, Thanh Phu Commune, Cau Ke District, Tra Vinh Province, is one of the successful startups of Tra Vinh province.

Tran Duy Linh, a native of Cau Ke district, with the desire to introduce the specialty of his hometown to the world, has devoted himself to researching and processing fresh macapuno into unique products that increase high added value to the fruit.

The products of Vicosap have been granted certifications such as: ISO, HACCP, FDA, among others. Typical products of the company include macapuno fiber and candy with 3 flavors (pure wax coconut, cocoa and pandan leaves).

Vicosap has recently introduced to the market a new product – crispy coconut chips – that is applied with Japanese freeze-drying technology to retain the original flavor of the fruit. Another new product of the company is macapuno yogurt that first appeared in Vietnam.

Currently, Cau Ke Macapuno Co., Ltd. has introduced macapuno products to the Japanese market.  The company plans to import the first batch of macapuno products to the US and negotiate to introduce them to the EU market.

Macapuno, a specialty of Tra Vinh Province with soft, thick pulp, is grown only in Cầu Kè District where the soil is suitable for it. The district has been well known for the coconut for more than 50 years after a local brought the variety from Cambodia and planted it, Nguyễn Văn Sử, the chairman and director of the co-operative, said.

The co-operative’s 53 members grow 45ha of the variety, he said.

The district has more than 1,000ha with 22,000 trees of macapuno, including 17,000 trees in Hòa Tân Commune.

According to farmers in Cau Ke, Tra Vinh, a mature tree produces 120 – 150 nuts a year, with only 40 – 50 per cent having soft and thick pulp and being called macapuno, with the rest having normal flesh.

Farmers can earn an income of VND10 million (US$430) a year from a mature macapuno tree.

The coconut is used mostly for desserts like coconut shakes and flesh mixed with milk, sugar and ice.

Province authorities have taken many measures to develop the variety, including research and improvement in the quality of seedlings to increase the rate of macapuno that grow in each tree.

Trà Vinh has more than 23,000ha under coconut, making it the delta’s second largest producer after Bến Tre Province.

It has 50 companies and cooperatives that produce coconut milk, coconut oil, charcoal from coconut shells, and coir.