Soc Trang: Ong Cua Rice journeys to the UK and Australia

After many efforts to promote trade and sign cooperation with partners from the beginning of September 2022 until now, Ho Quang Tri Private Enterprise from Soc Trang, which owns the copyright of rice variety ST25 and builds the brand name Ong Cua Rice, claimed to have exported its products to the UK.

ST25 rice was recently granted a trademark protection title "Ong Cua Rice Vietnam" in Australia along with three other product lines of ST24 and ST25, with a term of 10 years and renewable in the future. The first shipments of Ong Cua Rice were sold to supermarkets in the UK and Australia markets respectively. Particularly in Japan, there is information that ST25 rice is included in the lunch menu of the Japanese Cabinet Office for the first time. The Japan market also receives news of a company that imports ST25 rice and sells it to domestic consumers after conducting quality inspections for a year.

The brands of Ong Cua Rice, ST24, and ST25 began to be widely introduced to domestic consumers and registered for exclusive protection throughout Europe in 2021. The image of Ong Cua Rice brand from Soc Trang - Vietnam is solemnly accompanied by famous rice brands in the rice industry at the Global Rice Conference 2021 taking place in Dubai - United Arab Emirates. Ho Quang Tri Private Enterprise commits that the quality of Ong Cua Rice stays the same whether exported or sold in the domestic market. The production procedure is strictly controlled from planting, harvesting, and preserving to packaging, ensuring the quality of rice grains which includes their natural aroma and sweetness.

Ong Cua Rice ST25 currently has a selling price of VND 160,000/bag of 5kg on e-commerce websites in the domestic market. Ong Cua ST25 Rice-Shrimp is priced at VND 188,500/bag of 5kg. The value of ST25 rice with good branding is estimated at over USD 1,300/ton.

With more than 3 million Vietnamese living abroad, mainly concentrated in developing countries, the demand for delicious Vietnamese rice becomes an urgent matter. They are eagerly in search of the top rice that has earned the reputation of “the best rice in the world”. This explains the demand of a large number of overseas Vietnamese over the past two years for delicious Vietnamese rice, which stems from their love for the homeland and also their national pride. Now many products bearing the leading reputation of delicious Vietnamese rice, which are exported to the US, Japan and EU markets, are warmly welcomed by Vietnamese in other countries.

Hero of Labor, Technician Ho Quang Cua - the "father" of the famous ST fragrant rice variety, current consultant Ho Quang Tri Private Enterprise, said, “The advantage of ST25 fragrant rice variety is that it can produce new fragrant rice all year round, so it is always guaranteed in terms of aromaticity standards. However, we also receive news of unstable rice quality in some places. The current procedures for exporting ST rice are easy and transparent. The EU market is even dedicated to Vietnam 30,000 tons of rice free of import tax.”

However, the difficulty at present is that some Vietnamese enterprises have not been proactive in sourcing raw materials, ensuring food hygiene and safety to meet strict export standards of high-end markets, one reason being some foreign partner companies are afraid of excessive pesticide residues, hence their caution in every order. Domestic enterprises need to increase the transparency of their products, thereby proving the upgrade of Vietnam’s rice quality and value in the domestic market as well as in the world market.

There is a coastal area of rice cultivation in Soc Trang that is often affected saline intrusion and adverse weather in the dry season. The field is subjected to harsh challenges, but it is also a place to test the strong vitality of ST rice varieties. Over the past 30 years, the team researching the ST rice variety group has constantly been diligent in selecting and breeding, improving the rice's resistance to pests and diseases, and raising adapability to anomalous weather in the face of climate change.

Later, Ho Quang Tri Private Enterprise was the pioneer to introduce these delicous rice to markets from large to small, from the West to Ho Chi Minh City. Fragrant rice ST24 and ST25 soon stand among the most successful rice lines in terms of brand and quality of the enterprise in recent years. Vietnam is proud to have more fragrant rice varieties like ST24 and ST25, which are bred and produced here, attaining enough quality to repel the psychology of xenophilia within domestic consumers.