Tai Hoan canna vermicelli made from canna indica, a specialty of the mountainous regions of Viet Bac, is the only 5-star OCOP product of Bac Kan province up to this point.

Tai Hoan canna vermicelli is a product of Tai Hoan Cooperative, located in Che Co village, Con Minh commune, Na Ri district, Bac Kan province. The cooperative's canna vermicelli is a traditional product made in 1965 and produced manually on a small scale with modest output.

By 2018, Tai Hoan Cooperative had been established with 14 members, aiming to improve the quality of vermicelli and expand the market. In 2019, the cooperative’s canna vermicelli product was recognized as a 4-star OCOP product. By 2021, it was recognized as a national 5-star OCOP product and became the only 5-star OCOP product from Bac Kan up to this point.

Na Ri is full of undulating, overlapping, less flat limestone mountains with a height of approximately 700–800 m. The whole district has about 40,000 people, including many ethnic groups such as Mong, Tay, Nung, Kinh, Dao, etc. People mainly develop their economies through agriculture and forestry.

Among which, canna indica is an endemic plant variety of Bac Kan in general and Na Ri in particular, often grown sparsely on the hillsides to be used as raw materials for hand-coated canna vermicelli. Like many other people here, the family of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoan, Director of Tai Hoan Cooperative, has been making canna vermicelli since 1965, when it was just food to fight hunger.

Sticking with canna vermicelli from an early age until having a clear awareness, the director of the 16-member cooperative was determined to pursue and get rich from the traditional profession of previous generations.

In 1991, after getting married, Mrs. Hoan and her husband began to find ways to self-grow canna indica to be proactive in the source of raw materials. "Once I did, I would do big business. At that time, my family planted about one hectare of canna on the hillsides of Con Minh commune," recalled the owner of the Tai Hoa canna vermicelli product.

At that time, to meet production needs, Mrs. Hoan had to hire 3–4 workers, both to help with housework and to do canna. Even at peak times, when raking fields or harvesting, there are dozens of workers at home.

Initially, the couple determined to focus on making canna powder and selling it to vermicelli production facilities in the area because they could quickly recover capital and save money by not investing in equipment to make vermicelli. Gradually, after 3–4 years of capital saving, Mrs. Hoan bought the vermicelli coating tools, but they were still handcrafted, and the maximum daily productivity was only around 30–50 kg.

Making delicious vermicelli is not enough because, in business, the most important thing is still selling goods. When the whole village and commune did the same work, there was no other way but to go further. Recognizing that fact, Mrs. Hoan was alone with her motorcycle, looking for places to consume.

"Initially, I only dared to go to Bac Can City as the farthest place. Just hold the package of vermicelli to offer like that, some people are sympathetic and they still listen to me, or some people do not even want to talk. But I still have to be patient," the head of the 16-member cooperative said about the early days of business.

So, from Bac Can, she went to Cao Bang and Lang Son to offer goods and give vermicelli to big agents to try. The vermicelli was delicious, so gradually orders also arrived; the business became better, and the couple immediately thought of expanding the scale.

In 2007, in addition to the accumulated capital, they borrowed another VND 100 million and “plugged in” a red book to borrow money from the bank. Thereby, a vermicelli production line with a scale appeared, helping to increase productivity from 50 kg to a peak of 500 kg/day.

Due to smooth business and the determination to not only enrich themselves but also help local people, Tai Hoan Cooperative was born in 2018 to professionalize its operations and expand its scale. Although the idea of establishing a cooperative also made the couple wonder a lot, with the support of district agricultural officials, they bravely implemented it.

Up to now, the cooperative has 16 members and is associated with about 700–800 canna indica growing households, mainly in Na Ri and some neighboring districts. Regarding the production workshop, Mrs. Hoan has in hand a closed production line, including root crushers, powder separators, coating machines, cutting machines, and packaging systems.

At peak times, Tai Hoan Cooperative has up to 35–40 employees working in workshops; productivity can reach 2 tons/day. "Goods fluctuate according to the market, but basically they can still be consumed. Especially at the end of the year when the demand for vermicelli increases, vermicelli is a good seller," said the Tay owner with a smile.

Regarding the source of raw materials, people participating in planting canna indica trees with the Tai Hoan cooperative were trained and transferred techniques, science, and technology into production. From growing in the direction of the organic model, using care methods to improve yields, and harvesting according to technical regulations. Thanks to the supports, the farmers’ cultivation efficiency increases, while the quality of raw materials is also guaranteed for processing.

Director Nguyen Thi Hoan shared: "During the process of vermicelli production, in order to ensure the source of raw materials, we sign off-take agreements with local farmers and commune authorities. Farmers were transferred science and technology to make the best canna indica with not only a high yield but also an increasing starch content.

After that, in order to get the maximum starch content in canna roots and get the highest quality canna vermicelli products, the cooperative always pays attention to investing in modern equipment and machinery in production.

All current production stages of Tai Hoan Cooperative use machines, so the products have uniform quality and design, ensuring the standards for sale to the market and for export.”

Currently, the cooperative has one more workshop under construction on an area of 4,000 m2, focusing on edible canna vermicelli products with modern and automated machinery systems. It is expected that, if put into operation, the cooperative’s total output will be raised to about 2.5 tons/day.

Over the years, Tai Hoan Cooperative has created stable jobs for more than 40 people with a salary of VND 6-7 million/month, contributing to improving the economic lives of the people in the Na Ri mountainous region.

Currently, canna vermicelli products from Tai Hoan Cooperative have beautiful packaging and labels filled with information according to regulations. The products have been tested and meet food safety criteria without containing additives or preservatives.

In addition to being distributed in the Coop Mart supermarket system, the main channel is stores introducing local specialties, agents, and focal points in localities.

Regarding market promotion, it must be affirmed that in recent years, the leaders of Bac Kan province have been very active in bringing the province’s specialty agricultural products to promote the brand in the country and internationally. Thanks to those trade promotion meetings, the Tai Hoan canna vermicelli brand has met the requirements of design and quality and is favored by consumers. Thereby, foreign businesses have promoted the import of canna vermicelli products to the EU market.

After many times taking samples to check for residues of pesticides and toxic substances at the Institute of Chemistry (Czech Republic), Tai Hoan canna vermicelli ensures product quality and is safe for consumers, so it is accepted to export to the Czech market in particular and the most demanding market in the world in general, the EU market. In 2020, the first container of canna vermicelli products from the Tai Hoan cooperative was successfully exported.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoan, Director of Tai Hoan Cooperative, said: "To export this order is a journey of more than one year of efforts. The cooperative has repeatedly sent samples to test product quality and has perfected packaging and import and export procedures. Tai Hoan canna vermicelli products exported to the Czech Republic are rigorously tested for quality and transparent about the source of raw materials throughout the production process. We are very confident about this."

Up until now, the cooperative's products have been exported to the Czech Republic, Australia, and the US. The director also revealed that she is negotiating to bring some products that are suitable for the Korean and Japanese markets.

As Mrs. Hoan shared, in order to achieve today’s achievement, Tai Hoan Cooperative has actively participated since the OCOP Program was launched. In order to achieve results of 3 stars or more, then 4 stars, and now 5 stars, the unit has to improve production methods and product quality day by day.

From advanced quality management to food safety, traceability, packaging and labeling, environmental factors of production, improving knowledge of trade promotion, sales, etc., they are all paid attention to and increasingly completed to meet the needs of the market.

Only then will Tai Hoan canna vermicelli products meet the standards of supply for trade centers, agricultural supply chains, participating in e-commerce platforms, selling on social networks, etc.