The cassava industry implements SPS: Power from technology

Achieved FSSC 22000 certification

For a long time, Truong Dong commune, Hoa Thanh district, has been considered the cradle of cassava flour production in Tay Ninh province to provide raw materials for rice paper factories across the country and localities.

Thanks to abundant raw materials, more and more craft villages, production facilities, and rice paper business households in Tay Ninh appear. However, most production facilities follow traditional methods, the quality is uneven, the colors are not eye-catching, and food hygiene and safety have not been paid attention to, while the room to develop rice paper is quite good.

Grasping market demand, in 2018, Mr. Dang Khanh Duy built a factory and established Tan Nhien Co., Ltd., specializing in producing rice paper. Thanks to modern, self-contained technology, from cooking the dough and coating the cake to drying with an infrared oven, the first series of industrially produced rice paper in Tay Ninh were released one after another. However, this rice paper is not much different from the traditional but is recognized by consumers as clean and safe.

With initial success, Mr. Duy continued to innovate technology, gradually replacing old machines with professional machines imported from Europe and improving to suit rice paper production. At the same time, Mr. Duy spends much time improving products. Thanks to technological advantages and creativity, super-thin rice paper rolls that do not need to be dipped in water with outstanding benefits in color, quality, and absolute food safety were born. In April 2022, Tan Nhien Co., Ltd. was granted FSSC 22000 certification. One year after receiving FSSC 22000, in March 2023, Tan Nhien received the Certificate of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods voted by consumers (HVNCLC).

According to Mr. Duy, FSSC 22000 is an international certification for food safety and hygiene recognized by GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) that minimizes the risks of unsafe hygienic food, helping food businesses and the food industry develop effectively and sustainably.

Succeed with “reverse thinking”

After only 5 years of establishment and development, Tan Nhien has a modern production area of more than 5,000 square meters, with 5 closed production lines and revenue of VND 60 billion/year, with the main product line being rice paper. Super thin Tan Nhien does not soak in water.

One interesting thing at Tan Nhien is that many businesses have long had the mindset of developing from the domestic market and then foreign countries, especially with traditional products. But Tan Nhien went the opposite way. Thanks to that, Vietnamese consumers can use export quality products at affordable prices for Vietnamese consumers.

According to Mr. Duy, a segment of consumers believe that Vietnamese products are not a priority choice because the price is not lower than foreign products, and the quality is not confirmed. And so instead of buying Vietnamese products, many domestic consumers are willing to spend double or triple to own imported goods of the same type. Tan Nhien goes in a "different" direction to make Vietnamese people trust using Vietnamese products.

Besides the export market, Tan Nhien rice paper products are spread nationwide across supermarket systems, including traditional markets. In March 2023, Tan Nhien was honored to receive the Certificate of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods voted by consumers. Tan Nhien has invested in an additional thin rice paper production line to meet the increasing number of orders, increasing the total rice paper capacity to 20 tons/day.

The certificate of "High-quality Vietnamese goods" voted by consumers is a pride for every business and motivates businesses to try to improve their products to meet the increasing requirements of consumers", Mr. Dang Khanh Duy shared.

According to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Xuan, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tay Ninh province, Tay Ninh is considered the "capital" of the cassava starch processing industry. However, most local businesses export raw starch, with few deep processing enterprises. Tan Nhien Company is a young business with the courage to change thinking, improve technology, improve product quality according to international standards, and produce high-quality products in packaging, labels, and production processes.

"In particular, not only conquering domestic consumers, but Tan Nhien also exports rice paper to many countries, even difficult markets such as Japan, Korea... contributing to promoting the image of Vietnamese rice paper. From there, we urge local cassava starch processing enterprises to shift from raw to refined processing, contributing to increasing the value of the starch processing industry and income for local cassava growers", Mr. Nguyen Dinh Xuan emphasized.