The female cooperative director exports fish sauce to Australia

4-star OCOP fish sauce

Possessing a coastline of more than 130km with many beautiful beaches, Ha Tinh province not only develops strongly in tourism but also encourages businesses and people to invest in infrastructure, equipment, and machinery to deeply process seafood products.

Through the integration of policies on new rural construction and the One Commune One Product (OCOP) Program, a series of cooperatives and cooperative groups in the province have been created with the most favorable conditions in terms of administrative procedures, land, capital sources, etc., to expand production scale and build product brands. Phu Sang Seafood Processing Service Cooperative (Phu Sang Cooperative) in Thien Cam town, Cam Xuyen district, is one of the collective economic models that has achieved outstanding success.

In 2021, returning home after many years of studying and working in Taiwan, Ms. Nguyen Thi Sang (born in 1992) and seven other members jointly established Phu Sang Cooperative, with the principal business of purchasing, processing, distributing seafood, and building the "Phu Sang Fish Sauce" brand.

The Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Director of the Cooperative shared that Phu Sang Cooperative is located in the estuary area with abundant and fresh raw materials, which is an advantage for processing fish sauce. Moreover, in the process of traveling through many lands and tasting all kinds of dipping sauces, she personally realized that there is no type of fish sauce as rich and fragrant as her grandmother's drops of heirloom fish sauce salted in ceramic and porcelain jars.

"Phu Sang fish sauce is dried in the evening dew, does not use preservatives, is stirred regularly until it is 18 months old, and is added with pineapple to remove the harsh taste, so the product not only is puce in color but also has a unique, unmistakable flavor. This is the factor attracting consumers, including demanding customers," Ms. Sang proudly said.

When first operating under the collective economic model, Phu Sang Cooperative was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, thanks to the support of local agencies and departments and the determination to build the Phu Sang seafood brand for sustainable development, the Cooperative registered to participate in the OCOP program, and the Phu Sang fish sauce product was recognized as meeting the 3-star OCOP standards.

During its operation, the Cooperative focuses on creating uniform products in large enough quantities and constantly improving packaging and labels to attract consumers. At the same time, proactively register intellectual property and update product traceability information via QR codes to create trust for customers and partners.

After initial success, Phu Sang Cooperative continued to invest VND 750 million in automatic filling technology and build a store to display and introduce products, upgrading from 3-star OCOP to 4-star OCOP. 

Since then, the intra-provincial consumption market has expanded to major provinces and cities such as Hanoi, Da Nang, Thua Thien-Hue, and Nghe An, with an average output of over 70,000 liters of fish sauce of all kinds per year. In particular, in early 2024, the Head of the Cooperative linked with businesses to export Phu Sang fish sauce to the Australian market with an amount of 15,000 liters.

"Divide the cake evenly"

Female Director Nguyen Thi Sang not only steers the Cooperative's operations effectively to ensure income for members but also shares benefits with the fishermen linking to provide raw materials for the Cooperative.

"Since 2017, on average each year we have invested nearly VND 3 billion to support 64 households with interest-free loans to buy fishing tools. On average, each household borrows VND 50-100 million. This year, this household borrows, and then next year it will be transferred to another household. The viewpoint is to 'divide the cake evenly' so that everyone can benefit," Ms. Sang said.

In addition to interest-free loan support, on average each year, the Cooperative purchases hundreds of tons of seafood of all kinds at prices 5–10% higher than the market (depending on the type of fish, small shrimp, and squid) for fishermen in Cam Duong, Cam Hoa, and Cam Loc communes, Thien Cam town (Cam Xuyen district), and some neighboring communes of Ky Anh and Loc Ha districts.

Fisherman Le Van Anh (Tran Thien Cam town) is one of 64 lucky fishermen who was supported with VND 50 million in purchasing fishing tools to exploit fish and small shrimp near the shore by Phu Sang Cooperative.

"My family has 2 small-capacity fishing vessels that go out to sea early in the morning and land on shore at about 2-3 p.m. on the same day to sell seafood to Phu Sang Cooperative. All exploited fish, squid, and small shrimp are purchased by Phu Sang Cooperative at prices VND 5,000–10,000/kg higher than the market," Mr. Anh excitedly said.

Top 100 Cooperative Stars nationwide

Although the Cooperative is young, its annual revenue has increased significantly, from over VND 8.5 billion in 2021 to over VND 18 billion in 2023 and over VND 9 billion in the first 8 months of 2024. Sharing her operating experience, Ms. Nguyen Thi Sang said: "First of all, we must determine where we stand to build a production and business plan suitable to our existing financial capacity and human resources. After that, constantly improve product quality by combining experience and traditional know-how with advanced and modern technology.

Regularly improve packaging and labels to create unique features for products and attract consumers. At the same time, apply digital transformation to advertising and sales promotion work."

To purchase raw materials for fishermen at stable prices, the Cooperative invests in warehouses, equipment, and machinery to freeze seafood. Organize the main production crop in the period from February to April every year because during this period, the weather is favorable, raw materials are abundant, and the prolonged hot sun is easy to dry and stir, so the fish sauce quickly cooks and produces quality products.

Mr. Le Ngoc Ha, Vice Chairman of the Cam Xuyen District People's Committee, assessed that this is the most effective collective economic model in the district. Thanks to the acumen, determination, daring to think, and daring to do of the leader, Phu Sang Cooperative has built a fish sauce product that meets 4-star OCOP standards.

“This unit currently has favorable conditions for development in Cam Xuyen district because the locality has the advantage of a long coastline and a fairly large fleet compared to other districts in the province. Most importantly, the Cooperative has been building a sustainable linkage chain from purchasing, processing, and consuming products," Mr. Le Ngoc Ha emphasized.

Among countless certificates of merit and trophies from central to local levels awarded to Phu Sang Cooperative, the latest achievement this unit achieved is the Cooperative Star Award in 2024. This is one of 100 cooperatives nationwide honored by the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance.