Ngoc Mountain Green Tea is Hai Phong's OCOP product that achieves the most stars, not only conquering the domestic market but also being qualified to reach the international market.

After many years of implementing the OCOP program in Hai Phong, up to now only Ngoc Mountain Tea has participated with five products, and all five have been rated rated over 90 points (equivalent to a 5-star rating) by the Hai Phong City OCOP Product Evaluation and Classification Council, which requested that the Central-Level OCOP Product Evaluation and Classification Council evaluate and rank them.

Like many other OCOP products, behind each product is a story in which there is culture, local customs, and even spirituality. As for Ngoc Mountain Tea, the story behind it is the sacred mountain, the stream that never dries up, and the place with a unique and rare coastal terrain.

Regarding this land, Ms. Nguyen Thi Bo, Director of Green Community Social Enterprise Joint Stock Company and Owner of the Ngoc Mountain Tea product, shared that Ngoc Mountain, Do Son district, is a land with the richest culture and history in Hai Phong. Here now, there is still the presence of Tuong Long Tower (also known as Do Son Tower), built during the reign of Ly Thanh Tong. According to the book "Abridged Chronicles of Dai Viet", in the year Mau Tuat 1058, King Ly Thanh Tong, after traveling across Ba Lo Beach, stopped here to build a tower.

Referring to this land, Do Son people still have a saying: "The water of the Dragon Stream is both clear and cool, and Do Son Road is very sandy and easy to walk on". The saying mentions the Dragon Stream as a very proud place for the Do Son people.

Dragon Stream flows from the heart of Ngoc Mountain, the first mountain in the Nine Dragons Mountain range in Ngoc Xuyen ward. According to Mr. Hoang Gia Bon, manager of the Co Chin temple, since the founding of Do Son Land for more than 1,300 years, they have never seen the stream run out of water.

Dragon Stream water is year-round clear, cool in summer, and warm in winter. People who come to the temple to pray all visit there to ask for water to clean the dust out before entering the temple to offer incense. In addition, many people come to the temple to collect Dragon Stream water with the hope of having luck and peace in life.

Currently, this mountain still has 17 ancient gold apple trees that have existed for 700–800 years. These are Vietnamese heritage trees certified by the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment.

It is worth saying that on Ngoc Mountain, there are currently many hectares of ancient green tea trees, which have been year-round green even without fertilization. For many generations, green tea here has been nurtured on the fertile land on Ngoc Mountain that few people touch, along with the underground water of Dragon Stream. With hundreds of years of tea growing, harvesting, and processing experience, the people of the Do Son coastal area have created a unique flavor and value for the tea trees here.

According to Mr. Nguyen The Anh, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ngoc Xuyen ward, Do Son district, currently in Ngoc Mountain, there are about 7-8 hectares of green tea. This area is not concentrated but dispersed among each household. The tea tree has been present in the locality for several hundred years. Due to the climate and soil, tea here is very fragrant and delicious and is favored by residents and tourists. Currently, the Ngoc Mountain tea product has been processed into valuable OCOP products, and the locality has guidelines to protect the tea tree area, both serving tourism and preserving the values that Heaven and Earth bestow on the locality while still ensuring income for the people.

Businesswoman Nguyen Thi Bo is a very young woman, born in Hung Thang commune, Tien Lang district, Hai Phong city. Previously, like many other people, after graduating from university, Ms. Bo was also very excited to take the payroll exam to work for a state agency and become a civil servant.

After 9 years of sticking with the agency, participating in many social activities, and feeling the need to change the working environment to have more time to contribute to life, Ms. Bo turned around to find a new direction to develop her career.

In 2019, Ms. Bo officially quit her job and coordinated with friends to establish the Green Community Social Enterprise Joint Stock Company with the initial goal of using 51% of the profits to do social and environmental activities.

The purpose is good, and many people join hands to support it. However, due to a lack of experience, along with social activities in the country flourishing with many well-known units successful at that time, the company's operations fell into difficulty, and capital gradually dwindled after a short time. Unable to bear the pressure, Ms. Bo’s friends, who founded the company together with her, gradually withdrew. Turning around until finally only Ms. Bo held on.

The first start-up step was considered a failure. The capital ran out, but enthusiasm was still overflowing, so Ms. Bo continued to research and learn to find a new development path to both maintain operations and have capital to maintain social activities.

 “At that time, I wondered how to have Hai Phong's typical product. The newest thing with the strongest development potential will be exploited to produce products made in Hai Phong, branded Hai Phong," Ms. Bo recalled.

God does not disappoint those who have heart and enthusiasm, and fate finally came to Ms. Bo. During a visit to Tuong Long Tower in Ngoc Mountain, Ngoc Xuyen ward, Do Son district, seeing the towering tea trees with lush green leaves, Ms. Bo immediately "numbered" in the head: "Tuong Long Tower has existed for thousands of years, so this tea tree must have been long-standing for a long time and definitely valuable," so she took the time to research and learn. And that was also the fate that brought the 8X businesswoman to find this raw material, research it, and produce today’s Nui Ngoc Tea product.

"When I researched and asked the oldest people in Do Son, they all confirmed that since growing up, they had seen the tea tree and did not know when it existed. The local government supported people with loans to preserve the green tea tree on Ngoc Mountain. This is a natural product, bringing health value to consumers," Ms. Nguyen Thi Bo recalled.

After deciding to "live and die" with tea products, in August 2020, Ms. Bo began to ask local authorities and people about the origin and care process of tea.

Ms. Bo shared that when participating in the OCOP program, the advantage that businesses receive is the attention of local authorities and the agriculture sector, from the top leaders to the person in charge, then the division. The functional agencies have always exchanged and informed us to help us approach the OCOP program in the best way.

However, like the owners of OCOP products, Ms. Bo also had to go through a rather arduous process in order to make new products. Besides, Ms. Bo is not the Do Son person, so it took time to search and understand the story behind the ancient tea trees as well as the cultural and historical value of this sacred mountain.

Therefore, in the first days, even though she learned and researched very carefully, it still took 2 months of working with the processing process for Ms. Bo and her staff to successfully produce the first product, namely Green Tea.

Later, when the first product was brought to market, well appreciated by consumers, and sold well, and she had capital, Ms. Bo dared to continue to research and develop four more products, including Green Tea Powder, Yacón Tea, Gop Tea, and Lotus Tea. All brought to the market was sold very quickly, and the results were surprising to everyone.

 

Explaining the product’s name, Ngoc Mountain Tea, Ms. Bo shared that tea products are produced, exploited, and researched at the sacred mountain, with many historical traces of the country, so she decided to use the brand name "Ngoc Mountain Tea" to mark the product’s origin and place of formation.

In addition to health value, Ngoc Mountain Tea products also contain cultural, historical, and tourism value, so the products are also to honor the image, cultural beauty, land, and people of Do Son.

“There are five products under the Ngoc Mountain Tea brand. Each product has famous images of Do Son Land, such as Tuong Long Tower and Flamboyant Island. We not only focus on product development towards optimization but also aim at cultural and tourism products. Each place name in Do Son has unique cultural features and historical factors. Through drinking Ngoc Mountain Tea, we also know more about the unique place names of Do Son," Ms. Bo confided.

Holding the green tea package in her hand, Ms. Bo affirmed that the products are produced with modern technology that can retain the original flavor of the raw material source while being fresh and fragrant. To get these products, the enterprise has invested in the best machinery and equipment on the market to ensure safety.

“We do not use preservatives, additives, colorings, or flavorings. For that reason, the product's shelf life is only 12 months. This is different from many other tea products on the market. Ngoc Mountain Tea is a product of safety and will always remain so," Ms. Bo affirmed.

In fact, Ngoc Mountain Tea products have proven to be favored and have conquered the domestic and world markets. During the production process, all products are sampled for testing at reputable units with globally recognized quality assessments.

As of the present moment, Ms. Nguyen Thi Bo has created five products under the Ngoc Mountain Tea brand. The products have created a reputation and a brand. Ngoc Mountain Tea products are produced on modern production lines that retain essence.

Due to ensuring production processes and products that meet international standards, Ngoc Mountain Tea has conquered the demanding market and exported to the US market in September 2021 with 5,000 boxes/month.

“The US is a demanding market. When accessing this market, the Ngoc Mountain Tea product must meet the strict requirements of the partner, control quality according to ISO 22000:2008 standards, and be required to have the US’s FDA certificate. The first export order of Ngoc Mountain Tea to a demanding market like the US will be a great opportunity for the company's Ngoc Mountain Tea to access other countries," said Ms. Bo.

In addition to bringing Ngoc Mountain Tea products to the US, after being certified as OCOP products, tea products are also accessed and distributed to 15 agents in Hanoi, Hai Phong, and Ho Chi Minh City, thereby creating jobs for many local workers with stable incomes. Revenue reaches billions of dongs each year.

Besides, Green Community Social Enterprise Joint Stock Company is also aiming to access supermarkets, grocery stores, and sell at kiosks along Do Son Beach, walking streets, and spiritual tourism sites. At the same time, continue to research and launch a set of products serving as worship items, with the desire to create the Ngoc Mountain-Do Son tea brand so that domestic and foreign tourists coming to Do Son will know about the Ngoc Mountain Tea product.

“This is an organic product, produced with a modern process so that the tea retains its original essence. When tested, it complies with the standards of many countries, such as the US. The nutritional table we designed on the packaging is highly appreciated by the Global Testing Group. I wish Hai Phong's first tea product would reach all regions and countries in the world. We hope that Hai Phong's first tea product will reach all regions of the country and many countries in the world," Ms. Bo shared.

According to Mr. Tang Xuan Tho, after five years of implementing the OCOP Program in Hai Phong (2018–2023), OCOP products have basically promoted the production value and advantages of each locality and increased income for farmers. Up to now, Hai Phong has 184 OCOP products, but currently, only five products of Ngoc Mountain Tea have been rated over 90 points (equivalent to a 5-star rating) by the Hai Phong City OCOP Product Evaluation and Classification Council, which requested that the Central-Level OCOP Product Evaluation and Classification Council evaluate and rank them.

Since the implementation of the OCOP Program, relevant units under the Department have connected supply and demand between businesses, cooperatives, and production households producing OCOP products and units operating e-commerce trading floors such as Hai Phong Post Office and F24 Company Limited.

In the coming time, Hai Phong city will continue to determine that implementing the OCOP Program is a key task in developing the rural economy and building new rural areas.

This is also considered a solution for Hai Phong city to complete the goal that by 2025, 100% of communes (137 communes) will meet model new rural standards; 4 districts (Vinh Bao, Tien Lang, An Lao, and Kien Thuy) meet advanced new rural standards and continue to meet model new rural district standards.