Soc TrangVietnam uses the ST line to build a typical national rice brand, according to Mr. Pham Thai Binh, Chairman of the board of directors of Trung An High-tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company.
Mr. Binh stated his opinion at the workshop on building a national brand for Vietnamese rice organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Soc Trang Provincial People’s Committee and Tuoi Tre newspaper, on December 10.
Mr. Pham Thai Binh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Trung An High-Tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company, spoke at the conference on December 10. Image: Cheers Ly
According to Mr. Binh, in the period 2010-2014, he and labor hero Ho Quang Cua worked side by side in building ST rice to spread it around the world. Vietnam has had ST25 twice honored as the best rice in the world (2019 and 2023). Therefore, we can consider taking the ST line to build it into a typical national rice brand.
“When we have a rice brand that has been certified as the best in the world, other types of rice will also have a good influence,” Mr. Binh said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ho Quang Cua said that building a rice brand must be done by chain, not counting stages. If not built to standards, even if the best rice in the world is returned to hundreds of containers, it will greatly affect the brand.
According to Mr. Cua, looking at the countries that have built the most successful brands in the world, India focuses on the Basmati variety, Thailand has Hom Mali, meaning they focus on one variety. After focusing on one variety, there are always purity standards, limiting chemicals to have a natural flavor. When producing, farmers need to avoid letting rice bloom during the rainy or hottest times to retain its characteristic aroma.
Mr. Ho Quang Cua, labor hero, “father” of the ST rice variety. Image: Cheers Ly
“In recent years, as we entered the world’s high-end rice market, the behavior of businesses and farmers has changed a lot. Businesses and people have gradually supported each other to upgrade quality.” , Mr. Cua said.
Mr. Le Thanh Hoa, Deputy Director of Quality, Processing and Market Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the role of brands in rice industry development is a factor that increases product value and competitiveness. Currently, some businesses have succeeded in building brands and establishing a foothold in the international market, typically the ST25 rice brand. The success of ST25 is a testament to the great potential of our country’s rice industry, creating a premise to enhance the brand in the global market.
However, Mr. Hoa also said that developing the Vietnamese rice brand still has some difficulties, such as building trust in quality, lack of legal support in international brand protection, and not focusing on the domestic market. . “It is necessary to improve product quality, build and develop rice brands and geographical indications, and diversify export rice products,” Mr. Hoa said.
Harvesting rice in Soc Trang province. Image: An Minh
From an importing country, in recent years, Vietnam has become one of the world’s leading rice exporting countries. In the 2024 rice crop, the whole country has 7.09 million hectares, with an average yield of 612 quintals per hectare, output of 43.4 million tons. In the first 11 months of the year, Vietnam exported 8.5 million tons of rice, with a turnover of more than 5.3 billion USD, an increase of 22% in value compared to the same period in 2023.
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