Diversification of products
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Incense stick facilities are active to change designs, diverse products in Tay Lan, Nghi Truong commune, Nghi Loc district. Photo: Thanh Phuc |
Since the beginning of the year, incense stick producers in Tay Lan incense stick craft village, Nghi Truong commune (Nghi Loc district) have been busy with domestic orders as well as orders from Laos.
"On average, we sell about 3,000 - 5,000 incense stick boxes every day; and this year alone, we have exported nearly 700,000 boxes to Laos," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Ly, an incense stick producer in the village.
According to producers, Tay Lan incense sticks are increasingly dominating the market, preferred by consumers because producers have gradually approached technology, put machines into production to achieve higher yields, to get more even and nicer incense sticks.
“We use herbal ingredients instead of toxic chemicals to make incense sticks, therefore, our products are very popular. The increase in annual revenue from incense production has created regular jobs for more than 100 workers and nearly 200 seasonal workers with good incomes", Mr. Nguyen Doan Tan - deputy head of Tay Lan incense stick village said.
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Diverse products that are in line with customers’ tastes have “saved” Diem bamboo and rattan craft village. Photo: Thanh Phuc |
Diem bamboo and rattan craft village in Chau Khe commune (Con Cuong district) used to face the risk of “elimination” when its products could not compete with similar ones in the market which were produced in bulk with diverse designs and cheap prices. At that time, each member of the craft village was concerned about finding ways to change and adapt to the market.
Ms. Lang Thi Hoa - director of the village’s cooperative said: "We realized that in order to save the craft village from the impasse, we have to change the very products we make. When rattan trays, chairs or baskets, etc. are no longer popular and cannot compete with plastic or inox items, we need to switch to knitting more sophisticated products, fine arts and souvenirs to sell on the market.
Therefore, we have learned to knit cosmetic containers, bags, school supply storage box, fruit plates, interior decoration items with modern patterns, diverse designs, etc. As a result, gradually, our craft village products are well received by the market, the number of orders are increasing."
Diversity of designs and suitability for customer tastes are considered vital factors to help craft village products compete on the market. In recent years, many craft villages such as Hoa Tien brocade weaving (Quy Chau); Diem bamboo and rattan (Con Cuong); Tay Lan incense sticks(Nghi Loc); Thuan Giang carpentry village, Nam Thang (Quynh Luu); Binh Minh seafood processing (Cua Lo town), etc. chose to develop in this direction.
"For craft villages to exist, production facilities and enterprises need to restructure products on the basis of market demand research, review the existing product portfolio, identify key products that need to be maintained and developed, eliminateproducts that do not have a market. It is necessary to apply new technologies, focus on improving product quality, researching and innovating designs, exploiting the market..."
Connecting e-commerce associated with tourism development
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In Thai Minh brocade weaving village (Phay Thai Minh village, Tien Ky commune, Tan Ky district). Photo: Thanh Phuc |
In recent years, e-commerce has become a popular business method. Thanks to the promotion of online sales and transactions on e-commerce platforms, some craft villages have good growth.
In many facilities, revenue from e-commerce accounts for an average of 50% of total revenue. For example, at Thai Minh brocade weaving village (Phay Thai Minh village, Tien Ky commune, Tan Ky district), if in the past, brocade textile products such as skirts, duvet covers, pillowcases, towels, bags, etc. were woven and sold to Thai people in villages in Tan Ky and neighboring districts, then now, thanks to promotion on Zalo, Facebook, participating in exchanges, Thai Minh brocade textile products are increasingly known by a large number of people.
Ms. Lao Thi Hai - Head of Thai Minh brocade weaving village said: "Recently, textile products are consumed in the markets of Nghe An and neighboring provinces as well as Laos’ market. In particular, thanks to the implementation of homestay tourism, many tourists have come to the village to visit, relax, buy handmade textile products of the craft village as gifts, so Thai Minh products also have the opportunity to be known by many people".
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Hai Giang 1 fish sauce village supplies about 300,000 liters of fish sauce to the market each year. Up to 30% of its products are consumed through e-commerce channels. Photo: Thanh Phuc |
Also in the general trend of e-commerce, in the past 2 years, Hai Giang 1 fish sauce processing craft village (Nghi Hai ward, Cua Lo town) on the one hand changed product designs, on the other hand promoted methods of promoting and consuming Hai Giang fish sauce products on digital platforms. According to preliminary statistics, Hai Giang 1 fish sauce village supplies about 300,000 liters of fish sauce to the market each year. Up to 30% of its products are consumed through e-commerce channels.
Currently, in addition to investing in infrastructure systems, environmental landscapes; create check-in points for visitors; building booths and stalls to introduce products, the craft village has also changed the production line for visitors to visit and experience. At the same time, they replace the cement, plastic tank with clay jars; use glass bottles instead of plastic ones, pack products in boxes suitable for tourists.
This is a new step to help the craft village improve production lines, environment, get access to and expand the market. As a result, the revenue of Hai Giang 1 fish sauce village reached 30-40 billion VND/year, increased by 20%.
Being active in finding markets for craft village products through design innovation, product diversification; trade promotion activities, display... are being strongly deployed by craft villagesto connect with customers.
In particular, through social networking platforms, the market for product consumption has also become wider, not only domestically but also abroad. At the same time, linking the development of traditional craft villages with tourism will open up new markets, bring about potentials that craft villages can exploit to increase revenue and income for craft village workers...
