From the story of the “drowned… pangasius”

Tan Loc was the first supplier of raw materials for factories processing and exporting pangasius (a kind of catfish) in the Mekong Delta. Pangasius grow rapidly in the clean, nutritious waters of the Hau River, thus lowering the cost of fish farming compared to other areas. Therefore, many families in Tan Loc have succeeded in this profession. In the “heyday” era, everyone was raising pangasius. People asked banks for loans and rented land for fish farming. This is why many families lost everything and went into debt when the US government imposed anti-dumping taxes on catfish products from Vietnam and the selling price was lower than the cost price.

Mr. Chuong Van Khanh - owner of the establishment of dried products and fermented fish made from pangasius “Ut Anh” remembers: We the peasants were on thorns when the selling price was lower than the cost price and it was not even possible to find outlets for the pangasius. An idea finally sprang into my head after long nights of worry: “Why not turn the pangasius into original products for the local market when it was impossible to export the raw materials?" This way of working could help to increase profits and not to be dependent on the too demanding and capricious foreign market ”.

His establishment of dried products and fermented pangasius fish named Ut Anh was thus born. It sells tons of finished products per month and creates dozens of jobs for local workers (the workforce rises to 40-50 people during peak demand periods). Mr. Khanh shares his secret with us: to obtain good finished products, we must choose good quality raw materials which are the healthy and alive pangasius whose origin is verified (dead fish smell very bad. On the other hand, steps like soaking prepared fish in boiled water, removing slime, neutralizing odor, seasoning with salt and spices require experimentation.

At the moment, Ut Anh establishment has 4 OCOP products namely Fermented Pangasius, Half-Dried Pangas, Spicy Dried Pangas, and linh (henicorhynchus) fish sauce. Visitors prefer to buy dried fish and fermented fish products as a gift, which helps spread its brand name. “After our items were recognized as OCOP products, our turnover increased by 30%,” Mr. Chuong Van Khanh tells us.

Mr. Nguyen Phu Tia has successfully completed the transformation process of “Sau Tia water apple wine”.

To “dressed guavas”, “water apple under mosquito net”

Apart from the pangasius, Tan Loc is also known for its huge orchards with trees laden with fruit: Idor longans, pink guavas, An Phuoc red water apple… fascinating visitors near and far. The peasants, however, remain poor because of the refrain “good harvests - too low prices, rising prices - bad harvests”. On the other hand, yellow crop-pest flies (a kind of bee-like insect but smaller stings and rots the fruit) haunt gardeners. Facing this invasion, the peasants cover each young water apple, guava, mango, ... with a net and a plastic bag.

Such hard work doesn’t help the peasants to earn a living when the price drops, they don’t even have enough money to pay the fruit pickers. Worried about this paradox, starting from the low-value fruits of his neighborhood, Mr. Nguyen Phu Tia (Sau Tia), an 80-year-old farmer from Tan Loc, has researched and successfully completed the transformation process of “Sau Tia red water apple wine”, which has been on the market for ten years.

According to Mr. Sau Tia, the wine of red water apple is prepared manually, at 33 degrees without Aldehyde, without causing headaches, helping digestion and good for the health of consumers. The raw materials come from An Phuoc red water apple whose cultivation follows the organic procedure, meeting food safety criteria. The wine is ranked in the top 100 typical products of the Mekong Delta of 2014.

“By participating in the OCOP program, I am aware of my contribution to the promotion of tourism in the locality. And on the other hand, developing local tourism helps promote my product to consumers at home and abroad”, Said Mr. Nguyen Phu Tia.

According to statistics from the Economic Office of Thot Not District, until the present time, Tan Loc occupies 7 out of 10 OCOP products of the locality, including fermented pangasius, half-dried pangasius, spicy dried pangasius, linh (henicorhynchus) fish sauce, fermented guava juice, red water apple wine, Idor longans. As a result, these OCOP products contribute greatly to the promotion of tourism in Tan Loc islet.

Mr. Tran Thanh Binh - Vice President of the Tan Loc ward said: “In 2021, the number of tourists visiting Tan Loc and tasting local specialties is estimated at 20,600 people. They are mainly local visitors (because of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic). However, the good sign is that the number of visitors to Tan Loc on weekends is on the rise; many major travel operators come to study and organize tours and circuits… which enriches the typical products of the locality, including OCOP products.