Ipo when to sell

The Hanoitimes – Although the ingredients to make this addicting dish sound fairly simple: ripe bananas, sugar, flour, turmeric powder, making banh chuoi requires the exceptional skills of a master artisan.

For a lot of Hanoians, banh chuoi (deep-fried banana) is the nostalgic food of childhood. Many of us would savor these crispy, slightly sweet snacks on the sidewalks as an after-school snack, or as a treat to send away the cold.

Street food stalls selling deep-fried bananas are ubiquitous in Hanoi. You can find them pretty much anywhere, but do keep in mind that they are open only in the afternoon. It makes a lot of sense actually, since rarely anyone wants something heavy and greasy in the morning.

A set of deep-fried bananas, along with sweet potato pancakes and corn pancakes. Photo: Thuy An.

Although the ingredients to make this addicting dish sound fairly simple: ripe bananas, sugar, flour, turmeric powder, making banh chuoi requires the exceptional skills of a master artisan. It’s not easy to achieve the golden ratio of the batter to produce a crunchy, delightful texture. And it’s equally tough to master the art of deep frying.

After trying various food stalls, let me introduce you to one of the hidden gems of Hanoi. Settled in Van Chuong street, this food stall has a simple set-up. You’ll find two large pans full of scorching hot oil, a giant bowl of batter mixture, and some racks that serve to cool down the pancakes and to display them at the same time. While there are spaces for you to sit and savor the hot, fragrant pancakes right away, bánh chuối is often a take-away item. So, you won’t find a lot of people who actually stay and eat.

The owner skillfully cooks three different types of pancakes at the same time. Photo: Thuy An.

The key ingredient is obviously the banana. Not all kinds work, actually. The owner uses ladyfinger bananas ( chuoi Su ), a variety of short and small bananas that tastes much sweeter and is more fragrant than the more popular Cavendish cousin. It’s important to use ripe bananas as well, since they’re at their sweetest. The blacker and more wrinkled the peel, the better.

To make banh chuoi , the owner cuts the bananas in half and presses them gently into flat slices using a wooden handle. She then swiftly dips the banana slides one-by-one into the secret batter mixture and fries them to perfection in piping hot oil. Different from other stalls that solely rest the freshly-fried pancakes on a cooling rack, the owner, after cooling the pancakes down, adds another step and actually puts them in a mini oven so that they stay crisp and crunchy.

Different from other stores, the pancakes here are put into a mini oven to preserve the freshness and crispiness. Photo: Thuy An.

The owner confides that she always threw away old oil that had been used several times for frying at the end of the day, and used new oil to maintain the excellent taste of the pancakes. “Everyone in my family has to eat at least two to three fried pancakes per day”, she added.

Usually, deep-frying banh chuoi in old oil gives it an off-putting brown-yellow color and a greasy taste and burnt smell. On the other hand, the fried pancakes here have a bright, appetizing golden color and a signature crunchy texture of foods that are fried in new oil. I also love how she only fries the pancakes when ordered.

Another special point about banh chuoi here lies in its crunchy outer shell. When putting the banana slices into the frying pan, the owner makes sure that each layer is thinly and evenly spread, so that the banh chuoi doesn’t become too dense and the exterior stays airy and crunchy. It is, in fact, very satisfying to bite into since you will be able to taste both the batter and the sweet, soft banana stuffing.

In addition to banh chuoi , the owner also sells sweet potato pancakes and corn pancakes. They are equally scrumptious and worth a try. The sweet potatoes are shredded finely so that when fried, they are cooked evenly and give you a crunch in every bite. Meanwhile, the corn pancakes are made of sweet, juicy corns and can bring you a harmony of flavor and texture.

Banh chuoi is a delicacy that is loved not only among children and teenagers, but also among adults. It’s quite cheap, priced at VND6,000 VND only. So, whenever you’re craving a snack, I hope I’ve given you enough reasons to give it a try.

Address: Opposite of 320 Van Chuong, Dong Da District

Opening hour: 1pm – 7pm

Price: VND6,000 per piece

The Hanoitimes – The city’s authorities will promote production of handicraft products.

Hanoi will set up 30-40 new showrooms displaying and selling products developed under the national One Commune One Product (OCOP) program.

A OCOP showroom in Thanh Tri district, Hanoi. Photo: kinhtedothi

This is an important target mentioned in the city’s plan on the development of OCOP showrooms associated with craft village tourism in Hanoi in 2021.

Under the plan, the city’s authorities will promote production and sale of handicraft products, especially OCOP products, typical rural industrial items, and those with market potential in the capital, provinces and cities nationwide.

According to the plan, each district/town will have two operating OCOP showrooms or more.

The municipal People’s Committee will conduct a survey to find locations of OCOP showrooms according to regulations.

The committee has also required departments and localities to inspect and supervise the operation of OCOP showrooms opened in 2020 and 2021, organize promotional programs to enhance the consumption of quality products, including those from provinces and cities nationwide.

As of 2020, Hanoi had completed a similar process for 630 OCOP products achieving 3-star rating and above.

The city targets to complete the evaluation and classification for at least 2,000 OCOP products by 2025, Director of the municipal Department of Agricultural and Rural Development Chu Phu My told a conference taking stock of the OCOP program last year. In the coming time, the city will continue to push for greater efficiency in the implementation of the program.

The Hanoitimes – The One Commune One Product (OCOP) program, which has been implemented since 2019, has created a breakthrough in rural economic development in Hanoi.

Permanent Deputy Chief of the Hanoi Office of New Rural Development Program Coordination Nguyen Van Chi talked to Hanoitimes about how to effectively implement the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program.

OCOP products on display at a promotion fair. Photo: Hoai Nam

Could you name some outstanding results from the implementation of the OCOP program in Hanoi?

Implementing the prime minister’s decision, the Hanoi People’s Committee immediately issued a concrete plan to roll out the OCOP program for the 2019 – 2020 period. In 2019, Hanoi had 301 OCOP products, including six products submitted for being labeled with five stars.

In 2020, despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, localities have made great efforts to promote the program. So far this year, 147 products from five districts and towns have been evaluated and classified as OCOP ones.

For five-star products, Hanoi will support and submit them for evaluation and inclusion in the national OCOP list. In addition, the city maps out a policy of upgrading the rating of all OCOP products, those of three stars to four stars, and those of four stars to five stars.

In the process of implementing the OCOP program, what difficulties are entities in Hanoi facing?

In fact, the production scale of the facilities is still small. As products are mainly semi processed, we are building an investment project for deep processing to improve the quality of products. The local handicraft industry is causing strong environmental pollution, thus, Hanoi has requested departments, branches and localities to focus on environmental impact assessment to draw up solutions. Design and the quality of products also need to be improved in the coming time.

Design and the quality of products also need to be improved in the coming time.

What solution does Hanoi have to address the consumption of OCOP products?

In addition to consulting and assisting the businesses to improve the quality of products for evaluation at all levels, in the OCOP product development cycle, Hanoi has also focused on promoting sales. In 2020, Hanoi has issued a plan to organize four events to promote, introduce and sell OCOP products with provinces in the Northern mountainous, Red River Delta, Central – Central Highlands and Southern regions.

Due to the impact of Covid-19, the implementation progress has been slower than expected. However, we have managed to organize three events recently. The remaining event will be held in December 2020. Through the evaluation of the Vietnam Retailers Association, after three trade networking events, about 65% of the memoranda of understanding to sell OCOP products in distribution channels have been effectively implemented.

What are your suggestions to effectively implement the program?

We are aware of the importance of the quality management of OCOP products. The city has conducted four inspections and evaluations of those who have been granted OCOP product certificates. Any business that fail to comply with quality standards will see its certificate revoked. In fact, the implementation process in the past period shows that localities are very active in upgrading the quality of OCOP products. Entities are also aware of the importance of OCOP-labeled products. This will be the premise for Hanoi to complete the objective of the OCOP program to ensure the criteria of quantity and quality.

Thank you for the interview with Hanoitimes!

The Hanoitimes – Covering an area of 100 square meters at the Agricultural Trade Promotion Center, the store sells over 400 OCOP products and goods from 15 provinces and cities, including clothes, beverages, vegetables, and furniture.

Hanoi’s Department of Industry and Trade on November 18 launched a new store to promote and sell products under the One Commune, One Product (OCOP) program in Bac Tu Liem district.

Overview of the launch.

It is located at the Agricultural Trade Promotion Center at No.489 Hoang Quoc Viet street, Bac Tu Liem district.

Covering an area of 100 square meters, the store sells over 400 OCOP products and goods from 15 provinces and cities, including clothes, beverages, vegetables, and furniture.

Previously, the municipal Department of Industry and Trade in collaboration with People’s Committees of Ha Dong and Gia Lam districts and Son Tay town opened OCOP stores in Van Phuc ward (Ha Dong district), Bat Trang village (Gia Lam district), Duong Lam ward (Son Tay village), among others.

In parallel with the launch of new stores, the trade department is carrying out the Hanoi Promotion Month 2020 to boost domestic consumption in the post-Covid-19 period, in which hundreds of thousands of products are offered with steep discounts of up to 70%.

In the first ten months of 2020, revenues from retail sales in the city expanded by 9.7% year-on-year. The municipal Department of Industry and Trade targets growth of 10.5% this year.

The Hanoitimes – Effective implementation of the OCOP program helps localities realize their potential in economic development and promote tourism, said a local official.

To date, Hanoi has set up nine showrooms across the city to promote and sell products under the national’s One Commune One Product (OCOP) program, with a view to honoring prominent craft villages’ goods. The showrooms not only help bring high quality products to local customers, but also contribute to economic development in rural areas.

Hanoi’s leaders visit an OCOP showroom. Photo: Hoang Quyet.

Under the instruction of the Hanoi People’s Committee and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the municipal Department of Industry and Trade has identified multiple locations to set up OCOP showrooms in Hanoi during the 2019 – 2020 period.

In October, the Department in collaboration with Gia Lam district People’s Committee launched an OCOP showroom to boost sales of local products and promote tourism at traditional craft villages in Bat Trang commune, Gia Lam district.

The showroom is located within an area known as the Quintessence of the Vietnamese craft village of Quang Vinh Pottery Company in Bat Trang commune, which showcases Hanoi’s unique craft products, such as those made from porcelain, pottery, rattan or bamboo.

Vice Chairman of Gia Lam district People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Hong said the OCOP program has significantly contributed to the locality’s efforts in building new-style rural areas, in turn raising people’s living standards and ensuring high economic growth of the district.

Mr. Hong added the district is home to five craft villages, including the well-known Bat Trang village. In 2019, 19 products from the district were qualified as OCOP products, including pottery and porcelain items, fresh vegetables and processed food.

“Effective implementation of the OCOP program helps localities realize their potential in economic development and promote tourism among domestic and foreign tourists,” Mr. Hong suggested.

OCOP products on display. Photo: Hoang Quyet.

Expanding OCOP showroom network in Hanoi

Vice Director of Hanoi’s Department of Industry and Trade Tran Thi Phuong Lan said in 2019, Hanoi has around 301 products rated by OCOP with three stars and above. This year, it is estimated an additional 800 products would be classified with three star-rating and above, requiring more OCOP showrooms to be set up.

To realize this goal, the department is cooperating with a number of districts, including Ha Dong, Gia Lam, Quoc Oai, and Son Tay, among others, as well as shopping malls, and supermarkets to set up OCOP showrooms and promote craft and agritourism.

Ms. Lan said the department targets to have 60–70 OCOP showrooms in 2021, which would form a distribution network of OCOP products and expand its market shares in the city.

The Hanoitimes – The OCOP program, with a view to honoring prominent craft villages’ goods and products, has been identified by Hanoi’s authorities as one of the solutions to boost domestic consumption.

Hanoi is committed to creating favorable conditions for other provinces/cities to sell their products under the national’s One Commune One Product (OCOP) program in the capital city.

Vice Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Nguyen Thi Tuyen made the statement at the trade promotion event for OCOP products from southern region on December 18.

Vice Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Nguyen Thi Tuyen at the event. Photo: Pham Hung.

The OCOP program, with a view to honoring prominent craft villages’ goods and products, has been identified by Hanoi’s authorities as one of the solutions to boost domestic consumption at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic is causing severe consequences on the local economy.

To date, Hanoi has completed the evaluation and classification for 630 OCOP products achieving 3-star rating and above, noted, Mrs. Tuyen.

“The city is cooperating with other provinces/cities to promote OCOP products across the country to both domestic and international customers,” she added.

This year, the agricultural sector has emerged as a driving force for Hanoi’s economic development, posting a  growth rate of 4.2% year-on-year, which is considered high, Mrs. Tuyen added.

Delegates visit OCOP products display section. Photo: Pham Hung.

During the 2018-20 period, Hanoi allocated VND82 billion (US$3.54 million) to classify 800-1,000 goods and products under the OCOP program and acknowledge other 500 as OCOP products. So far, 630 products have been classified as OCOP products, exceeding the original target.

Along with the development of OCOP products, Hanoi has launched 13 OCOP showrooms in the city and organized four OCOP trade promotion events for products from northern mountainous, Red river delta, central highlands, and southern region.

Visitors at the event. Photo: Pham Hung.

Under the instruction of Hanoi’s leaders, the municipal Department of Agricultural and Rural Development hosted four conferences on connecting supply – demand of OCOP products, which have resulted in 500 contracts signed for distribution of agricultural productsin Hanoi’s market.