Starting beekeeping in 2008, from a family-scale operation to a business, Thanh Xuan Mountain Beekeeping Development Co., Ltd. in Bao Ha commune now maintains over 700 bee colonies and regularly travels to many provinces and cities to find honey sources. Thanks to its proactive sourcing of raw materials, the company brings to the market many products with high nutritional value such as royal jelly honey, pure honey, lemon honey, ginger honey, pollen, royal jelly, etc.

Currently, the company has 7 products, of which 5 have achieved OCOP 4-star rating, and the remaining products have achieved 3-star rating.

Thanh Xuan Mountain Beekeeping Development Co., Ltd. has 7 products that have received OCOP certification.

On average, the company supplies the market with approximately 30 tons of honey, over 2 tons of pollen, and 200 kg of royal jelly annually, generating hundreds of millions of VND in revenue. The company also provides stable employment for over 30 local laborers, with incomes ranging from 4 to 6 million VND per person per month.

According to the company's director, Mr. Pham Thanh Xuan, the business always proactively responds to market demands. Besides improving product quality, the company focuses on investing in attractive designs and packaging, with diverse sizes to make the products suitable as gifts, thus making them more accessible to customers.

A single honey product can be processed into many different varieties. Even pure honey can be enhanced with added ingredients like lime, ginger, pollen, or royal jelly. Whatever the customer prefers, we can offer it; the key is understanding market demand.

Mr. Pham Thanh Xuan - Director of Thanh Xuan Mountain Beekeeping Development Company Limited, Bao Ha Commune

The craft of making sticky rice cakes (bánh gai and bánh rợm) in Bảo Hà commune has also developed strongly in recent years and is favored by consumers. Previously, people mainly made them for their families, but Mrs. Vũ Thị Sang's household has boldly turned this traditional product into a local specialty.

Having maintained her production facility for over a decade, Mrs. Sang has preserved the distinctive flavor thanks to a meticulous processing method: the ramie leaves are thoroughly dried, simmered until tender, and then finely ground; the flour used is entirely from upland glutinous rice, resulting in a soft and fragrant crust. To ensure a consistent supply of raw materials, her family dedicates all of their agricultural land to growing ramie plants for their leaves, guaranteeing stable quality.

Ms. Vu Thi Sang prepares goods for customers.

Maintaining traditional processing methods, combined with strict adherence to food safety and hygiene regulations, has helped the Cong Sang brand of sticky rice cakes and glutinous rice cakes develop sustainably. As a result, the family's products have achieved OCOP 3-star certification and are trusted by customers both within and outside the province.

Customers both within and outside the province trust and use Cong Sang sticky rice cakes from Bao Ha commune.

Ms. Vu Thi Sang said: "Since getting the OCOP 3-star brand, our family's cake production has increased 3-4 times compared to before. Many regular customers both domestically and internationally place orders to send abroad."

Previously, the facility only produced about 50-100 cakes per day, but now that number has increased to 200-700; during peak seasons, it can reach thousands, meeting the growing market demand.

Alongside traditional crops, crop diversification in Bao Ha has also yielded significant economic benefits. Many areas previously used for growing corn and cassava have been converted to growing bananas – a crop well-suited to the local soil conditions and providing an income 4-5 times higher than the previous crops.

The family of Mr. Le Hoang Sao, from Con 1 village, is one of the leading households. He shared: "Before, we grew corn, but now we've switched to growing bananas, which brings in higher income. Currently, our family has utilized all our land to grow bananas and we want to rent more land from households who work far away to expand our area."

People in Bao Ha commune are harvesting Ngu bananas.

The royal banana variety has been cultivated in Bao Ha commune for nearly 20 years. Starting with a few households experimenting with it, the total area in the commune now reaches nearly 40 hectares, with a production of approximately 40 tons per month. To support sales, the commune has encouraged the establishment of the Hong Cam Royal Banana Cooperative to purchase and find stable outlets for the product.

According to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hung, director of the Hong Cam Royal Banana Cooperative: "We grow and purchase bananas from farmers in the commune and surrounding areas. After purchasing, the cooperative packages them and delivers them to supermarkets in Hanoi for sale."

Currently, the cooperative has 10 members and cultivates over 10 hectares of bananas. Their fresh "Ngu" bananas have achieved OCOP 4-star rating, and their dried bananas have achieved OCOP 3-star rating; the cooperative is also developing banana starch to diversify its product range.

Bao Ha commune currently has 20 OCOP products, most notably Thanh Xuan honey, Ngu bananas, Ramie leaf cakes, seedless persimmons, and cinnamon products. Developing OCOP products not only increases the value of agricultural products but also contributes to building local brands.

Mr. Tran Trung Kien, Chairman of the People's Committee of Bao Ha commune, said: "OCOP products help build brands, improve quality, and support consumption for the people. In the future, we will continue to upgrade product quality from 4 stars to 5 stars, expand production areas to proactively secure raw materials, and create more products."

With the support of the government and the efforts of the people, OCOP products from Bao Ha are gradually asserting their position in the market, making positive contributions to poverty reduction, rural economic development, and building local agricultural product brands.

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