Quang Ngai’s OCOP goods are in high demand before Tet (Source: VNA)

Families in Tri Binh village in Binh Son district began making traditional sesame cakes in the middle of December.

According to Vo Thi Kim Hoanh, she only makes around 2,000 cakes on normal days, but increases it to 5,000 as Tet approaches.

Making the cakes requires skill and meticulousness and involves many stages starting with grinding the rice, she said, adding that the most critical stage is drying them and coating them with caramel.

At Tam Bao baked green bean cake production facility in Quang Ngai city, the owner needs workers to work overtime to complete orders.

After being recognised as a 3-star OCOP product, its orders have increased, and now it produces over 300kg of cake, triple the normal rate.

The cakes used to be made completely by hand, but later on modern machinery and equipment such as dryers, dough beaters and cake moulds are used to speed up the work and also improve hygiene and quality.

But some steps remain manual, and so the facility hires seven workers on a full-time basis.

Tet is an opportunity for them to earn extra incomes because of a jump in demand.

Bui Thi Yen Loan said she usually works as a farmer, but near Tet she works in local sesame cake factories to earn some extra money.

Customers are more interested in traditional cakes and candied products during Tet, especially Quang Ngai’s OCOP, thanks to its eye-catching designs. Each product has a barcode and QR code for traceability.

Nguyen Tien Hung in Quang Ngai city said since OCOP items have clear origins and reliable quality, he often buys them to gift business partners and employees during Tết.

Quang Ngai has around 5,500 rural facilities making agricultural products, and many are rated three- and four- star OCOP items and have seen improvements in design, quality and distribution.

According to Truong Thi Thu Huong, Director of Quang Tin Specialty Joint Stock Company, the company started promoting its products, designs and gift baskets on social media, sales channels and e-commerce platforms a few months ago in preparation for Lunar New Year.

The company also launched new high-quality products for customers looking for diet foodstuffs at reasonable prices.