Integrating OCOP products into distribution and retail chains

Bringing “One Commune, One Product” (OCOP) products into modern retail channels will benefit businesses and production facilities participating in the value chain while helping develop local product brands.

Dong Nai businesses showcase their products at a trade connection conference linking enterprises from various provinces and cities with the Dong Nai City distribution system in early August 2026.

Modern distribution systems, supermarkets, and shopping centers serve as important channels for bringing goods to consumers, thereby contributing to the connection, promotion, and sale of local OCOP products.

Ensuring long-term product supply

Currently, many supermarkets and shopping centers in the city, including GO! Dong Nai, GO! Tan Hiep, Lotte Mart Dong Nai, Co.opmart Bien Hoa, and Co.opmart Dong Xoai, have established dedicated sections for local specialties from across the country, including OCOP products from Dong Nai City. These sections primarily serve to introduce and promote the products.

However, representatives of many supermarkets and shopping centers said that to improve the effectiveness of connecting products with retail outlets and selling them on retail shelves, businesses and OCOP entities must focus on developing long-term production and supply plans. At the same time, they need to ensure sufficient supplies and meet requirements regarding quality standards, origin, and food safety.

Director of GO! Dong Nai Supermarket Le Van Hong said the supermarket has set up sections for local OCOP products in visible and convenient locations to stimulate consumer demand. These sections currently feature more than 50 products, including 21 OCOP products from Dong Nai. Local businesses and OCOP entities wishing to have their products sold at the supermarket can contact the supermarket chain's purchasing department to reach an agreement on the relevant regulations and conditions. Products introduced into the supermarket must meet requirements for quality, origin, packaging and labeling, food safety and hygiene, legal documentation, and order quantities needed to keep the products on the shelves.

In early August 2026, the Dong Nai Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center organized a trade connection conference between businesses from various provinces and cities and the distribution system in Dong Nai City. At the conference, Tran Trung Hau, representative of Co.opmart Bien Hoa, said that introducing local products, particularly OCOP products, into the Saigon Co.op system would contribute to diversifying the range of goods and specialties and providing consumers with more choices. To bring goods into this distribution system, businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, need to meet requirements for legality, food safety, labeling, and origin, while also complying with inspection and appraisal processes for products to be placed on shelves.

Improving supply and demand connection efficiency

Many local businesses and production facilities believe that introducing their products to supermarkets and modern retail chains not only expands their markets but also enhances product and brand recognition.

Nguyen Thi Dung, who is in charge of managing the production department of Hoang Anh Cooperative in Binh Phuoc Ward, said the cooperative's standout products are made from fresh cashew fruit, including vegetarian fish sauce made from cashew fruit and cashew wine. Through trade connection activities with retail systems, the cooperative hopes to promote its products, expand its market, and bring its products closer to consumers both within and outside Dong Nai City.

To improve the efficiency of goods consumption through retail systems, synchronous coordination is needed between manufacturing and supply businesses and retail units, along with support and connections from relevant departments and agencies.

Deputy Director of the Dong Nai Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center Nguyen Van Linh said that, in the context of increasingly deep international economic integration, strengthening connections between businesses and distribution systems is of great importance in expanding markets and enhancing competitiveness. This activity helps establish stable supply chains, increase the added value of products, expand production scale, create more jobs, and contribute to the city's economic growth.

Deputy Director of the Dong Nai Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center Nguyen Van Linh emphasized that supply and demand connection activities between businesses, OCOP entities, and distribution and retail systems aim to build effective and sustainable cooperative relationships. This cooperation should not be limited to immediate exchanges and memorandums of understanding, but should move toward building stable linkage chains and sharing information on markets, quality standards, and consumer demand, thereby jointly enhancing competitiveness.

By Hai Quan – Translated by Minh Hong, Minho