Clean food elevates the tourism brand in Quang Tri: Opportunities and challenges

Potential of linking clean food to local tourism

Culinary tourism and local food sources

Culinary tourism, a form of travel that offers cultural experiences through local cuisine, is becoming increasingly popular worldwide. It can be understood as a type of tourism that organizes and guides visitors to destinations to learn about, savor, and experience the artistic and culturally distinctive food and drink of a locality, region, or country.

Quang Tri Province has many strengths to develop tourism, alongside its scenic spots, historical relics, kingdom of caves, and beautiful beaches. Additionally, there is great potential to integrate clean food supply chains into local tourism, thereby attracting more and more domestic and international tourists to visit…

Currently, in Quang Tri province, several organic production and natural farming models following organic, VietGAP, and food safety standards have been established, in which certified organic production is mainly in crop cultivation, while aquaculture and livestock currently have no organic production models.

In 2024, based on the practical local production conditions, the Department of Agriculture and Environment advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue Official Dispatch No. 260/UBND-KT dated January 12, 2024, on strengthening leadership in scaling up organic rice production areas across the province; and advised the Provincial People's Committee to submit to the Provincial Standing Party Committee to issue Directive No. 38-CT/TU dated August 20, 2024, on promoting organic agricultural production, natural farming, circular agriculture, high-tech agriculture, and value-chain linkages for agricultural products.

Currently, the entire province has 4 unions with 21 members, and 700 agricultural cooperatives with over 114,000 members. There are 195 out of 700 agricultural cooperatives participating in production-consumption linkages; 162 products from 96 cooperatives have achieved 3-star OCOP status or higher.

Cooperatives producing clean food combined with ecotourism include: Cu Nam Commune Clean Medicinal Herb Production and Agricultural Business Cooperative - Bo Trach (solanum procumbens extract, gymnema sylvestre extract, medicinal products); Len Chua Eco-agriculture and Tourism Cooperative - Phong Nha commune.

In addition, cooperatives producing organic rice and partners include: Trieu Phong Clean Agricultural Products Cooperative, Gio Linh Clean Agricultural Products Cooperative, Kim Long Cooperative, Xuan Hoa Cooperative, Duc Xa Cooperative, etc. Livestock cooperatives include: Tay Son Clean Agricultural Products Cooperative (raising cattle, pigs, and chickens), etc. Notably, Quang Tri Trading Corporation Joint Stock Company, with its Sepon rice restaurants across the province, attracts visitors from all over to enjoy organic rice and local specialties.

Mr. Ho Xuan Hieu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Quang Tri Trading Corporation, shared: With the motto of bringing Sepon organic rice to domestic and international diners and tourists as quickly as possible, Sepon Group opened three Sepon rice restaurants—one in Dong Ha Ward, one in Dong Hoi Ward, and one in Hai Lang Commune. As a result, Sepon TS25 organic rice is widely promoted to tourists visiting and traveling in Quang Tri…

Challenges in practical application

Integrating clean food value chains with tourism to elevate local brands has gained attention from relevant departments and agencies in Quang Tri province, encouraging service businesses to adopt this model through various approaches…

The economic efficiency of this supply chain lies in contributing to higher agricultural productivity, reducing losses caused by multiple intermediaries before products reach the market, and building a stable output market that meets the needs and tastes of consumers both inside and outside the province.

Products participating in the value chain will be monitored through all stages from cultivation, animal husbandry, farming, preliminary processing, processing, and packaging to food safety supervision, complete with clear labeling and traceable origin to become finished products ready for the market. This gives customers peace of mind, thereby enhancing product value.

Moreover, the social benefit is that participating in the supply chain helps raise awareness and knowledge of food safety, as well as the responsibility of stakeholders in the production and business chain. It fosters close linkages among actors in the chain while helping participating households gain more experience in organizing production and marketing their products.

Gradually becoming accustomed to formulating and organizing the implementation of production plans, linking production to market demand, and mitigating bumper harvest price drops, contributing to the sustainable development of agriculture, improving income, and enhancing quality of life. Consumers have the opportunity to access safe products, curbing food poisoning and minimizing food safety risks.

On the other hand, products participating in the chain bear labels and the "Safe Food Supply Chain Product" identification logo when marketed, making it easy for consumers to distinguish products with food safety controlled under the chain from other products. In addition, the products have traceability stamps that help consumers check information about product origin, providing peace of mind during product use.

Alongside the aforementioned achievements, this supply chain partnership still faces difficulties. For instance, during the peak tourist season, the large influx of visitors to Quang Tri causes demand to surge, while safe food chains struggle to stably meet high volumes in time, forcing restaurants to purchase from outside sources and making quality control difficult.

At the same time, clean food that meets quality standards often costs more, putting pressure on restaurant budgets, especially when competing on price during the peak season. Food safety and hygiene risks are also substantial because Quang Tri's peak tourist season falls in summer, when there is a high risk of food poisoning caused by bacteria (Salmonella, E. coli), parasites and viruses… Hot, humid summer conditions can easily cause food to spoil if storage procedures are inadequate.

Connecting, transporting, and storing clean food (cold chain storage, transit time) from farms to restaurants and hotels often face logistical hurdles, thereby degrading product quality. In particular, tourists during their travels often prefer stopping by small retail stalls and street vendors at tourist spots, prioritizing cheap prices and convenience over reputable, clean food sources...

A representative of the Sub-Department of Cooperative Economics and Quality Management under the Quang Tri Department of Agriculture and Environment stated that, alongside the positive impacts brought by the value chain integrating clean food into tourism—which elevates the local tourism brand and introduces native specialties to domestic and international visitors—in the coming time, functional agencies will conduct outreach and mobilize stakeholders to become increasingly conscious of preserving and enhancing the local tourism brand. In addition, market surveillance will be strengthened, and proposals will be submitted to provincial leadership to establish specific regulations, thereby tightening state oversight over this activity chain.