The supply-demand connection conference and exhibition of safe agricultural and food products for Thanh Hoa province in 2025 took place from 11/12 to 15/12 at Lam Son Square, Hac Thanh ward.

Vice chairman of the provincial people's committee Cao Van Cuong (center) and delegates visited the stalls introducing the province's OCOP products. *Photo: Lam Son*

The organizers reported that this year's event featured nearly 300 standard stalls, an increase of 40 from 2024. Participants included communes and wards within the province, industry associations, businesses, Thanh Hoa cooperatives, and various entities from neighboring provinces. Hundreds of typical products, such as clean agricultural produce, processed foods ensuring food safety and hygiene, and OCOP products, were displayed and introduced to residents and partners.

Cao Van Cuong, vice chairman of the provincial people's committee, stated that the supply-demand connection program, combined with agricultural product exhibitions, has been an annual event since 2014. It plays a significant role in fostering links between production and consumption facilities, creating safe agricultural supply chains. This initiative serves as an opportunity to promote Thanh Hoa's image and people, contributing to enhancing the value of agricultural products and attracting investment in the agricultural sector.

The entire province currently maintains 87 safe food supply chains, providing over 669,000 tons of food to the market, ranging from rice and vegetables to livestock, poultry meat, and seafood. The establishment of these linked chains has helped ensure quality control from production to consumption, while also promoting the development of cooperatives, cooperative groups, and processing and distribution facilities.

Thanh Hoa currently has approximately 600 businesses, cooperatives, and agricultural production facilities selling products on e-commerce platforms such as Voso, Postmart, Shopee, Lazada, and Tiki, with thousands of products widely showcased. This is considered an effective channel for local agricultural products to access larger markets.

Thanh Hoa provincial leaders and delegates performed the opening ceremony for the 2025 Thanh Hoa safe agricultural and food product exhibition. *Photo: Lam Son*

At the event, delegates assessed the agricultural product production and consumption situation for 2025, shared experiences on market expansion, and proposed solutions to strengthen supply-demand connection activities in the future. Businesses and cooperatives signed 10 contracts for the consumption of safe agricultural products and food.

Provincial leaders noted that currently, only about 30% of the province's agricultural products are distributed through value chain linkage systems, with the remainder primarily sold through traditional markets and small retail stores. This leaves producers vulnerable, lacking market information, and susceptible to the "bumper harvest, falling prices" predicament.

Cuong urged local authorities, departments, and businesses to continue effectively implementing agricultural development policies, strengthening links between production and consumption, promoting innovative business models, and enhancing the value of agricultural products. This aligns with the goal of developing a modern, high-value-added agricultural sector.

Le Hoang