HCM City fetes nation’s flavours in festival of spices

A four-day festival to promote Vietnamese spices will open on Thursday, April 28 in HCM City. — VnExpress News Photo Xuân Đăng 

HCM CITY — A festival to showcase region-specific spices cultivated and used in Việt Nam will be held in HCM City from April 28 to May 1.

The festival is organised by the Vietnam High-Quality Goods Business Association, the Food and Foodstuff Association of HCM City (FFA) and several other agencies.

More than a thousand Vietnamese spice products from different regions with their geographical indications, from the Mekong Delta to the Northwest highlands, will be introduced at the event.

An updated Vietnamese spice map will be introduced at the event, helping young people, businesses and researchers access the latest information.

The festival will have 20 booths representing Vietnamese enterprises producing high-quality goods, start-ups and craft villages operating in the food sector.

It aims to launch an exchange program to promote domestic and export markets for spice products.

Speaking at press conference on April 22 to introduce the festival, Vũ Kim Hạnh, chairwoman of the Business Association of Vietnamese High-Quality Products, said localities and firms in the spices and seasoning industry have devised production recovery plans, turned to advanced technologies, diversified products, and capitalised on recent free trade agreements Việt Nam has signed to bolster exports. 

Trade promotions and technical support have helped firms surmount difficulties and develop by producing more added value items, she added. 

Vietnamese firms have also worked to meet more stringent requirements of foreign partners, and are able to provide high-quality and safe added-value products. 

With its tropical weather and diverse range of eco-systems, Vietnam is rich in spices, including many special and popular ones like cinnamon, anise, pepper, cardamom and chilli.

It is one of the leading exporters of a number of spices including peppercorn, in which it leads the world, accounting for a whopping 90 per cent.

Vietnamese products are becoming better thanks to improved technology at all stages from cropping and harvesting to processing and packaging, and this improvement can be seen at the festival. — VnExpress News