After nearly a decade of being granted a collective label for its fish sauce product by the National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam, the Nam O Fish Sauce Village in Da Nang’s Lien Chieu District has maintained its stable production and business activities.

Mrs Ngung checking the quality of the preserved mixture before filtering it through a piece of silk to create the dark red fish sauce

Thanks to this, most of the fish sauce makers in the Nam O Village are now able to earn stable income.

Born in the village, Mr Bui Thanh Phu established the Hong Huong Fish Sauce Company in 2016 with the aim of maintaining his ancestors’ traditional craft and creating job opportunities for local residents.

“My company produces an average of over 3,000 litres in total every year. We create stable employment opportunities for 4 people who each earn a monthly salary of over 5 million VND, and for 3 seasonal employees who each earn an average daily income of 200,000 VND”, Mr Phu noted.

Mrs Tran Thi Ngung, who has around 60 years’ experience in making fish sauce, said that a total of 1,200 litres are produced by her family every year. She added that like her family, income of many fish sauce makers in her tradtional craft village has been more stable.

Mrs Tran Thi Mung, an owner of the Ba Du Fish Sauce Making Establishment, said that her products have been introduced to fairs in Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, and other localities nationwide.

Over recent years, she has entered into trade contracts with local businesses. Thank to this, hundreds of litres of fish sauce are sold every month at the price of between 50,000 and 70,000 VND per litre.

Chairman of the Nam O Fish Sauce Association, Mr Tran Ngoc Vinh, said “The village is now home to over 100 fish sauce making families. Some of them have taken the initiative to set up their own businesses, and to invest in advanced machines and technologies in order to promote their production and business activities. As a result, the Association’s products have been sold at supermarkets across the city, and other localities nationwide”.

Mr Vinh noted Nam O fish sauce products have won the trust of customers thanks to their makers’ great efforts in promoting manual methods during their production activities whilst ensuring food safety and hygiene of their products.

However, he raised his concern about the narrowing of area of local production facilities due to the effects of some relocation and clearance projects in the village. Therefore, he proposed that the city authorities should develop a dedicated area for fish sauce makers to maintain their production activities.

Mr Nguyen Huu Thiet, Vice Chairman of the Lien Chieu District People’s Committee, remarked the district’s authorities have always encouraged local fish sauce markers to overcome their current difficulties in order to preserve the city’s traditional craft village.

He affirmed that a dedicated production area for fish sauce making households will be constructed in the near future.