During the recent public break for the National Reunification Day and the International Workers’ Day, speciality stalls at the Han and Con market, and supermarkets throughout the city welcomed tens of thousands of visitors who look for specialities as gifts for their loved ones. This is a positive signal and motivation for culinary specialties production facilities to prepare more supplies for the peak summer travel season.

Workers at My Phuong Foods based in Hoa An Ward, Cam Le District) are busy making cakes. Photo: QUYNH TRANG

Increasing stock of supplies

The local tourism industry's record shows that visitors to speciality stores and supermarkets are mainly tour and group guests through travel agencies.

The most selected items are specialties that have been famous for a long time such as dried squid, fish, crabs, beef and chicken, and agricultural products like grilled coconut and green bean cakes.

Over recent days, the working atmosphere at the Bich Chi fish cake establishment located on Tran Cao Van Street, Thanh Khe District is much busier.

New batches of hot fried and steamed fish cakes that have just come out of the oven are quickly packaged, labelled and shipped to local markets and agents, or sent to distributors in other provinces and cities nationwide.

Ms. Ho Thi Chi, the owner of the establishment, said that during the above-mentioned 4-day holiday break, she saw sales go up 30% as compared to the previous one.

In order to serve a possible spike in the number of visitors in the coming peak tourism season, the establishment is trying to find more sources of fresh fish and other ingredients that may be in the short supply due to the summer heat and rising gasoline prices restrict vessels from heading out to sea.

Similarly, the Hang Hue dried seafood shop located on Ky Dong Street, Thanh Khe District also welcomed a large number of customers during the recent holidays.

Mr. Nguyen Tan Khang, the store manager, said that the number of customers increased sharply again during the holidays of April 30 and May 1, higher than the Hung King's Death Anniversary (the 10^th day of the 3^rd lunar calendar) but not as good as during the time before COVID-19.

However, after 2 years of being affected by the COVID-19 upheavals, the bustling return of tourists shows a positive sign, and speciality producers should quickly seize this opportunity.

“The Hang Hue dried squid has been recognized as a 4-star One Commune-One Product (OCOP) product used as a gift that is very meaningful and bears the characteristics of Thanh Khe beach. Unlike other products of its kind, the Hang Hue dried squid is fully dried under the sunshine for three sessions during scorching summer days. Therefore, every day when going to sea, fishermen have to monitor the weather situation to ensure the quality of the product. To meet the needs of tourists during the upcoming summer vacation, we have prepared a supply of up to several tones, ensuring enough supply for markets and supermarkets in the city”, added Mr. Khang.

Meanwhile, during the past holidays, Madasa facility - Mother's hometown gift, which specialises in trading in dried specialties such as dried beef pieces, yarn, pellets, chicken served with lemon leaves, lychee fish and soaked squid witnessed a 30% increase in sale volumes.

In order to take advantage of a sudden increase in the number of visitors in the upcoming summer travel season, the establishment intends to increase production by 20 - 50%.

More attention paid to product design and packaging

According to the production and trade facilities of speciality products, they are currently focusing on enhancing design patterns, instead of focusing only on quality as before.

Ms. Le Thi Hong Man, owner of the Madasa - Gift from Mothers, said that Madasa follows the orientation of clean food and the goal of preserving the time-honoured traditional Vietnamese taste, so the design is mainly directed to the traditional image.

The packaging depends on the customer's conditions and has its own arrangements accordingly. For example, guests traveling by plane need vacuumed products whilst supermarkets need produces packaged in plastic boxes to prevent insects’ penetrations.

In particular, ‘Madasa-Gifts from Mother’ is indeed a wonderful choice for those who now live far away from their homes in other localities, but they still keep their special sentimental attachment and feelings of nostalgia for the good old days back in their hometowns, especially daily dishes made by their beloved mothers.

Meanwhile, the baked coconut cake product of the My Phuong Foods pastry factory based in Hoa An Ward, Cam Le District is a renowned speciality of Da Nang that is much loved by many tourists and bought as gifts with a large volume.

According to Mai Thi Y Nhi, the owner of the establishment, the design and packaging are the key factors that determine the product's ability to reach consumers.

The market orientation of My Phuong Foods is toward both domestic and international tourists, so it is constantly enhancing the product quality and design.

At tourist markets such as Con and Han, to serve the diverse needs of tourists, many traders have actively made special packages of specialities according to each type of products.

All establishments and businesses producing food products, all want to create more reputable products, associated with the Da Nang brand to attract more tourists and encourage their to make purchases.

Reporting by QUYNH TRANG – Translating by A.THU