Traditional careers kept alive

Nhon Hoa rice paper cake is quite diverse with all kinds meeting the customers’ requirements

Keeping up the careers

The career for making Nhon Hoa rice paper cake in ward 5, Tan An city has lasted for a long time, at least 100 years according to the elders. The career secret is preserved, passed down from generation to generation so the rice paper cake is delicious and more quality. Now, rice paper cake not only becomes a "special" dish but also the career for making rice paper cake creates jobs for many workers with a stable income.

Currently, the traditional village of making rice paper cake in Nhon Hoa 1 and Nhon Hoa 2 has more than 70 households still pursuing the career. In order to preserve and develop trade villages, localities often coordinate to open vocational training courses for production households to improve their skills and product quality towards food safety”. Chairman of People's Committee of ward 5, Tan An city - Nguyen Van An

According to Mr. Duong Van Deo - Head of Nhon Hoa 1 Quarter (ward 5, Tan An city), the neighborhood had a lot of families made rice paper cake in the past, but it now has been decreasing due to competition. Ms. Nguyen Thi Quy is one of those who have remained in the career for a long time because of their livelihood and love of the career. Ms. Quy shared: “My family has 3 generations making rice paper cake. I do this career nearly 40 years. Every day, work starts at 5 a.m. and ends at 20 a.m. Every day, I use 10 kilos of flour and produce about 500 cakes. Mrs. Quy makes cakes entirely by hand, the output is small but the cake quality is as good as that is made by machines. In order to have a delicious cake, Ms. Quy summarized her practical experience as well as her own recipe and technical factors. But the important factor to distinguish the "name" between the bakeries is how to mix flour and spices to make the cake taste stronger, more pliable and tastier. Cake-making technique and sun-drying time also contribute to the cake quality.

If Ms. Quy chooses to keep the cake handmade career, many other households develop their jobs through investing in modern equipment to bring products to the market in large numbers. According to the profession of making rice paper for a long time, in 2016, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hue's family invested a machine for making rice paper cake. Ms. Hue confided: “Making a cake by machine, I have to hire 8 laborers, of which, 3 people control the machine, 2 people dry the cakes, 3 people count them. On average, my family makes about 3,500 pieces a day. The advantage of making rice paper by machine is to increase the number of cakes made each day, to meet the consumers’ demand of the market in large numbers, moreover the cake is moderately thin. Currently, Hue specializes in producing dew-fried rice paper cake because of its high price compared to normal rice paper cake. However, making dew-drying rice paper takes more steps, both sun- and dew-drying in the evening. Depending on the quantity purchased, the cake is priced from 33,000 to 36,000 VND per bloc (50 pieces). Currently, consumers tend to choose dew-drying rice paper because of its flexibility, when it does not need to absorb water”.

Ductility, medium taste, not too salty are important factors helping Nhon Hoa rice paper cake to compete with other villages for making rice paper cake.

Focusing on support

Woodwork and woodcarving were introduced to the South and existed for hundreds of years, including Long An. Many generations keep and develop the career, create more and more diverse and products for public works and household decoration. Previously, woodwork or carving were completely undergone many manual stages, but now, tradespeople can apply equipment into production through automatic engraving machines (CNC).

Dai Lam Moc company specializes in processing and processing wood, small handicraft products applied in indoor decoration, wall partitions, cabinets, shelves, smart assembled products

One of the carpenters and wood carvers is Bui Mai Linh Private Enterprise (ward 7, Tan An city). Products made by enterprises are very diverse such as cabinets, tables, chairs, doors, statues and decorations. According to Mr. Bui Thanh Binh – the enterprise owner, carpentry and woodcarving is increasingly disappearing, highly skilled labor is increasingly rare, while consumer demand is now very diverse. The enterprises’ biggest desire is to invest the application of CNC machines into production in order to increase productivity, make products with less errors and no waste of raw materials. In 2019, the enterprise was set up a project by the Center for Industrial Promotion (CIP) and Industrial Development Consultant (under the Department of Industry and Trade) to support enterprises from the local industrial promotion program to invest in CNC machines with the amount of 100 million VND. With CNC machines, businesses can strongly develop carpentry and wood sculpture, meet the users’ tastes, lower production costs, and compete with establishments in the same industry.

Supporting enterprises from industrial promotion program is very meaningful. The support capital from the program is the motive force, encouraging enterprises to boldly invest in equipment for production, improve product quality and solve the labor shortage problem". Director of Dai Lam Moc Co., Ltd. - Nguyen Tien Linh

Dai Lam Moc Production - Construction - Trading Co., Ltd (Ward 4, Tan An City) specializes in processing and processing wood, handicraft products applied in indoor decoration, wall dividers, cabinets, shelves, smart assembly products, especially the stage decoration, wedding and event gate. The company was established in 2016, has 2 CNC machines and 1 laser engraving machine to process products for customers. It is not different from other industries, the quality and quantity requirements of customers are increasing day by day, the company always needs to invest more machines to meet customer needs. However, as a small and medium-sized enterprise with limited capital, investing in machines is a difficult problem. Before difficulties of the company, through researching and surveying, CIP has set up a project to support nearly 100 million VND from the local industrial promotion fund in 2020. With this project, CIP will coordinate with the company to invest 1 more CNC machine with 3 cutting heads (the machine is worth nearly 200 million VND), 3 times the productivity of the existing company.

Director of Dai Lam Moc Co., Ltd - Nguyen Tien Linh said: “After the Covid-19 epidemic, orders began to increase. With the support from industrial promotion program, the company can surely meet the needs of customers and develop new customers. It is expected that the company will expand production workshops, build display areas, introduce products and recruit more workers”.

According to the Director of the Department of Industry and Trade - Le Minh Duc, rural industrial production establishments, handicrafts and traditional trades in the province contribute to job creation, economic restructuring, and income improvement for rural people as well as implementing the National Target Program on new rural construction. However, businesses and production facilities are small and medium-sized enterprises or even very small ones with limited capital, they need support. Over the years, the Department has reserved funding from trade promotion, industrial promotion programs to support potential businesses and establishments as well as quality products to advertise, find out and meet consumer tastes in order to keep the career sustainable./.

By Staff – Translated by Duc Tam

Source: http://baolongan.vn/giu-suc-song-nghe-truyen-thong-a96537.html