Famous for its delicious taste, Binh Phuoc cashew nut is overshadowed in the domestic market Geographical indication of Binh Phuoc cashew nut can be considered a treasure of Binh Phuoc province. However, this treasure is often impersonated, and the product is deceptive in weight. The efficiency of the business as well as the income of cashew growers still has many potential risks. Thanks to the delicious taste and fatty, sweet; Binh Phuoc cashew nut has long been appreciated by domestic and international customers. However, later on, the quality of Binh Phuoc cashew products is no longer as famous as before. Mr. Vu Thai Son - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Long Son Joint Stock Company said that the first reason is that Binh Phuoc cashew processing enterprises have imported raw African cashews for production. Imported cashew nuts are not of high quality, but they still mix and sell in Binh Phuoc cashew nut. While the domestic market has too many small companies making fried goods. Although advertising is using Binh Phuoc cashew nut, many establishments use low quality cashew nut, unknown origin to have low price, get the highest profit. When consumers buy and use, they find it not fragrant or delicious, so they have no or gradually lose their impression of Binh Phuoc cashew nuts. The more harmful thing that makes it difficult for Binh Phuoc cashew businesses to have a foothold in the domestic market is fraud about the weight of goods. Mr. Son said, recently, Long Son Joint Stock Company has conducted a survey on 2 products of silk shell, labeled with Binh Phuoc cashew nut. The results show that the type listed on the box has a net weight of 400 grams, but the actual weight of cashews is only 224 grams. With the type listed on the box with a net weight of 500g, the actual weight of cashews is only 292g. Mr. Son pointed out, these businesses have taken advantage of the fact that consumers only pay attention to the selling price and weight listed on the box; do not check the weight of the real thing in the box to cheat, pickpocket consumers. "Many Binh Phuoc cashew businesses are those with decent factories, which cannot cheat on weight, so it is very difficult to get a foothold in the domestic market," Mr. Son said. Currently, enterprises rarely participate in the registration of geographical indications because they find it quite complicated in procedures, while the actual efficiency that geographical indications bring is not high. As Chairman of Binh Phuoc Cashew Association, Mr. Son said that the registration of geographical indications of Binh Phuoc cashew nuts and quality control of Binh Phuoc cashew nuts is very important. Many other cashew growing countries are also using geographical indications as a tool for international competition and opening up markets in other partner countries. Difficult to compete with imported cashew Ms. Bui Thi Minh Thuy - Director of Binh Phuoc Department of Science and Technology admitted that infringement of intellectual property rights on geographical indications of cashew nuts is quite common. Not only that, it is not easy to compete in the domestic market. Because despite their delicious taste and high nutritional value, cashews and cashew products are still not an essential food. "While the price of cashew nut products bearing the geographical indication according to the actual value is quite high. Consumers still have the mentality that it's cheap to use, if it's too expensive, that's fine," Ms. Thuy said. Not only cashew kernels, even raw cashew nuts in Binh Phuoc used as processing materials are also subject to competition at home. Some businesses still tend to choose to buy Cambodian and African cashews because of the more competitive prices. Vinahe Co., Ltd. (Phuoc Long Town) is one of the few businesses that buys 100% of raw materials from Binh Phuoc farmers for processing and export. Mr. Nguyen Hoang Dat - Director of the company said, Binh Phuoc cashew nut has a high kernel recovery rate. Therefore, the splitting of cashew nut shell also costs the investment in machinery. It is just a simple thought but makes many businesses hesitate. Many agents sell Binh Phuoc cashew nuts to the factory but do not remove the pulp, stalk, and impurities. Cashew splitters mistakenly identify large cashews and cashews with stalks because of the same size. The cutter has the wrong knife, leading to a high breakage rate, causing high production costs. Since then, many units prefer to export raw rather than invest in deep processing; or processed with imported cashew materials, even though the quality is sometimes not guaranteed. "This is also one of the reasons why cashew nuts of Binh Phuoc farmers have a low price or are difficult to sell," said Mr. Dat. According to Mr. Ta Quang Huyen - Director of Hoang Son 1 Company (Bu Dang district), Binh Phuoc cashew nuts have quality but limited quantity. Hoang Son 1 always tries to buy cashew nuts from farmers at the best price so that people can rest assured to keep the cashew tree. However, Mr. Huyen acknowledged that there are many small and medium enterprises in the processing stage. Because there are many businesses participating, they also produce a variety of products of different quality. It is inevitable that someone will make a product of poor quality to sell at a cheap price. This causes the market price to be pulled down. "The efficiency of businesses as well as the income of cashew growers still have many potential risks," Mr. Huyen said. Mr. Bach Khanh Nhut - Vice President of Vietnam Cashew Association said that Vietnam's cashew growing area is about 300,000 ha, providing about 30% of raw materials for the processing needs of businesses. Of these, the geographical indication cashew nut accounts for a very small amount. There is an ongoing paradox in Binh Phuoc that the area and output of harvested raw cashews tends to decrease much. "The maintenance and development of geographical indications for cashew nuts in Binh Phuoc is still an important solution to promote production, develop markets, increase added value, and develop the cashew industry sustainably," Nhut said. .