Sea grapes (scientific name is Caulerpa lentillifera), a nutritious food, containing many vitamins A, C and essential trace minerals for the body. When grown in Vietnam, sea grapes grow very well in both quality and yield compared to the place of origin (Japan, Philippines). From the successful planting and breeding of Engineer Le Ben - Deputy Director of Tri Tin Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa Company Limited, up to now, Vietnamese sea grapes have been known to many people, the opportunity for a seafood product to reach the world market is opening up. According to Mr. Le Ben, the experimental cultivation of sea grapes in our country has achieved unimaginable success. Even Japanese researchers, when testing the product, had to admit that sea grapes grown in Vietnam grow better, the fruit clusters are large and long from 10 - 20cm (in Japan, the fruit clusters are 3-5cm), the yield reaches 30 tons/ha/year (twice as much as in Japan and the Philippines). Mr. Ben's method is to grow sea grapes in plastic trays containing nutritious mud, the trays are placed on wooden, bamboo or brick floors submerged at the bottom of the pond, above the water surface is a mobile net. Thanks to that, sea grapes absorb nutrients from the mud in the trays without being contaminated by impurities at the bottom of the pond. Thanks to taking advantage of cheap raw materials, combined with locally available energy sources (seawater and solar energy), the product is made at a much cheaper price. Currently, Tri Tin Company exports sea grapes to Japan for only 18 - 20 USD/kg, while in Okinawa, the only place in Japan where sea grapes are grown, the price is up to over 100 USD/kg. In addition to being used as fresh food, sea grapes also have the effect of beautifying the skin and losing weight. The active ingredients caulerpin and caulerpicin in seaweed also create a flavor that stimulates appetite and cures diseases, so the demand for sea grapes is currently very high. The sea area of ​​our country in general and Khanh Hoa in particular is very suitable for sea grapes to grow, with good quality if grown according to technical standards.

Finding a "passport" to the international market

Realizing that this was an opportunity for Vietnamese seaweed to affirm its brand to reach out to the world market, Mr. Ben pondered many questions: How can Vietnamese seaweed get a "passport" to the world? In 2008, the "Global Competitiveness Support Program for Vietnamese Enterprises" of Denmark (GCF) was implemented in Khanh Hoa, Mr. Ben sent the project "Technical services and export of seaweed (cultivation) for farmers". Aquaculture has been a strength of Khanh Hoa for many years, but the risk is increasing, coastal people are gradually abandoning their ponds, the marine environment is increasingly polluted. Developing seaweed not only creates jobs and income for people, but also cleans the marine environment. His proposal was selected. Accordingly, the project was implemented in 18 months, with a total budget of 2.3 billion VND. GCF supported 62% of the budget, with the goal of increasing farmers' access to technical services to support exports. The initial support source has been cleared. However, the current difficult condition for businesses is to affirm the international brand of seafood hygiene and safety (abbreviated as HACCP). When the product met this standard, the seaweed product was still new, so the authorities only stated that the product was not on the list, so they did not know how to advise.

 Watch the video below to understand more about the working process with the Danish Embassy delegation: https://youtu.be/2leXnVrr4t8?si=oMpAfzS3fujsz-qy