Two traditional fish sauces (nuoc mam) made on Cat Hai Island in Hai Phong city, northern Vietnam, have newly obtained five stars, the top tier of the local-products rating system "OCOP." This brings Hai Phong city's five-star products to 10, and the city's total OCOP registrations reached 649 as of the end of June 2026. Five stars is a certification that examines, at the national level, the raw material's origin, the production process, the product's story, and even export capacity, and it is more than mere honor. For overseas buyers, it becomes the entry to screening for "which producer to start talking with." For Japan's food importers and wholesalers too, it is a move not to be ignored, as a clue to finding reliable procurement sources among Vietnam's countless small and medium processors.
Cat Hai's two fish sauces reach five stars; the city's top tier now 10 products
The two products that obtained five stars this time are "Cat Hai fish sauce (Cot, from threadfin bream)" by Cat Hai Seafood Processing Service JSC, and "traditional fish sauce (Chat Ca Thu, from Spanish mackerel)" by Quang Hai Co., Ltd. Both are producers based on Cat Hai Island in Hai Phong city, primary-processed goods made from the island's sea and fish. With these two added, Hai Phong city's five-star OCOP products come to 10 in total.
OCOP (One Commune One Product) is a local-products certification system Vietnam has rolled out nationwide since 2018, modeled on Japan's "One Village One Product" movement. Three- and four-star products are evaluated at the provincial/municipal level, but five stars are examined at the national level by the central evaluation council. Cases where a traditional food like fish sauce reaches five stars are still few, and that is just how much the completeness of Cat Hai fish sauce has been publicly recognized.
Why now—Hai Phong is steering "from volume to quality"
Hai Phong city's OCOP has rapidly expanded in both number and quality over the past several years. The city's registered products numbered 649 at the end of June 2026, broken down into 10 five-star, 171 four-star and 468 three-star. Of 114 communes and towns, 107 are covered, putting nearly the whole city area within the OCOP net. The city sets a target of raising OCOP products (three stars or more) to more than 1,000 by 2030, of which more than 30 five-star and more than 300 four-star.
Within this "from volume to quality" flow, the move to raise a traditional processed good like fish sauce into a five-star flagship product is symbolic. Cat Hai Island's fish-sauce making is old, with a history of local small-scale producers consolidated into a cooperative in 1959. The raw material is nearshore fish such as threadfin bream (ca nham), and the feature is a traditional method of fermenting and aging over one to two years while exposing it to the sun. Having such a "story rooted in the land" is one of the elements valued in the five-star examination.
What does five stars examine—reading it as procurement-source screening
What decisively distinguishes five-star OCOP from four-star and below is that the examination's emphasis is placed not only on "how good the product is" but on "whether it is a structure that can export." In the evaluation axes shown by Vietnam's agriculture authorities, in addition to quality and design, it is asked that the raw material's origin be clear, that the production process be standardized, that there be a unique product story, and that there be export track record or clear export potential.
| Examination emphasis | 3–4 stars | 5 stars (national level) |
|---|---|---|
| Evaluating body | Provincial/municipal council | Central national evaluation council |
| Clear statement of raw-material origin | Recommended | Treated as near-mandatory |
| Standardization of the production process | A certain level | Examined strictly |
| Product story | A plus factor | Valued |
| Export capacity | Rarely questioned | Export track record and potential valued |
In other words, seen from the buyer side, five stars functions as a primary list of producers—whose "raw-material origin can be traced," "process does not waver," and who are "export-conscious"—that the Vietnamese government has pre-selected. That Hai Phong's two fish sauces entered five stars means they cleared at least these four items in the national examination.
The local and industry reception
Among local growing-region figures, voices that take five-star acquisition positively as an "export banner" are central. One local processor voiced an expectation to the effect that five stars becomes not only shelf space in domestic supermarkets but a letter of credit in overseas negotiations. On the other hand, from small-scale producers who keep to the traditional method, there is also a cautious view that the technique of sun fermentation over one to two years is hard to reconcile with mass production, and that supply cannot be quickly increased even if demand grows.
On the distribution side, Cat Hai fish sauce is already on the shelves of major domestic supermarkets such as Co.opmart and WinMart, and it is said to have come to a stage of aiming at overseas expansion on the tailwind of five-star acquisition. Across Vietnam too, OCOP five-star products are increasingly positioned as the face of exports, becoming a pillar of policy that raises regional products into a national brand.
Implications for Japan's importers and wholesalers
From the standpoint of handling, or considering, Vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc mam) in the Japanese market, this five-star acquisition can be translated into concrete procurement action. First, OCOP five stars can be used as a filter to narrow down producers "whose raw-material origin, process and export capacity have passed national examination." When choosing a negotiation partner from among hundreds of fish-sauce makers, placing five- or four-star certification as a primary condition lets you screen out partners with unclear origin or insufficient traceability at an early stage.
Second, fermented seasonings like fish sauce involve food-hygiene standards such as histamine and labeling rules when imported into Japan. Because five-star "process standardization" is a necessary but not sufficient condition, it is realistic to move on the premise of separately obtaining inspection data matched to Japanese standards and confirming the raw-material fish species. Cases of Vietnamese primary-processed goods clearing Japan's hygiene standards and reaching a first shipment are also accumulating in other items such as eggs. The case of Vietnamese boiled eggs first shipped to a hygiene-strict Japan is a useful reference for reading the flow from certification and inspection to shipment.
Third, fish sauce is a product category easy to differentiate through "the growing region's story." The concrete growing-region name of Cat Hai Island and the traditional method become appeal points in Japan's retail and gift markets. The flow of Vietnamese producers selling raw material not as a bare commodity but as a processed good with a story attached is advancing in various places, as in the move of Da Nang makers selling materials as a "story.".
Ripple effects on the industry and market
Once OCOP five stars begins to function as a de facto "procurement-source screening," the impact does not stop at fish sauce. Vietnam is rushing to prepare origin tracking and code systems for farm products too, and the direction of making certification and story a set the entry to exports is shared. A nationwide traceability system combined with five-star certification would lower the cost for buyers to confirm origin and process.
As a result, Vietnam's small and medium processors enter a competition to "obtain certification and move to the side that gets chosen." For Japanese buyers, options increase on one hand, while a discerning eye to read the meaning of certifications correctly is required. Rather than swallowing whole that "five stars means safe," a stance of stepping in to confirm raw-material fish species, aging period, process and inspection framework ultimately leads to procurement that does not fail.
Practical information and a checking procedure
When considering procuring Vietnamese fish sauce, here are practical confirmation steps usable from this news.
- Confirm, as a primary condition, whether the partner holds OCOP certification (and how many stars)
- Obtain in writing the raw-material fish species and origin (the concrete island or bay name, such as Cat Hai)
- Confirm the fermentation/aging period and production process, and see whether quality holds steady during mass production
- Nail down early whether inspection data in line with Japan's Food Sanitation Act (histamine, etc.) can be submitted
- Use sales track records before export, such as domestic supermarket distribution, as supporting evidence
Summary—the next move
That Hai Phong's two fish sauces reached five stars is one example of a move in which Vietnam's OCOP is broadening its role from an "award system" to "procurement-source screening for export." The next move Japanese buyers can take first is to confirm, for existing candidate partners and producers of interest, the presence and star count of OCOP certification, and to place five- and four-star on the primary list. On that basis, nailing down in writing the three points of raw-material fish species, aging period and the inspection framework for Japan lets you efficiently narrow down fish-sauce procurement sources differentiated by story while avoiding partners of unclear origin. Certification at the entry, confirmation with your own eyes—this becomes a repeatable way to proceed in handling Vietnamese processed foods.
