Food waste

"There's a certain magic to the way these big sheets of steamed rice noodles are made, before they're wrapped around savory fillings and served with herbs and sauce," the magazine said about Vietnam’s banh cuon . Banh cuon is a traditional Vietnamese dish that is always overshadowed by the omnipresent banh mi or pho. To make banh cuon , a thin noodle sheet is steamed on a thin layer of fabric placed over a pot of boiling water. The sheets are then filled with minced pork and served with cha lua (Vietnamese pork bologna), fried rice powder cake and a sweet dipping fish sauce. The dish ranges from VND25,000-VND50,000 ($1.05-$2.11) per serving. Other dishes included in the list were Spain’s grilled turbot, America’s Oklahoma smash burger, Mexico’s Mole Negro, Sri Lanka’s Short Eats, Italy’s Ragu Napoletano, Australia’s duck sausage sanga and Iran’s crispy rice dish Tahdig. … [Read more...] about Vietnamese steamed rice rolls one of world’s 10 must-try dishes

Some food and beverage products from a cooperative in Ben Tre province attract consumers. (Photo: vnbusiness.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - After the Lunar New Year holiday, many cooperatives, especially those in the food and beverage (F&B) sector, have accelerated their production to fulfil domestic and export orders. Ly Hong Tien, Director of Hau Giang Xanh Cooperative in Hau Giang province, told vnbusiness.vn that thanks to the links her cooperative has established with distributors, it was completing many orders of processed that lat fish to serve local demand and that for exports. According to experts, though economic difficulties would continue in 2023, there remained untapped business opportunities for small firms and cooperatives in the F&B industry. Experts said that when an economy was unstable, investors intended to return to industries with high demand as the F&B sector is an essential industry. A recent report by iPOS.vn said that Vietnam had around 338,600 … [Read more...] about F&B cooperatives seize new opportunities amid economic difficulties

A tomato farm in Don Duong district, Lam Dong province, joining the platform of Koina (Photo courtesy of Koina) HCM City (VNA) – VinaCapital Ventures, a technology-focused venture capital fund of the Ho Chi Minh City-based VinaCaptial Group , has announced an investment of 1 million USD into Koina, an agritech startup founded in Vietnam. The investment from VinaCapital Ventures is part of Koina’s seed fundraising round. Koina, established in 2021, aims to build a large and efficient agricultural ecosystem in Vietnam by connecting farmers with financial organisations, suppliers, and retailers. Its “Farmer Platform” is intended to help farmers access loans, publicise prices, and give guidance on good agricultural practices. Thi Nguyen, co-founder and Chairman of Koina, said the funding from VinaCapital Ventures will help his firm expand sales channels and increase investment in technology to control quality and boost the value of agricultural products of Vietnam. … [Read more...] about VinaCapital Ventures pours 1 million USD into agritech startup

The festival celebrates the full moon of the first lunar month of the year. The city’s Center for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation confirmed the certificate was handed over on February 5, marking the fifth national intangible heritage after Thanh Chau bird's nest, Thanh Ha pottery village, carpentry of Kim Bong village and Tra Que vegetable garden. The center said the festival was a major event in a series of cultural and ritual activities among local people held during the first lunar month. Local people often prepare for the festival from the seventh day of the month with ancestor worship and praying for peace at the communal houses of Cam Pho, Ong Voi, Japanese Bridge, Ong and Ba Pagoda and Minh Huong communal house, as well as the Fujian and Jiao Zhou clubs. A night parade will take place in the Old Quarter with lanterns and a poet recital at Cam Pho communal house as well as folk games at Kazik Park on February 4-6. Pagodas and communal houses will be open … [Read more...] about Hoi An’s full moon festival named intangible heritage

As many as 35 people in An Giang Province, southern Vietnam were hospitalized for treatment for food poisoning after eating sweet white cowpea soup. The sweet soup was offered at no charge by a local resident around the full-moon occasion, or the fifteenth day of the first lunar month (February 5). Tran Quoc Phu, director of the medical center of Cho Moi District, An Giang Province, said on Monday that the center received the 35 patients and is treating 31 of them. Four people with more serious conditions were transferred to the General Hospital of An Giang Area. Two patients suffering multi-organ failure still need continuous dialysis and intensive care. They are at high risk of mortality. “We have taken a sweet soup sample for testing to discover the cause of the poisoning case," Phu said. “Most of the patients show symptoms of stomachache and diarrhea. "We think the sweet soup is contaminated with bacterium." Earlier, the 35 patients ate sweet white cowpea soup … [Read more...] about 35 hospitalized after eating sweet soup in southern Vietnam

Kim Chi, 57, has devoted her time and love to hundreds of abandoned cats over the past 25 years. Chi gets up at 3 am every day to do the clean-up and prepare food for the cats at her home and then brings the food to feral cats at different places in the city. She usually returns home late in the evening. The woman said that her health has recently deteriorated and she often had backache, which has affected her care for the cats. But luckily, she has support and help from friends and other cat lovers. Chi said that some people only love beautiful animals, but she loves them even when they look ill and dirty. Besides feeding them, the woman has also tried to save them from traps set by hunters. … [Read more...] about HCM City woman’s love for abandoned cats

Runners of the five km distance are required to complete their race in one hour 15 minutes, 10km distance in two hours, 21km distance in two hours and 42km distance in six and a half hours. At each kilometer, COT is calculated in the form of a projection. Runners in the four distances of the VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City Midnight will start close to each other, between midnight and 1:15 a.m. on February 12. At midnight, the 42-kilometer runners will start the race. At 12:30 a.m., the 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer runners will begin. The 21 kilometers runners will take off at 1:15 a.m. The starting gate is on Truong Dinh Street along Tao Dan Park. Due to the early departure, runners will get a clear view of Saigon at night. After the final distance runners have left, the city center’s cafes and restaurants will still be bustling. Timetable for the four distances in VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VM The organizers will open a delivery … [Read more...] about VnExpress Marathon Ho Chi Minh City Midnight sets ground rules for the race

JAKARTA -- Indonesia will suspend some palm oil export permits to secure domestic supply amid rising cooking oil prices ahead of upcoming Islamic festivals, senior cabinet minister Luhut Pandjaitan said on his official Instagram account on Monday. Palm oil exporters had accumulated large shipment quotas last year and they now had little incentive to supply the domestic market, he said. Indonesia issues export permits for palm oil companies that have already sold a proportion of their products to the domestic market, under a policy known as "Domestic Market Obligation" (DMO). The DMO currently allows export volumes that are six times what companies have sold at home. "Exporters can use those export rights after the situation has calmed," said Luhut, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment. Firman Hidayat, an official at the same ministry, said about a third of existing export quotas could be used now, while the rest could be used after May 1. He added … [Read more...] about Indonesia to suspend some palm oil export permits: officials

The awards ceremony of the Zayed Sustainability Prize. — Photo Courtesy Zayed Sustainability Prize The Zayed Sustainability Prize has announced that the 2024 cycle is now open for submissions for candidates from all over the world, including Viet Nam. The prize, which accepts submissions until May 2 through the prize’s online portal, is the UAE’s pioneering global award for recognising excellence in sustainability. Small to medium-sized enterprises, non-profit organisations and high schools with sustainability solutions are invited to submit an entry for consideration in one of the five categories of health, food, energy, water and global high schools. The prize’s US$3 million fund rewards winners US$600,000 in each category. The global high schools category is split into six world regions, with each school able to claim up to $100,000 to start or further expand their project. The Zayed sustainability prize has a three-stage evaluation process, beginning with the due … [Read more...] about Zayed Sustainability Prize opens submissions for 2024 cycle

Trung Hoang, partner at VinaCapital Ventures, and Thi Nguyen, co-founder and chairman of Koina, shake hands at the investment signing ceremony in HCM City last week. — Photo courtesy of VinaCapital VinaCapital Ventures, the technology investment vehicle of VinaCapital Group, on Monday announced that it is investing US$1 million in Koina, a Viet Nam-based data-driven farm-to-business agriculture technology platform. VinaCapital Ventures’ investment comes as part of a seed extension round of fundraising by Koina. Koina Investment Group was founded in 2021 by a talented and accomplished team with experience in established startups. Its vision is to build Viet Nam’s most extensive and efficient agri-ecosystem by working side-by-side with Vietnamese farmers and connecting them directly with financial institutions, input suppliers, and commercial retailers. Koina’s “Farmer Platform” aims to help communities with financing, provide transparent and fair prices, and guide farmers on … [Read more...] about VinaCapital Ventures invests in Koina