Palmania is the trade name of Công ty Cổ phần Palmania, a palmyra palm sugar producer founded in June 2017 in Tri Tôn, An Giang, in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. It makes traditional additive-free palm sugar in paste, powder and granule forms, plus an organic-certified premium line, Patur, carrying USDA Organic and EU Organic certification. All three core products hold OCOP 5-star national ratings (2025) with average scores of 92.8–93.7, and the powder product is reported by the company as the third in the world to win a UK Great Taste 2-star award in its category.
The brand was founded by Chau Ngọc Dịu, a Khmer entrepreneur from An Giang (born 1982), to preserve the traditional wood-fired palm-sugar method of the region’s Khmer community. The name combines the Khmer Pal (palm) with mania (passion).
Company at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Legal name | Công ty Cổ phần Palmania |
| Trade name | Palmania |
| Founded | June 2017 |
| Founder & GD | Chau Ngọc Dịu (Khmer; born 1982) |
| Head office | 25 Võ Thị Sáu, Tri Tôn town, Tri Tôn, An Giang |
| Overseas office | Netherlands |
| Region | Mekong Delta |
| Website | https://palmania.me |
Products
Three core products, all OCOP 5-star national (2025), plus an organic premium line. From the source profile (retrieved 2026-07-31):
| Product | Notes |
|---|---|
| Palm sugar paste (traditional) | OCOP score 93.7; 100% pure, no additives, no cane sugar |
| Palm sugar powder | OCOP score 93.1; company reports it as the 3rd in the world to win UK Great Taste 2-star in its category |
| Palm sugar granules | OCOP score 93.3 |
| Patur (premium line) | Organic palmyra-flower extract; USDA Organic + EU Organic |
The company also reports product attributes including a low glycemic index (~35) and a vitamin B12 content up to 28.2 µg/100 g; these are company-reported figures (see limitations).
Certifications
Certification status as reported by the company, retrieved 2026-07-31:
| Certification | Issuer / body | Date |
|---|---|---|
| OCOP 5-star (national) | National OCOP Council | 2025 (all three products) |
| OCOP 4-star (provincial) | An Giang OCOP Council | April 2020 (paste) |
| Great Taste Award (UK), 2-star | Guild of Fine Food (UK) | 2020, 2021, 2022 (three consecutive years) |
| USDA Organic | — | Patur line |
| EU Organic | — | Patur line |
| BioTrade | — | — |
| HACCP | — | — |
OCOP is Vietnam’s government product-grading scheme, rated 1–5 stars; 5 is the top national tier.
Sourcing and production
The raw material comes from palmyra palms in Tịnh Biên and Tri Tôn, the Bảy Núi (Seven Mountains) area of An Giang, which the source describes as ~70,000 trees producing a regional raw output of ~8,000 tonnes/year. The traditional method involves climbing to collect sap twice a day (no more than 8 hours apart), using soaked sến bark to limit fermentation, and boiling immediately after harvest with no bleaching agents or cane sugar. The workshop grew from 60 m² to 200 m², with close to 10 regular workers (mostly Khmer women, reported income 6–8 million VND/month). The company also reports contracting sap at roughly double the local trader price to secure supply.
Markets
Domestically, the source reports presence in 20+ provinces and 60+ retail points (2024), including clean-food chains in Hà Nội, Ho Chi Minh City and Đà Nẵng, e-commerce (Shopee, Lazada), and an OCOP feature listing at Grand World Phú Quốc.
For export, the first order left An Giang for the Netherlands in July 2021; the founder is reported as the first An Giang Khmer entrepreneur to set up an overseas representative office for a palm-sugar product. European online channels reach Finland, Sweden and the UK. The source names the US, Japan and Korea as further expansion targets (not yet confirmed active markets).
| Market | First shipment / note |
|---|---|
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | July 2021 (first export order); representative office |
| 🇫🇮 Finland | European online channels |
| 🇸🇪 Sweden | European online channels |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | European online channels |
Related producers
- Vietnipa — a Vietnamese producer of nipa palm sap sugar, the closest palm-sap value-chain peer.
- Sokfarm — a Mekong Delta maker of coconut-flower sugar and nectar, a natural-sweetener peer.
- Vicosap — a deep-processing coconut producer, another natural-sweetener value-chain peer.
Limitations of this data
- We have not visited the facility. Figures (tree count, regional output, workshop size, worker income, retail points, farmer pricing, GI, vitamin B12) are self-reported by the company or drawn from public profiles as of 2026-07-31, and are not independently audited here.
- The founding month (June 2017) is recorded, but the exact founding day is not stated, so the founded date uses the month only.
- The US, Japan and Korea are described as expansion targets, so only the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and the UK are listed as active export markets.
- “First in the world / first An Giang Khmer entrepreneur” claims are as stated by the company and not independently verified.
- Certification details reflect what the company reports; we have not inspected the underlying certificates or their current validity.