Thai Nguyen Tea Conquers the World Market - Part 3: Increasing Exports for Sustainable Development

Along with production, processing tea products such as green tea candy, cosmetics... is also one of the solutions to help Thai Nguyen tea have export opportunities.

Along with tea production, processing tea products such as green tea candy, cosmetics... is also one of the solutions to help Thai Nguyen tea have export opportunities.

Always ready to take off

The volume and value of Thai Nguyen tea exported directly have decreased sharply since 2017. In previous years, the average export value reached over 10 million USD, the average price was 1.65 USD/kg. In 2017, the export value of tea was only 4.2 million USD; in 2023, 1,040 tons were exported, reaching 1.6 million USD; in 2024, the export value reached 2.6 million USD, the average price was 1.6 USD/kg.

Currently, a number of enterprises and cooperatives are increasing their access to and expanding international markets, such as Khe Coc Tea Cooperative, Hao Dat Tea Cooperative, Ha Thai Tea Joint Stock Company, Hung Thai Tea One Member Co., Ltd., etc.

Ha Thai Tea Joint Stock Company is one of the province's major tea exporters, having invested in a black tea processing factory with a capacity of 25 tons/day many years ago. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Ha Thai Tea Joint Stock Company, said: Since 2010, the Company has cooperated with a number of cooperatives with qualified raw material areas, currently strictly managing 50 hectares of organic production and 250 hectares of buffer zone converting from VietGAP production to fully organic.

Next, the Company boldly planted 20 hectares under the 4.0 program from tea garden to tea table according to the most advanced closed process today. Of the 20 hectares under the 4.0 program, we dedicated 5 hectares to produce matcha tea, the remaining area to produce other high-end tea products. - Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien

In 2016, Ha Thai Tea Joint Stock Company was appointed by the Trade Promotion Agency ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ) to send products to participate in the Golden Tea Competition in North America and Canada organized by the American Tea Association and won the Silver Prize. Since then, the Company has attracted the attention of many international customers, the value of tea has increased from 3 to 5 times compared to before. The Company has been visited by many customers from the US, France, Japan, Germany, Korea, Taiwan, Sri Lanka and tea research institutes of several countries to learn about the tea production model.

Ha Thai Tea Joint Stock Company is one of the leading enterprises in improving the quality of tea products, bringing Thai Nguyen tea to the world .

Ms. Hien confidently said: No matter how high-end the tea products in the world are, we can produce them all. However, Ms. Hien also admitted that, operating in the tea export sector since 2001, every year, the unit's revenue is up to 80% from the export market, only 20% is consumed domestically. However, in the past few years, the unit's export activities have almost frozen, although the revenue reaches over 20 billion VND/year, we have almost not exported any tea abroad.

She said that the value of exported tea products is very low, only from 1.5 USD to 2.5 USD to easy-going markets, while the domestic consumption market is a potential market, an advantage of Thai Nguyen tea products, advantages in both selling price and consumption market share. Therefore, Thai Nguyen tea products are less affected and impacted by the world tea market. At the same time, with many product samples sent to difficult countries and they all replied that the products are not suitable, this is really a difficult problem for businesses.

Want to fly far, need to prepare well

In fact, for many years, tea products have been mainly exported in the form of raw materials, then reprocessed with diverse designs and types, attached with packaging and labels bearing the brand of the importing country and then sold to many other countries. Of which, Pakistan is the largest export market, with low requirements for product quality and low prices. Finished tea products from Thai Nguyen are mainly exported in the form of small-scale trade with insignificant quantities, customers are usually Vietnamese people living abroad.

The low volume and value of Thai Nguyen's tea exports are determined to be due to the fact that tea production is still mainly on a household scale, with fragmented raw material areas and small-scale production models, leading to difficulties in tea quality management. The scale of enterprises and cooperatives is small, and there are no large enterprises acting as focal points for production and processing to create a large volume of products with uniform quality and design, meeting the standards and legal regulations of importing countries to serve tea exports, especially expanding exports to demanding markets such as Russia, Japan, the US and the UK. These are the largest tea consumers in the developed countries' market group.

According to Mr. To Van Khiem, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Khe Coc Safe Tea Cooperative, in order for tea products to enter the European market, the cooperative must produce to meet the very strict standards of its partners from safe raw tea areas, factories, machinery, packaging, and tea quality. However, although Thai Nguyen's tea area is large, the scale of household production lacks linkage to create raw material areas. It is necessary to have at least 300ha - 500ha of organic standards to consider exporting, but currently, even if all the tea in the whole province is collected, it is not enough for one container, so no business dares to accept orders from partners.

Along with that, the domestic tea consumption market always has a price many times higher than the export price, which also causes a sense of satisfaction in tea production and trading. In the province, there are only a few enterprises and cooperatives that are increasing their access to and expanding the international market..., exporting under the form of consignment, the quantity is not large and not regular.

The domestic tea price is higher than the export price, so many households are not interested in exporting Thai Nguyen tea products abroad.

With the orientation of making tea not only a key crop but also a national brand, Thai Nguyen aims to reach the 1 billion USD milestone in the 2025-2030 period, making Thai Nguyen tea a strategic commodity in Vietnam's agricultural exports. Meanwhile, food safety and hygiene requirements are becoming increasingly higher and more stringent. Therefore, building cooperative models and linking production between households is extremely necessary.

For tea trees to develop sustainably, the province needs to review and plan the overall tea planting and processing according to the value chain from technical infrastructure to ancillary activities, services, trade, combining tea ecotourism, meeting the requirements of safe production and processing towards organic production.

Mr. Duong Son Ha, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, said: In the context of market economic development, domestic and international competition is becoming increasingly strong and fierce, and the requirements for the quality of tea products are increasingly high. Finding a place for Thai Nguyen tea in the international market is always a concern for managers as well as production and business enterprises in the area.

Thai Nguyen tea industry has been developing in a sustainable direction, applying production according to international certifications. To continue improving the quality and value of tea products, diversifying products, meeting domestic consumer demand and especially meeting export requirements, Thai Nguyen is promoting propaganda, building raw material areas to ensure safety and quality that meet domestic and international standards. - Mr. Duong Son Ha

Thai Nguyen is currently one of the pioneering localities in the Northern midland and mountainous region in applying digital transformation to promote and consume agricultural products. The province has promoted brand building, promoting and promoting the consumption of Thai Nguyen tea products through organizing Tea Festivals, Exhibition Fairs, Agricultural Festivals, OCOP, craft villages connecting tourism - Thai Nguyen, the program "Promoting the colors of agricultural products in the 4.0 period - Thai Nguyen", programs to promote and connect the consumption of local products... Implementing the application of digital technology in connecting, promoting and consuming the province's tea products.

Currently, the province has 38 enterprises, 163 cooperatives, 251 traditional craft villages, with over 91,000 households processing green tea, high-quality green tea, along with production, from now to 2030, the province advocates developing cooperatives not only as a production organization model, but also as a leading force in implementing sustainable agricultural development programs, building advanced new rural areas, OCOP models and developing green economy. In particular, focusing on developing new tea products with high added value, deep processing, high-quality refined products, used in the food and non-food, pharmaceutical or cosmetic industries... for official export to the EU, US, Japan, Korea, Russia, Middle Eastern countries...

Currently, the Intellectual Property Office has granted protection documents for the province's tea products, including: 01 Tan Cuong Geographical Indication; 10 collective trademarks; 2 certification trademarks. The collective trademark "Thai Nguyen Tea" has been protected in 6 countries and territories. The geographical indication "Tan Cuong" is recognized for protection in the European Union (EU) through the Vietnam - European Union Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

(See from article published on June 18)

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202506/che-thai-nguyen-chinh-phuc-thi-truong-the-gioi-ky-3-tang-cuong-xuat-khau-de-phat-trien-ben-vung-ea32d42/