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| People in Ban Moc village (Yen Binh commune) are harvesting Shan Tuyet tea. |
Ban Moc village currently has 76 households, with over 300 inhabitants, mainly Tay ethnic people. The lives of the people are closely tied to agriculture and forestry, in which Shan Tuyet tea plays a particularly important role.
Before the 1990s, when the village was almost completely isolated, tea was only harvested for family consumption. Elderly Tay people would climb mountains and cross streams to pick each tender bud, roast the tea in cast-iron pans, dry it with kitchen smoke, and store it in the attic of their stilt houses.
About 10 years later, when the tea plants entered their vigorous growth period, with plumper buds, Shan Tuyet tea began to have exchange value within the community. People traded tea for corn, rice, and wild vegetables at the markets. The next turning point came when the first dirt road, then a concrete road, was opened to Ban Moc, and the national power grid reached the village.
With improved trade and the gradual introduction of machinery into production, Shan Tuyet tea, once a "homemade" product, became the main source of income for many households. However, production at that time was still fragmented, lacking coordination or a common brand.
Recognizing the great potential of the ancient tea-growing region, in early 2023, several households joined together to establish the Ban Moc Agricultural Cooperative. Since the establishment of the cooperative, households without machinery have received support for centralized tea processing; production processes have been standardized towards safety and organic farming; and products have clear labels and traceability.
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| Members of the Ban Moc agricultural cooperative are packaging Shan Tuyet tea products. |
Ban Moc Shan Tuyet tea is gradually achieving VietGAP and PGS organic certifications, with two products, Ban Moc Shan Tuyet tea and Shan Tuyet black tea, achieving OCOP 3-star rating. To date, 14.7 hectares of the cooperative's tea plantations have been granted organic certification. Ban Moc Shan Tuyet tea is beginning to appear on shelves of clean agricultural products, at exhibitions, and trade fairs.
To date, there are 35 households in Ban Moc producing and processing tea. Revenue from Shan Tuyet tea in 2023 reached over 521 million VND, increasing to over 570 million VND in 2024, with an average selling price of approximately 200,000 VND/kg of dried tea buds.
Mr. Ma Dinh Hung, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Yen Binh commune, affirmed: Ban Moc Shan Tuyet tea is a characteristic product of the locality, with both economic and cultural value. The commune government always creates conditions for people to promote the product, access state support programs, and at the same time orient development in conjunction with ecotourism and local cultural experiences. We are also preparing documents to request recognition of Ban Moc Shan Tuyet Tea Village as a traditional craft village, thereby opening up new development opportunities for the local tea industry.
According to Ma Van Thong, Director of Ban Moc Agricultural Cooperative, in the coming time, the cooperative will continue to expand the area of organic-certified raw materials, diversify products such as black tea, flavored tea, tea essential oil, and build a planting area code to facilitate traceability and expand the market.
On the part of Yen Binh commune, the local authorities have also requested support from higher levels to upgrade transportation infrastructure, creating favorable conditions for transporting raw materials and developing experiential tourism associated with the tea hills and Tay culture.
Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202512/danh-thuc-huong-che-shan-tuyet-1483a8d/
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