The first impression upon meeting Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of the Da Hen Tea Production and Processing Cooperative and head of the Da Hen tea village, is that of a busy man. His slender build and constant activity, from the tea hills to the tea processing and drying areas, give the impression that Mr. Thanh is never short of work.
Mr. Thanh said: "Tea cultivation has existed in Dong Luong for several decades, but it was mostly self-produced and self-consumed, so the value wasn't high. Previously, the Da Hen area mainly grew tea from seeds and cuttings, resulting in low yields and quality, and consumers weren't interested. Realizing that if we continued with the old production methods, we would only be able to make ends meet and wouldn't be able to escape poverty, we decided to establish a tea-growing village, which was recognized by the Provincial People's Committee in 2010. During the development process, we decided to establish the Da Hen Tea Production and Processing Cooperative, which officially started operating in 2017."
Listing products on e-commerce platforms and social media is a solution that cooperatives are actively promoting to advertise and introduce their products and expand their consumer market.
In 2020, the cooperative had two products recognized as 3-star OCOP products. At the end of 2021, "Premium Da Hen Green Tea" was upgraded to a 4-star OCOP product, and the cooperative added another product to its 3-star rating. Thus, the cooperative now has three OCOP-certified products. By July 2023, "Da Hen Green Tea" was recognized as a collective trademark, contributing to building the Da Hen tea brand.
The Da Hen tea-making village currently has over 80 participating households with a total tea-growing area of over 100 hectares. Among them, the Da Hen Tea Production and Processing Cooperative has 12 members, cultivating 24 hectares of tea according to VietGAP and HACCP standards. Thanks to strict adherence to technical procedures, the cooperative's tea yield reaches over 300 quintals/hectare/year.
Besides green tea, the cooperative and the craft village also supply black tea to companies that process and export it to international markets. Each year, the cooperative supplies the market with over 1.5 tons of high-quality green tea and exports approximately 400 tons of black tea; including the craft village, the total export volume of black tea reaches over 1,000 tons per year, generating revenue of over 8 billion VND annually. The average income of households in the craft village is approximately 60 million VND per year, while cooperative members earn around 85 million VND per household per year.
According to Mr. Thanh, currently, Da Hen tea products are not only consumed within the province but have also become known and ordered by many customers in major markets such as Hanoi , Ho Chi Minh City, Son La, Lao Cai, Da Nang, etc.
To achieve these results, the cooperative boldly made changes in many areas, from replacing old tea varieties with high-quality, high-yield varieties; changing cultivation and harvesting processes according to food safety standards; investing in building a processing machinery system; and designing packaging and product models to meet customer preferences.
Promoting investment and development in tea cultivation is also the province's policy regarding this key crop with high economic value, serving export purposes and creating stable income for people in tea-growing areas of the province.
In the coming period, the cooperative will focus on improving productivity and product quality, developing sustainably, and aiming to build a cooperative that develops according to a strategy of linking with 24 cooperatives producing and processing high-quality green tea throughout the province, investing in an ecological model, a craft village associated with community tourism .
In addition, the cooperative continues to promote and encourage people to participate in planting new tea plants and expanding the area of tea cultivation according to the correct procedures and techniques so that the product meets quality standards and consumer needs, and to develop several other tea products that have been recognized as OCOP products.
Quan Lam
Source: https://baophutho.vn/doi-thay-o-lang-che-da-hen-249721.htm
