Developing the national golden flower tea brand

In 2023, the golden flower tea product, which Ms. Pham Thi Ly personally bred and developed from a hundred-year-old golden flower tea tree, became a 3-star OCOP product. The product is currently aiming for the national 5-star standard in 2025.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Ninh, the discoverer of 25 varieties of golden flower tea.

The Hakodae Orgavina golden camellia conservation and development model is a model with dual value - both conserving precious medicinal gene sources and creating sustainable livelihoods for rural people in Hanoi .

Onion precious medicinal plant revival program

As Director of the Center for Enterprise Integration and Development, Ms. Pham Thi Ly and her colleagues have been accompanying hundreds of small and medium enterprises, creating sustainable development solutions based on local values.

From her field trips, Ms. Ly has learned and researched many medicinal areas across the country. Among them is the land of Vo Nhai ( Thai Nguyen ), where ancient yellow camellia trees over a hundred years old are still preserved.

Witnessing local people exploiting the value of the yellow camellia tree, she was moved to realize that this precious tree species is being exploited to the point of exhaustion, at risk of gradually disappearing in the wild.

At that time, Ms. Ly planned a journey to revive the yellow camellia. She bought the remaining seedlings from the people in the area, brought them back to propagate and plant them on a trial basis. It was thought that under the care of her and her colleagues, the yellow camellia would grow strongly. However, the path was not easy, many plants died as soon as they were planted and there were also plants that were green and then withered after only a few days.

Each time, Ms. Ly and her colleagues quietly measured, recorded, and studied the causes from soil moisture, sunlight direction to each type of microorganism in the soil to adjust the care method.

After many failures, finally came the time of success. When research showed that the soil and special mineral layer of the southeastern slope of Tam Dao range were completely suitable for the yellow camellia that she and her colleagues brought from Vo Nhai land to plant.

Compared with the quality of local yellow flower tea, the yellow flower tea on Tam Dao land has a rich taste, fresh aroma, and sweet aftertaste that spreads in the mouth. Since then, she has affectionately called Tam Dao yellow flower tea "Five famous teas". In 2023, the yellow flower tea product that Ms. Pham Thi Ly personally bred and developed from a hundred-year-old yellow flower tea tree has become a 3-star OCOP product.

Talking about the journey of naming the golden flower tea, Ms. Pham Thi Ly always mentioned Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Ninh, former Deputy Head of the Department of Botany, Faculty of Biology, Hanoi University of Science - the person she still respectfully calls "the person who opened the mystery of Tam Dao green gold".

Ms. Ly said that since 1993, Mr. Ninh and his colleagues have traveled across the mountains and forests of Vietnam, discovering 25 new species of yellow camellia for science. In 1999, during a survey trip on the northeastern slope of the Tam Dao mountain range, Dai Tu commune (Thai Nguyen), he discovered a special native yellow camellia species and named it Camellia Hakodae Ninh - also known as Hakoda Ninh yellow camellia.

For Ms. Ly, the name not only has scientific meaning, but also contains a beautiful friendship and deep gratitude between two Vietnamese and Japanese scientists. “Hakoda” is the surname of Mr. Naotoshi Hakoda, President of the Japanese Tea Association - a close friend who shared with Mr. Ninh a passion for researching Vietnamese yellow camellia species.

“My chance began with collecting some ancient Hakodae yellow camellia trees, a precious native variety of the Tam Dao range. When I brought them back to plant and preserve them in Trung Gia forest (Hanoi), I applied organic microbial farming methods, combined with the use of preparations for care. The results were surprising, the Hakodae Orgavina yellow camellia flowers produced a superior flavor, completely different from other tea varieties. The final layer of aroma leaves a sweet taste in the mouth, creating a spreading and pleasant feeling after enjoying the tea,” Ms. Ly shared.

In 2020, Ms. Ly and her colleagues launched the project "Conserving Nam Duoc Nhat Sinh". The project was implemented in the direction of building a medicinal biodiversity model under the forest canopy, combining conservation - research - economic development. Under the canopy of yellow camellia, she planted Nhat Duong Sinh ginseng and many precious herbs, forming a sustainable farming ecosystem, in harmony between humans and nature.

The name “Hakoda Orgavina Golden Flower Tea” that Ms. Ly chose is a continuation and gratitude for the work of Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Ninh, former Deputy Head of the Department of Botany, Faculty of Biology, Hanoi University of Science.

Towards 5-star OCOP products

At the Nhat Duong Sinh Nam Duoc Conservation Area (Trang Xa Commune, Thai Nguyen), as of November 2025, there are nearly 20,000 yellow camellia trees, including thousands of trees 30 years old or older and hundreds of trees 100 years old; many trees are over 5m tall, with the trunk of the tree being nearly 90cm. Ms. Ly and her colleagues have planted seven native Thai Nguyen tea species here, contributing to the preservation and development of rare genetic resources.

In addition, at Tam Dao Medicinal Herbs Conservation Village, nearly 100 ancient tea trees were moved from Tam Dao area and replanted with a meticulous and elaborate process: the trees were potted, wrapped in B40 mesh and incubated for a month before cutting the main roots, ensuring the trees survive and grow well.

Hakodae Orgavina OCOP 3-star golden flower tea product of Tien Duong Organic Agricultural Cooperative.

Not stopping at conservation and propagation, Ms. Ly also cherished a project in Hanoi, that is, each household grows at least one yellow camellia tree, both to protect the native tea variety and to connect the community with nature. She hopes that each house and each garden will bear the "green gold" of Tam Dao, thereby forming a sustainable yellow camellia growing network, at the same time developing the household economy and educating the younger generation about the value of precious medicinal herbs.

With this orientation, her project is not only to preserve ancient trees, but also a long-term strategy, creating opportunities for each family to become a "green gold keeper", contributing to making Tam Dao-Hanoi golden flower tea a high-quality OCOP product, oriented towards national 5-star.

According to the Hanoi City New Rural Coordination Office, the Hakodae Orgavina yellow camellia conservation and development model. This is a dual value model - both preserving precious medicinal gene sources and creating sustainable livelihoods for rural people. The proactive research and restoration of native varieties by Ms. Pham Thi Ly and her colleagues, combined with organic farming methods and community linkages, has opened a new direction for Hanoi's agricultural economic development.

Thanh Hau

Source: https://nhandan.vn/phat-trien-thuong-hieu-tra-hoa-vang-quoc-gia-post923730.html