Celebrating and enhancing the value of coffee.

Việt Nam•30/03/2024

Photo caption — Delegates perform the opening ceremony of the 2024 Vietnamese Coffee and Tea Festival.

This is a series of events aimed at promoting brands and connecting trade for Vietnamese coffee and tea products, initiated by the Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper since 2023.

Mr. To Dinh Tuan, Editor-in-Chief of Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper and Head of the Organizing Committee for the 2nd Vietnam Coffee and Tea Festival in 2024, stated that coffee is a key industrial crop of Vietnam. Currently, Vietnamese coffee is present in more than 80 countries and territories; among them, the European Union (EU) is the largest consumer market, accounting for approximately 40-50% of the total export volume. The coffee industry contributes nearly 4% to the country's GDP, creating jobs and stable income for over 700,000 farming households.

Vietnam ranks 6th in the world in terms of coffee cultivation area, but is currently the world's second-largest coffee exporter, after Brazil, with continuously increasing export value. Ten years ago, coffee export value was only $2 billion, reaching a record high of over $4.18 billion in 2023, and this year it is projected to surpass $5 billion.

According to the General Department of Customs, in the first two months of 2024, Vietnam exported nearly 400,000 tons of coffee, worth over $1.2 billion, an increase of 16.4% in volume but a significant 68% increase in value thanks to consistently high prices. Specifically, the average export price in the past two months reached $3,146 per ton, a 44% increase compared to the same period last year.

The Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa) stated that domestic coffee prices are projected to remain high in 2024 due to a severe supply shortage in the 2022-2023 coffee crop year. Demand in the large EU market is very strong. The agricultural sector has boldly set a target of achieving $6 billion in coffee exports by 2030.

Meanwhile, in 2023, Vietnam's tea exports reached 121,000 tons, valued at US$211 million, a decrease of 17% and 11% respectively compared to the previous year. This was also the year with the lowest tea export volume in the past 7 years. The average export price of tea in 2023 reached US$1,737/ton, an increase of more than 7% compared to 2022, but this price was only 67% of the average global export price of tea (the average global export price of tea in 2023 was US$2,600/ton).

According to the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development ( Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ), the main reasons for the sharp decline in Vietnam's tea exports are weak global demand and increasingly stringent import regulations in key markets. In addition, most of Vietnam's exported tea is in raw form with low processing levels.

According to the organizers, the activities in the 2024 Vietnam Coffee and Tea Festival will be more diverse and enriching, attracting more businesses to participate and being marketed and promoted more widely and through multiple channels than before; the focus of the festival is the seminar "Solutions to achieve $5 billion in coffee exports". Here, experts and associations will discuss solutions to sustainably grow coffee exports and create more value.

Also as part of the festival, at the Coffee Talk program held on March 31st, experts will share valuable experiences with young people on entrepreneurship, financial management, and secrets to starting a beverage business...

The 2024 Vietnamese Coffee and Tea Festival, which will run until March 31st, is expected by many businesses to contribute to bringing high-quality coffee and tea products closer to domestic consumers; and at the same time, create a springboard to enhance the position of Vietnamese coffee and tea on the world agricultural map.

TH (according to the News newspaper)

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