Honoring and enhancing the value of coffee

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

This is a series of events to promote brands and connect trade of Vietnamese coffee and tea products, initiated by Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper since 2023.

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

Vietnam has the 6th largest coffee growing area in the world , but is currently the 2nd largest coffee exporter in the world, after Brazil, with coffee export turnover continuously increasing. 10 years ago, coffee export turnover only reached 2 billion USD, by 2023 it reached a record of more than 4.18 billion USD and this year it is forecasted to be able to conquer the 5 billion USD mark.

According to the General Department of Customs, in the first two months of 2024, Vietnam exported nearly 400,000 tons of coffee, worth more than 1.2 billion USD, up 16.4% in volume, but up 68% in value thanks to high selling prices. Specifically, the average export price in the past two months reached 3,146 USD/ton, up 44% over the same period last year.

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

Meanwhile, in 2023, Vietnam's tea exports reached 121,000 tons, worth 211 million USD, down 17% and 11% respectively over the same period last year. This is also the year Vietnam's tea export output has been the lowest in the past 7 years. The average tea export price in 2023 reached 1,737 USD/ton, up more than 7% compared to 2022, but this price is only 67% of the average tea export price in the world (the average global tea export price in 2023 reached 2,600 USD/ton).

According to the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development ( Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ), the reason for the sharp decline in Vietnam's tea exports is weak world demand and increasingly strict import regulations in major markets. In addition, most of Vietnam's exported tea is in raw form with low processing content.

According to the Organizing Committee, the activities in the 2024 Vietnamese Coffee and Tea Festival will be more diverse and rich, attracting more businesses to participate and being marketed and promoted more widely and multi-channelly than before; in which, the focus of the festival is the workshop "Solutions to export coffee to reach 5 billion USD". Here, experts and associations will discuss solutions to increase sustainable coffee export growth, creating more value.

Also within the framework of the festival, at the Coffee Talk program held on March 31, experts will share with young people valuable experiences in starting a business, financial management, and secrets of starting a business with beverages...

The 2024 Vietnamese Coffee and Tea Festival will take place until March 31, and is expected by many businesses to contribute to bringing quality coffee and tea products closer to domestic consumers; at the same time, creating a launching pad to enhance the position of Vietnamese coffee and tea on the world agricultural map.

TH (according to Tin Tuc newspaper)

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