Building the Suoi Giang Shan Tuyet tea brand

Ms. Lam Thi Kim Thoa (second from left) at the Suoi Giang Shan Tuyet tea festival.

With an area of nearly 500 hectares, the area of naturally growing trees is about 300 hectares, including more than 40,000 trees from 100 to 500 years old, this is not just a simple agricultural crop, Shan Tuyet tea has become a cultural and economic symbol, associated with many generations of H'Mong people here.

With the desire to help Suoi Giang farmers have more income and jobs from Shan Tuyet tea trees, in 2007, with the attention and support of local authorities and Farmers' Associations at all levels, Ms. Lam Thi Kim Thoa mobilized a number of people in the commune to establish Suoi Giang Cooperative, with capital at that time of about 65 million VND, with rudimentary machinery and equipment, factories that did not meet standards, monotonous and unattractive products.

Over time, the cooperative has invested more than 2 billion VND to build a spacious factory and invest in modern equipment with a production capacity of up to two tons of fresh tea buds per day. Through cooperation with a number of experts in the tea industry, the cooperative has provided technical training for members and workers using the hands-on method; organized tours and learning experiences at a number of tea factories in neighboring provinces; signed contracts to purchase products from tea-growing households, creating stable output for farming households in the commune.

The Suoi Giang ancient Shan Tuyet tea area has been certified as a natural organic tea area and geographical indication, the tea trees have been numbered with QR codes to trace the origin of the growing area, the factory has met HACCP standards, Tuyet Son Tra products have met 4-star OCOP standards... the selling price ranges from 400,000 VND/kg to 4 million VND/kg of finished product. Currently, two products, Shan Tuyet Red Tea and Shan Tuyet Leaf Tea, ensure European standards and are exported to the UK and Japanese markets.

The average annual revenue of the cooperative reaches 2.2 billion VND, bringing in a profit of more than 350 million VND, maintaining jobs for 10 regular workers and more than 20 seasonal workers, the average income of workers reaches 6 million VND/person/month. With the determination to "revive a famous tea", Ms. Thoa proactively sought out businesses to cooperate in developing production, actively participated in programs, exhibitions, and promoted Shan Tuyet tea.

Although she was not born and raised in Suoi Giang, her ability to speak H'Mong fluently, understanding the customs and practices of the local people and especially her deep understanding of tea trees has helped Ms. Thoa successfully mobilize the H'Mong people not to destroy tea trees to plant corn, raise awareness of preserving ancient tea trees, expand the existing area of Shan Tuyet tea, restore degraded tea areas and improve the process of planting, caring for, harvesting and processing Shan Tuyet tea.

As the director of the cooperative, Ms. Thoa directly livestreams to sell products, receives orders, closes orders, exchanges and shares with customers in a friendly and open manner, contributing to creating highlights, attracting more and more tourists to Suoi Giang. At the same time, she invested in building a promotional area, introducing tea products and OCOP products "Ban Giang chan may" in Cang Ky village, attracting many tourists to experience and enjoy tea in the space of mountains and forests covered with white clouds.

Up to now, the cooperative is implementing a smart traceability solution for Shan Tuyet tea products right down to the roots of ancient tea trees. Piloting the labeling of traceability for 100 ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees in Suoi Giang, implementing a set of stickers on packaged dry tea products, divided into four age groups: 500 years old and older, over 400 years old, over 200 years old and 100 years old and older.

The implementation of smart traceability solutions, attaching QR codes to each product has met the requirements for transparent product information when launching to the domestic market and met strict requirements when launching products to the international market. Comrade Nguyen Huu Luc, Chairman of the People's Committee of Van Chan commune, said that Ms. Lam Thi Kim Thoa is a veteran, a person with community responsibility, always accompanying local people in planting, caring for, and processing tea products. Ms. Thoa has contributed to making the Suoi Giang Shan Tuyet tea brand famous and known to many people.

Article and photos: THANH SON

Source: https://nhandan.vn/xay-dung-thuong-hieu-che-shan-tuyet-suoi-giang-post914487.html