Building Vietnamese rice brand:

Vietnam is one of the world's leading rice exporting countries. However, behind the impressive figures in output and export turnover, the story of building a Vietnamese rice brand still has many things to discuss...

It seems that we are still indifferent to increasing the value of rice or have not found the best direction for this billion-dollar export item?

ST25 rice is one of 6 Vietnamese rice varieties honored as the world's best rice in 2023.

Worrying reality

Playing a strategic role in the national economy , Vietnam's rice industry is facing a major paradox.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment , in the first 6 months of 2025, although exports reached 4.9 million tons, up 7.6% over the same period last year, the value decreased by 12.2%, to 2.54 billion USD; the average export price of rice decreased by 18.4%, to 517.5 USD/ton. This shows a worrying situation: We sell more rice but earn less money, depend on exporting raw rice, low added value, lack of strong brands... For example, the Philippines is still a large market, accounting for 43.4% of the market share, but the export value to this country decreased by 17.4%. Worryingly, the export target for the whole year of 2025 of 5.7 billion USD is becoming distant, expected to reach only about 5.5 billion USD... due to fierce competition pressure, mainly from India - the world's largest rice exporting country, which has loosened export restrictions...

The underlying cause of this situation is the challenges and limitations that have existed for many years. Although the “Project for developing the Vietnamese rice brand to 2020, with a vision to 2030” was approved in 2015, its implementation remains sporadic. In addition, fragmented production makes rice quality difficult to control. The overuse of chemicals in farming is also a major barrier.

Compared to strong competitors such as Thailand with Hom Mali rice or India with Basmati rice, the Vietnamese rice brand is very obscure. Except for the success of ST25, very few Vietnamese rice brands are known to international consumers. The consequence is that Vietnamese rice often has to compete on price, accepting to use imported brands to reach consumers, reducing the profits and position of the industry. Along with that, the issue of brand protection and counterfeit goods is complicated, causing damage to legitimate businesses and eroding consumer confidence.

Former Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, now the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment) Le Thanh Tung said that building a rice brand must come from businesses, not from the country; building a rice brand from the country is likely to fail. Many standards and regulations will narrow the creativity of businesses. Rice is like other products, evaluating the brand from the level of safety, uniformity, time, suitable price, approach to the market chain...

The path to raising the level of Vietnamese rice

Realizing the importance of branding, the Government and businesses have made initial efforts that have been recognized. The resounding success of ST25 rice, twice winning the title of “World’s Best Rice”, is a clear demonstration of the great potential of Vietnamese rice when properly invested. This is not only the story of a rice variety, but also a source of pride, motivation and valuable experience for the entire industry. However, despite being recognized as the world’s best rice, ST25 is only a very small number among the millions of tons of rice exported from Vietnam.

To sustainably enhance the value of Vietnamese rice, there needs to be a comprehensive strategy and synchronous, drastic coordination from the Government, businesses, and farmers. According to Hero of Labor Ho Quang Cua, countries that have successfully built rice brands, such as India, Thailand, etc., all focus on one variety, with purity standards. Regardless, Vietnam must comply with international standards, in which the quality and aroma of rice are the decisive criteria. First of all, it is necessary to complete and effectively implement a long-term national rice brand strategy with specific, practical support policies on tax, credit, and trade promotion; strongly promote the value chain linkage model, form specialized cultivation areas according to international standards such as GlobalGAP, VietGAP to ensure consistent quality and traceability.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Le Thanh Nam, the Project on sustainable development of 1 million hectares of high-quality and low-emission rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta by 2030 is one of the solutions to build a Vietnamese rice brand. Investing in research and development of varieties, applying high technology to production and deep processing is also an urgent requirement to diversify products and increase value; brand promotion activities also need to be invested in a systematic way, building the image of Vietnamese rice associated with quality. On the other hand, it is necessary to take advantage of the success of ST25 to promote the rice industry, build attractive brand stories... At the same time, intellectual property rights protection needs to be strengthened; proactively register for brand protection in international markets; strictly handle counterfeiting and imitation to protect product reputation and business interests. It is time for us to eliminate indifference and take more drastic actions to gradually affirm the position of Vietnamese rice in the world market.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/xay-dung-thuong-hieu-gao-viet-nam-con-tho-o-709778.html