A coffee grower (Photo VNA)Son La (VNA) – The northwesternprovince of Son La has announced Son La coffee as a collective brand and heldMai Son Coffee Festival in Mai Son district, an occasion to promote localcoffee products.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries,French colonialists began planting coffee in Son La and other northernprovinces, turning this region into an important producer of raw Arabica coffeefor the French coffee industry of the time.
The coffee area in Son La has been expanded,concentrating in Mai Son and Thuan Chau districts and Son La city, especiallysince 1995 when the provincial People’s Committee approved a project to plant3,000ha of coffee trees. The province considers Arabica coffee as a key plant forpoverty reduction and economic development.
At the event on October 27, Chairman of the MaiSon district People’s Committee Tran Dac Thang said Son La is home to more than12,000ha of coffee trees, 4,200ha or 34 percent of which are in Mai Son. Thedistrict harvests some 52,000 tonnes of coffee each year, earning 368 billionVND (16.2 million USD) in revenue.
Up to 80 percent of coffee beans made in Son La areexported to the US, Japan and some other countries, he noted, adding that thereputation of Son La’s Arabica coffee has improved, asserting the province as amajor Arabica producing hub of Vietnam.
The same day, local coffee and agriculturalproducts were introduced at the festival.
On this occasion, the construction of a coffeefactory named Phuc Sinh Son La in Chieng Mung commune of Mai Son district waslaunched. It is expected to be complete in eight months at total cost of 48.6billion VND (2.1 million USD).-VNA
VNA
