Vietnamese women working on a green tea field (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is now the seventhbiggest tea producer in the world and the fifth biggest exporter of the product.
According to the department of farm produceprocessing and market development under the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, more than 500 tea factories are operational in the country.Together they produce more than 500,000 tonnes of dried tea leaves annually.
Despite the high production, the export valueof Vietnamese tea products is half the average global price. The main cause ofthis is that Vietnamese tea products are yet to meet standards set by foreignimporters.
Vietnam shipped 34,000 tonnes of tea overseasfor 54 million USD during January – April, a decrease of 10.2 percent and 3.6percent, respectively, from the same period of 2017.
Prices of exported tea in the first quarteraveraged 1,546 USD per tonne, up 7.5 percent year on year. The biggest buyersof Vietnamese tea were Pakistan, Russia, Taiwan (China), Indonesia, the US,China and Malaysia.
Pakistan continued to be Vietnam’s largesttea importer in terms of turnover. The country purchased 4,060 tonnes or 16percent of Vietnam’s total tea exports, for 8.45 million USD, down 28.9 percentin volume and 19.2 percent in value. The decline was a result of a stricterPakistani tea import rules.
A similar situation happened to teashipments to China and Taiwan where stricter regulations were also applied.
Pakistan was followed by Russia, withimports of 4,170 tonnes of tea for 6.49 million USD, down 8.4 percent in volumebut up 6.5 percent in value thanks to a 16.2 percent increase in tea pricesthat averaged 1,556 USD per tonne.
According to experts, lower demand mighthave played a role in the fall of tea exports but the biggest problems werethat domestic exporters paid little attention to improving the tea quality andan absence of internationally known Vietnamese tea brands.
As such, recent awards for Vietnamese teaproducts at the first International Gourmet Tea Competition “Teas of the World”in Paris were a highlight of the sector.
Rizote tea of the northern province of ThaiNguyen, a locality famous for green tea, won the silver award and the Carosa ofTay Con Linh Cooperative in Vi Xuyen district, the northern province of HaGiang, brought home a bronze.
Another product of Tay Con Linh Cooperative- the Latchi Tay Con Linh, along with Oolong Oflora Moc Chau, and Oolong CerisoMoc Chau originating from the northern mountainous province of Son La, receivedGourmet awards.
The northern localities have been touted asa cradle of Vietnamese tea, and tea products from the region are popular in Europe,according to Barbara Dufrene, former Secretary General of the EU Tea Committee.-VNA
VNA
