The Maison Marou free chocolate tasting class is open for everyone on a first-come-first-serve basis. (Photo: Maison Marou Fanpage)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - There is an opportunity for Vietnamese chocolate tobecome a niche player in the world market with a brand of unique flavouredcocoa, according to the Belgian ambassador to Vietnam.
“You can find almost any quality chocolate product in Belgium, but there is onewith a nice fresh, fruity and a sour taste that is very difficult to find, theVietnamese chocolate,” Paul Jansen, Belgian Ambassador to Vietnam, said at aworkshop to help Vietnam’s unique cocoa take a spot in the world market held inHanoi on November 18.
“Origin chocolate products have become very popular worldwide, but Vietnamesechocolate remains a rare chocolate to find,” he said.
Vietnam should have programmes to promote cocoa production in a sustainable wayand with a guarantee of a fair income for the cocoa growers. A sustainablecocoa sector will be crucial, meaning no deforestation, no child labour,and a good income for the farmers, according to the ambassador.
“If Vietnam can increase the sustainable cultivation of its unique flavouredcocoa, chocolate producers and customers will follow,” Jansen said.
“At the Belgian embassy we are available to give support, to search foravailable support, and to link up with our industry. Given that Belgium and Vietnamhave a strategic partnership on agriculture, given that Vietnamese cocoa has ahigh potential and Belgium has a lot of expertise to offer, let’s try togetherto give the Vietnamese cocoa bean the status it deserves.”
Speaking at this workshop organised by the Belgian Embassy and the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, head of MARD’sInternational Cooperation Department, said Vietnam’s agriculture is on the pathof deep international integration, gradually asserting its position in theglobal supply chain.
“Vietnam’s agricultural sector is strongly restructuring towards building valuechain products based on the potential advantages and strengths of eachagricultural product, including cocoa.”
Vietnamese cocoa received huge international recognition after it won theInternational Cocoa Awards in 2013 and was classified as Fine or Flavour Cocoaby the ICCO in 2015 thanks to its unique fruity flavour, he said. However, thecocoa production in Vietnam has tended to decline sharply from 25,000ha in 2015to 5,000ha in 2019.
Le Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of MARD’s Department of Crop Production, saidthe economic efficiency of cocoa is lower than that of other crops such ascoffee and cashew.
"The difficulties for Vietnamese cocoa at present are small cocoa plantingareas intercropping with other industrial trees and weakness in pre-processing andprocessing of chocolate,” Tung said.
“Therefore, if foreign investors want to develop cocoa production in Vietnam,they will face difficulties in developing material areas for cocoa."
Truong Ngoc Quang, Director of Nam Truong Son Cocoa Co., Ltd., also agreed andsaid there are not concentrated material regions, making it difficult forbusinesses in purchasing cocoa.
Tung said it is necessary to build a link between farmers and businesses andbetween small businesses with large corporations, helping to develop acomprehensive and sustainable cocoa industry in the future.
Quang said the State management agencies should have a suitable developmentplan for cocoa trees. In addition, there should be a mechanism for thoselinkages and price policy between businesses and farmers.
The chocolate industry consumes over 4 million tonnes of cocoa beans fromaround the world, with chocolate consumption growing at an average rate of 5 percent.While the chocolate industry is getting wealthier year after year the cocoafarmers are not benefiting enough from that system and remain extremely poor.Most of the cocoa supply (close to 70 percent) comes out of West Africa wherethe industry problems are the most severe, according to the workshop statement.
If major markets such as the EU and US impose stricter regulations it will opennew doors for countries with sustainable supply chains to fill the gap. Thedemand for sustainable cocoa is growing steadily, a demand which Việt Nam canfulfil while other countries struggle to comply.
For access to the European market for Vietnamese cocoa, there are threedifferent ways and Vietnamese players can choose the second and third ways. Thefirst way is to export cacao beans from Vietnam to the EU. The second way is toexport cocoa powder and the third way is to export chocolate products whichcreate a lot of value, according to Gricha Safarian, General Manager, PuratosVietnam.
Besides that, Tuan said the EVFTA has a part relating to protection ofgeographical indications. At present, the EU protects the geographicalindications for 38 Vietnamese products, excluding cocoa.
“In the future, when the domestic cocoa industry develops further, the EU canconsider to issue the protection of geographical indication for Vietnamesecocoa due to the unique taste of this product, although the cocoa output is notas high as coffee output,” Tuan said./.
VNA
