Ranking 5th in the world in production, Vietnam now exports tea to 110 countries and territories. But 95% of its tea is exported as raw material only. Vietnam is finally recognizing a need to develop a marketing brand for its specialty.
With 18,000 hectares under cultivation, Thai Nguyen is the center of Vietnamese tea. By applying the national Good Agriculture Practices or Viet GAP, Thai Nguyen has turned out tea products with consistent high quality. Dang Viet Thuan, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said: “To date, we have registered brands for Tan Cuong and Hoang Binh tea along with a geographical indication and a joint trademark for all kinds of tea produced in the province. But I think these brands are not strong enough to protect local products in the world. Therefore, it’s necessary and urgent to register the Thai Nguyen trademark around the world to ensure a sustainable growth”.
At present, enterprises are only interested in developing trademarks for tea and agriculture produce in general. However, the registration of trademarks, origins and geographical indications for products of each province hasn’t received due attention. Dao Anh Tuan is President of the Vietnam Tea Association: “Enterprises are well aware of business trademark values which are closely linked to companies’ profits and survival. But it seems no one is taking responsibility for protecting brands and geographical indications for whole provinces or regions or countries”.
Although a national trademark for Vietnamese tea has been around for several years and registered in 77 countries and territories, only 20 enterprises have registered to produce tea products in line with Viet GAP standards. The Vietnam Tea Association has proposed that the Government set minimum quality standards for exported tea but the proposal hasn’t received much attention. Too many tea processors have been licensed, leading to a shortage of raw materials for processing. That’s the reason why Vietnamese tea prices are half the prices elsewhere in the world while the country’s annual tea revenue is hardly worth considering.
By 2015, Vietnam has set a target of earning 400 million USD annually from the export of 200,000 tones of tea. To this end, besides improving tea quality, tea-producing provinces should focus more on developing strong brands which will be protected around the world.
Manh Hung