Strong global brand identity needed to boost tea prices
Strong global brand identity needed to boost tea prices
The price of Vietnamese tea was almost the lowest of the world's largest tea exporters due to its failure to build a strong global brand, said vice chairman of the Viet Nam Tea Association Doan Trong Phuong.
Phuong said despite being one of the world's largest tea producers, the country's tea price was only roughly US$1,160 per tonne, just 60 per cent of the average global price.
Without a strong brand, Vietnamese tea exporters had to fully depend on foreign middlemen, who often squeezed prices, he said.
Low production from small-scale farms, poor quality maintenance and loose links between enterprises and planters were also hindering the development of the industry.
According to the association, the country had 133,000ha of tea plantations in 2011 and its output has been increasing at a rate of 6 per cent per year. Roughly 65 per cent of plantations were under the management of planters, but they produced 30 per cent less than larger enterprises.
The country wanted to double tea prices to about $2,200 a tonne and earn an export turnover of $440 million by 2015.
To meet the target, experts said that the tea industry needed to set up standards to manage the production processes, from plantation to processing, and export standards.
During the first 10 months of this year, the country exported 110,000 tonnes of tea with a turnover of $182 million, an increase of 9 per cent in both volume and value compared to the same period last year.
vietnamnews
