Opportunity to build Vietnamese tea brand in the US

In fact, Americans spend more than $80 billion on tea products each year. This is considered a potential market for high-end specialty tea products from Vietnam.

At a seminar on exploring opportunities for Vietnamese specialty green tea held last weekend in the US, delegates and experts discussed lessons on market research, product development, branding and market surveys. Experts all highly appreciated the potential of Vietnamese specialty tea in the US market. Mr. Peter Goggi, President of the American Tea Association, emphasized: “The opportunity is very favorable for Vietnamese tea. The long history of tea cultivation, with tea hills and ancient tea trees that have existed for many generations are things that American consumers are very interested in, especially for the specialty tea segment”.

The beauty of Cau Cau tea island (Thanh Chuong - Nghe An) seen from above. Photo: Sach Nguyen

According to experts, Vietnamese tea producers are still known to world customers for their ability to supply large volumes, low prices and average export quality. The big challenge ahead is to change this image by participating more deeply in the value chain. In addition, Vietnamese tea producers and exporters are also facing many challenges in production costs, processing technology, quality standards, promotion and branding.

“American consumers are used to certain types of tea. That is a challenge. However, the uniqueness of Vietnamese tea, its delicious flavor, and its long history of tea cultivation are strengths in the specialty tea market,” said Mr. Peter Goggi.

Currently, up to 158 million Americans drink tea every day. It is estimated that each year, Americans spend more than 80 billion USD on tea products. This is considered a potential market for high-end specialty tea products from Vietnam. However, international tea experts emphasize that the US is a demanding market with high standards for quality and food hygiene and safety. Therefore, in order to build a brand in the US, experts recommend that Vietnamese companies need to seriously and persistently invest in improving product quality, ensuring design and food hygiene and safety. In addition, companies also need to launch promotional campaigns, exploiting interesting stories about the history of tea growing and the tea drinking culture of Vietnamese people.

Tea has long been widely grown in Vietnam, providing employment for more than 354,000 farmers and contributing greatly to rural development and poverty reduction. Vietnam is currently the 7th largest tea producer and 5th largest tea exporter in the world. However, Vietnam has not yet been recognized by the world as a leading tea producer and exporter, despite its reputation for green tea and specialty tea.

Therefore, the Program “Improving export competitiveness for Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises through the local trade promotion system” funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and implemented by the Department of Trade Promotion (DPT), Ministry of Industry and Trade is aiming at activities to build the image of the tea industry by supporting a group of enterprises with export potential to access the North American specialty green tea market.

With an area of ​​over 4,200 hectares, Thanh Chuong is a large tea granary of Nghe An province. Photo of farmers using tea harvesting machines. Photo archive

At the International Tea Competition held in Canada in September 2016, two of the companies funded and supported by the Program were awarded Gold and Silver prizes based on production areas, namely Cozy Jasmine Tea of ​​Phu Ho Farm (of Vinh Phuc New Generation Company Limited - COZY) and Non Shrimp Tea of ​​Ha Thai Tea Joint Stock Company. Currently, the Department of Trade Promotion is supporting these two companies to promote their premium green tea products in Canada and New York.

The seminar was organized by the Management Board of the Program "Improving export competitiveness for Vietnamese small and medium enterprises through the local trade promotion system" in coordination with the Representative Office of the Trade Promotion Agency in New York.

The seminar was attended by Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga, Head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations, Mr. Peter Goggi, President of the American Tea Association, a number of leaders in localities with tea products such as Yen Bai, Phu Tho, Thai Nguyen, representatives of Vinh Phuc New Generation Company Limited - COZY and Ha Thai Tea Joint Stock Company, and a number of international tea experts.

Speaking at the seminar, Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga emphasized that although Vietnam has become the 7th largest tea producer and the 5th largest tea exporter in the world, with 124,000 hectares of tea growing area and more than 500 production and processing facilities, with a capacity of over 500,000 tons of dry tea per year, most of Vietnam's tea exports are still mainly exported to easy-going markets, and not many products meet export standards to high-quality markets such as the EU and the US. The Ambassador highly appreciated the fact that Vietnamese tea enterprises won high awards in the first participation in the North American International Tea Competition. This is truly a source of pride and great prestige not only for the Vietnamese tea industry, Vietnamese tea enterprises, but also for Vietnam's position in the international high-end tea market, contributing to building a national brand for Vietnamese tea export products.

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