Increase the value of exported tea

(Baonghean) - The characteristics of Nghe An exported tea products are large petals, rich in water, astringent and slightly bitter taste and sweet after a long time of drinking... This convergence is created by the sunny, hot climate of summer and cold winter. Therefore, Nghe An tea has become the "taste" of tea-loving customers in South Asian countries, the Middle East, China, England, the Netherlands, Poland... Therefore, despite the difficult export market, Nghe An tea still stands firm and its value is increasing.

Focus on investing in raw material areas

It is known that the export price of Vietnamese tea is currently only 60 - 75% of the world's average export price, but the export price of Nghe An tea is high, for green tea, the average in the first 10 months of 2013 was 1,600 USD/ton, CTC tea (black tea) was 1,300 USD/ton. It can be seen that one of the major advantages to improve the competitiveness of Nghe An tea products is the large tea growing area (about 7,000 hectares), which can proactively sign export contracts with large volumes. However, at the "rush" time for some large contracts, there is still a shortage of raw materials and processing enterprises have to purchase from outside the region or in other localities.

It is known that, along with some localities with concentrated raw tea areas such as Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Con Cuong districts... and the mountainous districts of Que Phong, Ky Son can still expand the area of ​​tea trees, but lack planning and synchronous investment in technical infrastructure... Mr. Cao Van Hiep - Director of Anh Son Tea Processing Enterprise said: "To promptly meet the products for export contracts, in addition to the area of ​​120 hectares of domestic tea invested by the enterprise according to the intensive farming model, it is also necessary to cooperate with units and localities in the district to expand the area of ​​raw tea. That is, coordinate with the Youth Union - Construction and Development Team 1 and the communes of Phuc Son, Long Son, Hoi Son, Khai Son... to invest in planting nearly 400 hectares of tea.

Tea trees have been established in Nghe An for quite a long time, although experiencing ups and downs, it is still one of the main export products of our province. Contributing significantly to the strong development of the area as well as the value of tea products is Nghe An Tea Development and Investment Company Limited. Currently, this enterprise has a domestic raw material area of ​​up to 2,871 hectares (mainly concentrated in Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Con Cuong districts...), and at the same time, coordinating with units and localities to develop an additional 1,630 hectares of tea outside the region. In recent times, to quickly increase raw tea output, the enterprise has invested in new varieties in production, typically the LPP.2 variety, which is very suitable for the harsh climate conditions of Nghe An, with a yield of 12-15 tons/ha and in tea areas with intensive investment in proper techniques, the yield reaches 20-25 tons/ha.

Since the beginning of the year, the Company has supported tea growers with loans of 20 billion VND to invest in fertilizers, along with supporting investment in developing irrigation systems, transportation systems for raw material areas, etc. With that investment, the average yield of the tea area has reached nearly 12 tons/ha (the average yield of the whole country is 10 tons/ha). Investing in the development of a solid raw material area is an important foundation for tea exporting units to boldly invest in advanced technology, produce high-quality products and enhance the position of Nghe An tea in the export market.

Tea processing at Hung Son Tea Factory (Anh Son).

Improve processing capacity

According to the Vietnam Tea Association, there are currently 455 tea processing factories nationwide, but only over 300 have a capacity of about 1 ton/day, the rest are mostly small factories with outdated technology, and because only 5% of factories have their own raw material areas, there is often a situation of "buying" raw materials. A similar situation occurs in Nghe An, but the authorities have not really intervened, so this problem is still uncontrollable. It is known that in Thanh Chuong and Anh Son districts, there are many mini tea processing factories that, due to lack of raw materials, often use many ways to buy tea from people, such as increasing the price of tea raw materials higher than the price of the enterprise, or not requiring strict standards of raw materials...

This unhealthy competition leads to the reduction of raw material quality and disrupts the harvesting process, seriously affecting the development of tea plants (because according to regulations, when harvesting, it is necessary to ensure the standard of having 2-3 young leaves, 5-7 cm long, but tea harvesters cut tea leaves from 15-25 cm long and mixed with many impurities). Mini processing furnaces that process low-quality products, often sold illegally on the market, have also caused great harm to the production and business of large enterprises.

Clearly identifying that the processed products are mainly for the export market, Nghe An Tea Development and Investment Company Limited has recently focused on investing in modern production technology. Currently, this enterprise has 8 green tea processing lines with a capacity of 72 tons of tea buds/day and 5 CTC tea processing lines (black tea) with a capacity of 80 tons of tea buds/day), the total processing capacity is 152 tons of tea buds/day and on peak days it can process nearly 200 tons. In the coming time, the Company will invest in installing more green tea processing lines using rolling technology.

Mr. Ho Viet An - General Director of Nghe An Tea Development and Investment One Member Co., Ltd. said: "Although the tea export market is facing difficulties, the company still maintains export contracts to traditional markets in South Asia, the Middle East... and at the same time expands to new markets in the EU, Egypt, Japan, Taiwan, China... Thanks to that, in the first 10 months of 2013, 3,240 tons of tea of ​​all kinds were exported, with revenue reaching 4.5 million USD. In 2012-2013, it was one of the top 10 prestigious tea exporting companies in the country".

Also participating in the investment in tea processing in Nghe An, there are some units, such as Truong Thinh Enterprise (Thanh Chuong), although not large in scale, but have also invested in developing raw material areas, installing modern tea processing equipment... In order to create favorable conditions for businesses, organizations and individuals to develop raw tea areas and install processing technology, in recent years, Vietcombank Vinh Bank has prioritized capital sources in this field and according to statistics, loan turnover reached 222.4 billion VND and current outstanding debt is 22.2 billion VND. With such active support, it has contributed to the excitement of the investment in developing raw tea areas, as well as in processing this valuable export product in Nghe An.

Tea is one of the main agricultural export products of Nghe An and in order for businesses, organizations and individuals to feel secure in investing, especially to create healthy competition and development, the province needs to strengthen management, stabilize raw material areas and issue mechanisms and policies to encourage and support tea development, promote trade, and pay attention to developing the Nghe An tea brand...

Hoang Vinh