The farm was dissolved, Song Cau tea was forgotten

Since the 1960s, the area of ​​Song Cau City, Dong Hy District (Thai Nguyen Province) is now a famous tea farm with a large raw material area, covering up to thousands of hectares. The rolling hills surround the city with green tea gardens.

In the memories of people over 70, they still vividly recall the old days when tea trees came to Song Cau and took root more than 60 years ago. At that time, each tea hill followed one another in a large area, this place was called Song Cau Tea Farm. People become factory workers, receive a monthly salary to take care of the state and produce tea.

The tea farm has since become a US Army bombing point during the escalating war in the North. Song Cau farm laborers were tightly selected, tightly shot, and produced and protected the state’s factory and property.

At that time, Song Cau Tea Company was one of the large state-owned enterprises with advanced production lines and exported tea. Due to many changes in mechanics, however, the company gradually lost its position and led to its dissolution, so that the tea area was handed over to the old farm households. When people are actively producing, they face many difficulties, especially when it comes to finding ways to consume products.

The form of collective production gradually lost its validity, so that after the 1990s the model of production companies was no longer available. Over time, the legendary Song Cau tea district remained only in the minds of the elderly and through poetic works. Song Cau tea products are also gradually becoming obsolete and have no place in the Thai Nguyen tea market in particular and Vietnam in general.

Revitalize Song Cau tea brand

Ms. Vu Thi Thuong Huyen, director of Thinh An Tea Cooperative, born and raised in Song Cau country, has witnessed the tea plant going through many ups and downs in history. With a deep love for her motherland and a special bond with the tea tree, she has put a lot of effort into developing the Song Cau tea brand and re-establishing herself in the tea market. Getting there will require long research efforts, hard work and creativity.

Ms. Huyen has worked as a government official for 17 years and previously held the position of Vice Chairperson of the Song Cau City People’s Committee. During this time, she always devoted herself to developing the local tea tree, understanding the market and producing a brand.

Huyen talked about the turning point that transformed the Song Cau tea district: “In 2011, Thailand’s Nguyen Province held the first tea festival, where the organizers created favorable conditions for handicraft villages to participate. Although the River Cau has a large area, it does not have a recognized craft village. So I worked with Dong Hy District Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to find a way to build a handicraft village. I see that it is not possible to have people produce in small batches and then sell each pack of tea in the market to the price-depressing traders. What is needed now is that Song Cau creates leads for large companies, buys products and brings them to market in a methodical way.”

As a dedicated person, Ms. Huyen has planned to propose the recognition of the Song Cau handicraft village to help people develop the tea brand. However, due to some problems with the old tea farm, it was not possible to build a craft village. At the same time, the restructuring of the tea varieties was pushed ahead and gradually replaced the old Midland tea varieties.

However, Ms. Huyen is still determined to achieve the goal, she is trying to convince the district that if we switch varieties and plant new varieties now, but we don’t care about the yield, what is the point of switching if the value is high ? have not changed. In 2011, Ms. Huyen’s plan was approved and Song Cau town had the first two traditional tea villages, Hamlet 5 and Hamlet 9. By 2015, Song Cau had other handicraft villages in Lien Co and Tan Tien villages.

In order to build a tea brand soon, in 2016, Huyen and her sister Vu Thi Thanh Hao mobilized everyone to establish Thinh An Tea Cooperative with more than 150 production households in an area of ​​50 ha.

Until 2017, the cooperative was supported by the Agricultural Advisory Center of the Thai Province of Nguyen in the implementation of the model “Safe Tea Production, Increased Value Added and Sustainable Development”. Since then, 50ha of tea from the farmers in the cooperative have been converted to safe tea according to VietGAP standards, of which 20ha are to be grown and consumed as organic tea. The people are also supported with fertilizers and pesticides, so that the tea area is increasingly improved in quality, contributes to added value and becomes a stable raw material area for Thinh An Tea Cooperative’s production activities.

Produce to OCOP standards to open up the market

The development of the Thinh An tea cooperative prompted Ms. Huyen to retire from government and refocus on the development of the Song Cau tea brand. One of the pleasant things that Ms. Huyen has noticed about the “revival” of the tea area is a clear shift in people’s attitudes. They no longer abuse pesticides, but take care of the tea according to the procedure and use many safe methods. This not only contributes to improving the quality and value of the tea, but also ensures the health of the people who live and work in the tea sector.

Thanks to the safe organic cultivation process, the traditional tea tree of the Thinh An Tea Cooperative has both absorbed the good nutrition of the mountainous central plateau and combined it with the enthusiastic hands of the craftsmen. Tea products have a blend of natural aroma, beautiful green and yellow tea, mild pungent flavor and sweet aftertaste that settles in the taste buds.

Since the OCOP product competition was held in Thai Nguyen Province, Thinh An Tea Cooperative has participated and achieved many good results. To date the Cooperative has 3 4 Star OCOP products namely Shrimp Tea, Special Tea, Purebred Midland Tea; 2 products that have achieved OCOP 3 stars are Premium Dinh Tra and Green Tea Bags. The products not only serve domestic consumers and tourists, but also are exported to many countries around the world.

Via the Song Cong tea village, it is not difficult to see the huge tea hills today. The people here are passionate about growing safe tea that meets VietGAP, OCOP and organic tea standards. Along with Thinh An Tea Cooperative, tea farmers in Song Cau city are trying their best to cultivate their tea plantations and aim to offer their hometown’s specialties to many domestic and international customers.

Vice Chairwoman of Song Cau City People’s Committee Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen Trang said that Song Cau is a nature-preferred land to develop a specialty tea area. Skilled in tea growing and processing, the people of Song Cau know how to use the land and climate to create traditional green tea products with distinctive flavors. There are currently 3 active cooperatives in the city. The cooperatives are the main units in purchasing fresh bud tea for households to launch Song Cau tea products.