The push of the Sustainable Coffee Development Scheme

Vietnam is one of the largest coffee producers in the world, ranking second in coffee exports but leading in exports of green Robusta coffee. In 2021, the country’s coffee acreage will be 710,600 ha spread over 20 provinces, of which the harvest area will be 653,200 ha, and the production of green coffee will reach 1,845 million tons.

The export performance in the period 2015-2021 fluctuates between 1.2-1.68 million tons of coffee of all kinds, which corresponds to an export turnover of USD 2.3-3.9 billion. Vietnam’s green coffee has been exported to 80 countries and territories and accounts for 10% of the world green coffee market share.

Vietnam has created many large coffee producing areas that provide jobs and income for nearly 600,000 farming households.

In general, the coffee industry is changing from both policy and action towards efficient, sustainable production that supplies the market with high quality coffee.

In particular, in the project of sustainable coffee development to 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has identified strategic solutions from production to processing to trade, such as the coffee and tea area in Lam Dong, Kon Tum, Son La, Dien Bien).

At the same time support to promote the recultivation, refining and improvement of coffee; transformation of racial structure; Application of technical processes for sustainable coffee production (UTZ, Rainforest, 4C, VietGAP…); Purchasing system management, increasing the wet processing rate to 30%, diversifying processed coffee products such as ground coffee, instant coffee, 3-in-1 coffee, canned coffee…

Not only does the program promote trade and export promotion to increase coffee consumption in the domestic market by 15%, the program also has mechanisms and guidelines to promote the building of collective brands and geographical indications for specific coffee products such as Buon Ma Thuot, Son La , Di Linh, Cau Dat Coffee…, Improving the quality and protecting the specific indigenous values ​​of coffee.

Certified coffee is not enough

The orientation to improve coffee quality is given by the approval of the National Product Development Framework Scheme “High Quality Vietnamese Coffee” in Resolution No. 4653 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of November 15, 2017 with comprehensive and synchronous interventions of varieties, production processes, processing technology , establishment of linkage models, support of market development, commercialization and establishment of the certification mark “Vietnamese coffee”.

However, the goal of sustainable and high-quality coffee production in Vietnam still has many difficulties and challenges to overcome. First of all, the large old coffee area (140,000 – 160,000 ha) has to be replanted, refined and renovated. In coffee production, farmers use excessive inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation water) resulting in increased costs and reduced profitability.

Although Vietnam’s coffee yield is among the highest among coffee-growing countries (average 2.3 tons/ha), the certified coffee area is less than that of Brazil and Colombia (which account for about 30% of the total area). .

Among the certification types, 4C is the certification with the largest scope (about 24% of the total area), followed by UTZ (6.61%), Rainforest (0.82%) and VietGAP with the largest area. On the other hand, the connections in coffee production are still weak, mainly in models, only 1% of small coffee growing households participate in cooperatives.

At the purchasing stage, processors rarely buy coffee directly from farmers, making it difficult to encourage farmers to adopt sustainable farming practices. The coffee procurement system prevents farmers from doing a good job because they are not paid a fair price.

In addition, the lack of labor during the harvest season also makes it difficult to harvest ripe fruit. Many farmers process rice coffee at home with limited technology, difficult to ensure quality.

In terms of trade, Vietnam mainly exports raw products, Vietnamese coffee is blended with coffee from other countries for processing, so consumers don’t know anything about Vietnamese coffee. Vietnam’s coffee export price is lower than the world average, so although Vietnam ranks second in coffee export production, it ranks only 10th in value.

In addition to the limitations of farmers’ awareness, credit sources for production, replanting, certification, coordination and trade cooperation of enterprises, Vietnam still lacks a branding strategy for the coffee and coffee products industry at the national level. Registering to protect the “Vietnamese Quality Coffee” seal of approval is just the first step in this strategy.

Improving the image of Vietnamese coffee

In order to improve the position and image of Vietnam’s high-quality coffee in the domestic and international markets, it is first necessary to focus on solutions to promote the “high-quality Vietnamese coffee” certification mark after completion, protected by the development of a general national coffee promotion strategy.

Simultaneously integration of activities into current national brand programs; Supporting the operation of the management system, control of the certification mark, and building a program of consumer awareness and understanding, domestic coffee consumption and Vietnamese quality coffee.

At present, the Trade Promotion Department (Ministry of Industry and Commerce) has drafted a program for the dissemination and promotion of high-quality Vietnamese coffee brands in conjunction with industrial brands and geographical indications and will submit it to the Prime Minister for approval.

At the same time, the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) also led and coordinated the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (VICOFA) to propose trade promotion activities for coffee of the same name brand Vietnamese coffee quality certification mark for domestic and foreign markets , integrated into national branding programs and national trade promotion (such as Vietnam Value, Foods of Vietnam).

Next, it is necessary to focus the strategy on promoting the Vietnamese quality coffee certification mark to raise awareness of Vietnam’s quality coffee. In particular, there is a focus on promoting a range of specialty and premium coffee lines such as Cau Dat Arabica coffee and Son La coffee.

Currently, Starbucks Cau Dat coffee is promoted in the company’s chain stores around the world, Son La coffee has been promoted by Phuc Sinh Group through the Blue Son La line… The promotion of specialty coffee products that have a good effect reputation, will help improve the overall image of Vietnamese coffee.

In addition to actively organizing national specialty coffee competitions and festivals, we must also promote coffee at major tourist destinations and airports, where many international tourists are concentrated.

And to increase the value and brand of products, it is imperative to raise the level of coffee production, processing and consumption activities to a coffee culture. As for Robusta coffee, Vietnam should focus on promoting coffee culture through a unique filtering method and drinking coffee with condensed milk and egg coffee.

Vietnam should tell stories about coffee farmers and processors and tell that story to the world. Quality is not only the taste, but also the cultural and social aspects of the coffee growing community.

And finally, Vietnam needs a methodical strategy for stimulating domestic demand for coffee and “coffee only” coffee consumption in order to increase coffee consumption in Vietnam.