HA NOI — Tea producers can boost profits
and raise standards by acquiring international accreditation such as UTZ or
Rain Forest Alliance (RFA), industry experts said.
Nguyen Thi Nhai, deputy head of the Tan Huong
tea co-operative in Phuc Xuan Commune in northern Thai Nguyen City, said the
tea produced by her co-operative now sold for between 5-10 per cent more than
the market price after they were granted UTZ accreditation.
UTZ certification requires farmers to cut down
on the use of fertilisers and pesticides.
"The amount of pesticide used was
reduced. That improved the tea's quality. It is now darker and clearer and has
a more pleasant aroma," Nhai said.
Le Hong Van, from Solidaridad, a Dutch non-governmental
development agency which promotes fair trade, said that to meet UTZ standards,
farmers had to strictly follow its principles to protect the environment and
reduce costs.
After applying the new method of cultivation,
the tea trees grew stronger and were more productive, while the price of the
tea also increased, Van added.
Bui Thu Huong, head of the External Relations
Department at Unilever, said her company was happy to pay more than the market
price for tea that had been granted international certification.
Meanwhile, RFA accreditation has been awarded
to farmers in northern Phu Tho Province's Thanh Ba District and northern Tuyen
Quang Province's My Lam tourism area.
Nguyen Luong Duyen, deputy director of Phu Ben
Tea Company, which buys tea from the two areas, said growers began applying the
RFA cultivation model in 2010.
The average price of the company's tea
exported overseas last year was US$2 per kilogramme, much higher than the
market price of $1.5 per kilogram.
Because of the greater profit earned, the
company was able to pay a higher price to local growers, Duyen said.
According to the Viet Nam Tea Association,
Viet Nam has 132,000ha of tea plantations that produce 185,000 tonnes of dried
tea annually. The industry employs 400,000 farming households – 3 million
workers in 35 provinces.
The total amount of tea exported in 2011 was
estimated at 131,000 tonnes, worth $198 million, a decrease of 4.3 per cent in
amount and 0.8 per cent in value against the previous year.
However, most Vietnamese tea is considered to
be of only average quality. Despite that, Viet Nam is the world's fifth biggest
tea exporter.
Doan Anh Tuan, chairman of the Viet Nam Tea
Association, said the industry planned to launch a campaign entitled
"Responsible production for safe tea products," to boost quality.
"To raise the value of Vietnamese tea, in
addition to boosting trade promotion and branding, we need to change the
conventional way we produce tea."
Tuan also said it was important to raise
farmers' awareness about sustainable and safe production.
To achieve that goal, distributors need to
provide farmers with technical support, he said.
VNS
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