Leveraging its advantage as a tea-growing region renowned nationwide, Thai Nguyen's tea industry is entering a new stage of development, in which deep processing has been identified as the breakthrough step to increase value and improve competitiveness. In line with the direction set by Resolution No. 11-NQ/TU, businesses, cooperatives and tea growers are gradually renewing their production thinking, investing in technology, diversifying products, expanding consumer markets, and developing the "Thai Nguyen Tea" brand in a modern and sustainable direction.
Tea-growing area in La Bang Commune
Thai Nguyen has long been known as the country's "tea capital". The tea tree not only provides livelihoods for tens of thousands of households but also becomes a cultural symbol, helping to build the local area's distinctive agricultural brand. However, amid increasingly deep integration, as market requirements go beyond quality alone to also demand traceability, green production and product diversity, selling raw tea material or traditional tea no longer creates a sustainable competitive advantage.
Stemming from that requirement, the Provincial Party Executive Committee issued Resolution No. 11-NQ/TU on the development of the Thai Nguyen tea industry for the 2025 - 2030 period, setting the goal of developing the tea industry in a modern, sustainable direction, promoting safe, organic production linked with deep processing and product diversification; attracting investment, applying science and technology, innovation and digital transformation throughout the entire production, processing and consumption chain.
According to the Resolution's targets, by 2030, the total value of products obtained from tea will reach about VND 25,000 billion; 70% of tea-growing area will be certified as produced to VietGAP or organic standards; 70% of the area will be granted growing-area codes; all enterprises and cooperatives with raw material areas will apply digital technology in production management and traceability; and 100% of tea products will be traded on e-commerce platforms.
After more than a year of implementation, the province's tea industry has seen many positive changes. By the end of June 2026, the province's total tea-growing area reached 22,200 hectares, equal to 98.3% of the annual plan; fresh tea bud output reached over 127,000 tonnes. The province currently has nearly 6,670 hectares of tea certified to VietGAP or organic standards; 141 growing-area codes have been granted and are being managed; and 204 tea products have achieved OCOP ratings of 3 to 5 stars, including 6 products that achieved the national 5-star OCOP rating.
La Bang Tea Cooperative, La Bang Commune, focusing for years on building value for each product
As one of the leading cooperatives, La Bang Tea Cooperative, La Bang Commune, has focused for years on building value for each product. The cooperative currently has 30 hectares of raw material area, of which 17 hectares are produced under an organic approach and linked with nearly 200 households.
Ms. Nguyen Thanh Hai, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of La Bang Tea Cooperative, said: The market today is not only interested in flavor but also demands very high standards for quality, production processes and traceability. Therefore, the cooperative's direction going forward is to continue expanding its organic raw material area, maintain its 5-star OCOP product, while investing in processing technology, developing e-commerce and improving the quality of human resources to create higher-value products.
Alongside La Bang Tea Cooperative, Thuy Thuat Tea Cooperative (Dai Phuc Commune) is also making its mark by developing the high-end tea segment. With 10 hectares of organic raw material area, including 5 hectares linked with local households, the cooperative currently has 3 OCOP 4-star products, comprising Bud tea, Nhat Tam Tra and Loc Dinh Tra.
According to Ms. Pham Thi Thuy, Director of Thuy Thuat Tea Cooperative, the cooperative's competitive advantage lies in strict control over its raw material area and processing procedures. Instead of competing on output volume, the cooperative focuses on improving quality and developing high value-added products, while stepping up promotion on digital platforms such as TikTok Shop, Shopee, Facebook, Zalo and its own website. In the coming time, the cooperative will also continue to invest in machinery, refine its technical processes, develop additional 5-star OCOP products and expand its consumer markets.
In practice, deep processing is not just about investing in more machinery or upgrading technology, but a shift in the mindset behind developing the tea industry. If the goal in the past was to increase output, the requirement now is to raise the value of each unit of product. To achieve this goal, alongside expanding production area under VietGAP and organic standards, the province is focusing on developing concentrated raw material areas, granting growing-area codes, strengthening the application of science and technology and digital transformation, and building a traceability system. This is the foundation for enterprises and cooperatives to invest in deep processing, develop premium tea lines, gift products, tea-based beverages and new products that meet the increasingly diverse needs of the market.
At the same time, developing OCOP products, protecting geographical indications and collective marks, expanding e-commerce and promoting exports are helping bring the Thai Nguyen tea brand closer to consumers at home and abroad.
Ms. Pham Thi Thuy, Director of Thuy Thuat Tea Cooperative (Dai Phuc Commune), inspects and packages tea products before bringing them to market
The road ahead still has much work to be done, especially expanding standard-compliant raw material areas, attracting businesses to invest in modern processing technology, and increasing the share of high-value products. However, from the shift in production thinking to the pioneering models of cooperatives, it can be seen that Thai Nguyen's tea industry is gradually opening up new space for development.
When each tea bud is not only sold as raw material but elevated through technology, quality, branding and cultural value, the tea tree will continue to affirm its role as a key commodity, helping raise incomes for local residents, promote agricultural economic development, and carry the Thai Nguyen Tea brand further into domestic and international markets.