Building on 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 factor for adding value and enhancing competitiveness. Following the direction set out in Resolution No. 11-NQ/TU, enterprises, cooperatives, and tea growers are steadily rethinking their approach to production, investing in technology, diversifying products, expanding consumption 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 "tea capital" of the whole country. The tea tree not only provides livelihoods for tens of thousands of households but also serves as a cultural symbol, helping build the locality’s distinctive agricultural brand. However, amid increasingly deep international integration, as market requirements go beyond quality alone to also demand traceability, green production, and product diversity, selling raw tea leaves or traditional tea no longer provides a sustainable competitive advantage.
In response to 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 and organic production linked with deep processing and product diversification; attracting investment, applying science and technology, fostering innovation, and driving digital transformation across the entire production, processing, and consumption chain.
Under the Resolution’s targets, by 2030, the total value of products from the tea tree is to reach approximately VND 25,000 billion; 70% of the tea-growing area is to be certified under VietGAP or organic production standards; 70% of the area is to be granted growing area codes; all enterprises and cooperatives with growing areas are to apply digital technology in production management and traceability; and 100% of tea products are to 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; the output of fresh tea buds reached over 127,000 tons. The province currently has nearly 6,670 hectares of tea certified under VietGAP or organic standards; 141 growing area codes have been granted and are being managed; and 204 tea products have achieved OCOP ratings from 3 to 5 stars, including 6 national-level OCOP 5-star products.
La Bang Tea Cooperative, La Bang Commune, focusing for years on building value into each product
As one of the leading cooperatives, La Bang Tea Cooperative, La Bang Commune, has spent many years focusing on building value for each product. The Cooperative currently has 30 hectares of growing area, of which 17 hectares are cultivated organically, in partnership with nearly 200 households.
Ms. Nguyen Thanh Hai, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of La Bang Tea Cooperative, said: The market today cares not only about flavor but also demands very high standards for quality, production processes, and traceability. Therefore, the Cooperative’s direction is to keep expanding its organic growing area, maintain its OCOP 5-star product, invest in processing technology, develop e-commerce, and improve the quality of its workforce, in order 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 premium tea segment. With 10 hectares of organic growing area, including 5 hectares in partnership with local households, the Cooperative currently has three OCOP 4-star products: 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 its strict control over the growing area and processing procedures. Rather than competing on output volume, the Cooperative focuses on improving quality and developing high value-added products, while also 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 investing in machinery, refining its technical processes, developing additional OCOP 5-star products, and expanding its consumption markets.
In practice, deep processing is not only about investing in more machinery or adopting new technology but also about a shift in the mindset guiding the tea industry’s development. Where the goal used to be increasing output, the requirement now is to raise the value of each unit of product. To achieve that goal, alongside expanding the area farmed under VietGAP and organic standards, the province is focusing on developing concentrated growing areas, granting growing area codes, stepping up the application of science and technology, driving digital transformation, and building a traceability system. This provides 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 market’s increasingly diverse demands.
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), checks and packages tea products before releasing them to market
Much work remains ahead, particularly in expanding standard-compliant growing areas, attracting enterprises to invest in modern processing technology, and raising the share of high-value products. However, from the shift in production mindset to the pioneering models of local cooperatives, it is clear that Thai Nguyen’s tea industry is gradually opening up new space for development.
When every 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 people, driving the development of the agricultural economy, and carrying the Thai Nguyen Tea brand further into markets at home and abroad.