Building a brand from safe tea production

With the goal of improving the quality of raw tea, aiming for a sustainable production process, increasing the value of the cultivated area, Cam My Tea Cooperative, Tat Thang Commune, Thanh Son District applies tea cultivation according to VietGAP safety standards and is implementing organic tea growing techniques, which have brought about efficiency.  

Members of Cam My Tea Cooperative pick tea according to technical standards, ensuring the quality of raw tea for processing.

Stemming from the need to link households to produce on a larger scale, according to higher standards, in 2018, Cam My Tea Cooperative was established. From a cultivated area of ​​nearly 10 hectares, up to now, the Cooperative has a tea area of ​​30 hectares, of which 15 hectares are VietGAP certified. In the early days of safe tea cultivation, members and households associated with the Cooperative must get used to keeping records to monitor all activities affecting the tea fields, from tea inspection, watering, harvesting... to using biological active ingredients, time, dosage and cross-monitoring between households. The Cooperative focuses on guiding members to improve soil, composting techniques, using organic microbial fertilizers, and herbal bio-fertilizers. The tea growing area is planned to be intercropped with woody plants with large canopies to shade the tea; investing in a sprinkler irrigation system to save water, ensuring water supply for raw tea. The cooperative signed a contract to commit to purchasing and consuming all fresh tea buds from members and local people at a stable price, with an output of about 240 tons of fresh tea buds/year.

From the supporting capital and efforts of the Cooperative, the Cooperative invested in building factories, using modern machinery for production, ensuring automation of over 70% of production stages such as: gas tea roasting machine, electric drying machine, vacuum machine...

Ms. Nguyen Thi Cam My - Deputy Director of the Cooperative said: "Since the establishment of the Cooperative, the process of growing and caring for tea according to VietGAP and organic standards has been chosen by the Cooperative to develop the tea area associated with brand building. Over time, tea cultivation in a safe and organic direction has been restored thanks to the use of fertilizers and biological products, tea plants grow well; productivity and quality are both higher. With the standardization of the production process, machinery is gradually invested in synchronously, so the products are of good quality, the Cooperative is certified for the ISO 22000:2018 food safety management system. In 2022, the Cooperative was granted the right to use the Phu Tho Tea trademark by the Department of Science and Technology, this is the motivation for us to further improve product quality, comply with regulations related to the production process, the use of certification trademarks, commit to maintain, ensure product quality, protect and develop the intellectual property value of the certification trademark. Phu Tho Tea".

The Cooperative currently has 2 tea products that meet the provincial 4-star OCOP standard. In 2023, the Cooperative was recognized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Union as one of 63 outstanding agricultural cooperatives nationwide. The Cooperative's revenue in 2023 reached 2.5 billion VND, with a profit of 350 million VND.

To achieve that development, in addition to the favor of nature, experience, and application of techniques in care, harvesting, and processing, there is also innovation in market approach, propaganda, and promotion of the cooperative's products. New signals in the development and upgrading of the cooperative's tea products are the premise and new opportunities that bring many expectations for the change and development of local tea trees.

In the coming time, the Cooperative will continue to consolidate and improve the tea production and consumption chain associated with brand building; promote the application of new science and technology in tea processing towards industrialization and modernity with a scale suitable for production. Apply technology, digital transformation, especially the application of e-commerce in product promotion and consumption, helping products penetrate the market better.

Nguyen Hue

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