Do Kim Lang, Deputy Director of the MoIT’s Trade Promotion Agency, said Vietnam mainly produce and export unprocessed coffee, which do not bring high added value.
The government wants to boost the exports of branded coffee products
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"The Trade Promotion Agency is presiding over the building of brands for the nation’s products, of which coffee will be the top priority product,” Lang said, adding that it will be a good opportunity for the coffee industry to minimize the exports of unprocessed coffee.
However, he said, it will require a close coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the MoIT.
According to the MoIT’s statistics, Vietnam exported 510,000 tons of coffee worth US$989 million in the first quarter of this year, up 12.7 percent in volume but down 3.7 percent in value year-on-year.
However, most of Vietnam’s exported coffee was unprocessed. Instant coffee reached only 5,400 tons worth $30.9 million in the first two months this year, down 19.3 percent in volume and up 7.1 percent in value over the same period last year.
Although the amount of instant coffee exports accounted for only 4.2 percent of the country’s total export coffee, it contributed up to 12 percent to the total value.
To strengthen the country’s global position, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong recently signed Decision No.4653/QD-BNN-KHCN approving a framework scheme to develop high-quality Vietnamese coffee products in 2018-2023, with a vision towards 2030.
The scheme proposes support policies aimed to help increase yields, improve quality and enhance the added value of coffee products nationwide until 2020, giving priority to the Central Highlands, North Central region, midlands, and mountainous areas in the north.
Its goals include promoting linkages between farmers and businesses to develop high-quality commercial coffee growing areas and upgrade processing, storage, and preservation facilities. Additionally, the new arrangements will increase incomes for coffee farmers by enhancing product value.
Under the plan, farmers’ average income is expected to grow by 5 percent by 2020 and 7 percent by 2023 compared to 2013-2014. The total budget for the scheme is VND170 billion, VND110 billion of which will come from the state budget and VND60 billion from businesses, farmers, and credit institutions.
The scheme also focuses on enhancing the competitiveness of domestic coffee production and supply chains in the regional and global markets as well as raising the export price of Vietnamese coffee to the regional and international level by 2020.
President of Vietnam Coffee Association (Vicofa) Luong Van Tu believes there is still room for the coffee sector to increase its added value, however, the sector needs to seek large capital resources and take simultaneous measures to increase crop yields and improve the quality of the processed products.
The coffee sector should strive for the two major goals of strengthening Vietnam’s position as the world’s second-largest exporter of coffee beans and increasing the export of processed products to raise export revenue to US$6 billion by 2030 (double of the 2017 results), he said.
Tu also highlighted the necessity of developing high-yield and quality coffee varieties that can withstand droughts and climate change. Vicofa has asked the government to establish a specific fund for coffee sector development and promulgate standards for roasted, ground, and instant coffee.
