Tea from the shell, coffee flowers - the new quintessence of the Central Highlands

High economic value

The Central Highlands has more than 640,000ha of coffee, accounting for over 92% of the country's area, the harvest output reached 1.67 million tons, accounting for about 95% of the country's coffee production; 87 coffee processing facilities, accounting for 36.4% of the country.

It can be affirmed that coffee is the main crop of farmers in the Central Highlands. In the past, people only harvested coffee kernels and flowers, discarded shells or used part of the fertilizer.

However, in recent years, many companies and cooperatives (cooperatives) have explored and learned to take advantage of flowers and coffee shells as tea. This is one of the new products that can help people and businesses improve their income.

As one of the pioneers in the use of shells and coffee flowers to make tea, Mr. Le Van Vuong, Director of Vuong Thanh Thanh Manufacturing and Trading Company (Buon Ma Thuot City, Dak Lak Province) affirmed that this product has great economic potential. Currently, Vuong Thanh Thanh Company has 2 types of tea sold on the market: tea made from the shell and flowers of the organic coffee garden.

In particular, coffee peel tea has been piloted by Vuong Thanh Cong Company, produced since 2017. According to Mr. Wang, the process of processing fresh coffee fruit peels from harvest to the time of the finished product is an extremely meticulous process. The coffee berries must be harvested entirely by hand, selecting only the most medium-sized red ripening fruits. The coffee fruit is then washed and undergoes a manual peeling process so that the peel does not crumble, followed by a quick processing so as not to spoil due to fermentation.

"The most important step is when separating the shell must be so as not to be crushed. Because when the meat of the shell is stamped out, it will be damaged, causing the amount of sugar, bile to be lost. Therefore, the tea making must be made manually," Mr. Wang shared.

Tea made from coffee flowers is also explored by the company, put into production from 2021. Normally, after harvesting, cut the coffee branches. But at the company is to leave these branches intact, fertilize to flower. When the flower is in full bloom, it will cut the branches to harvest the flowers.

"Coffee flowers are harvested by the company from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. daily. At this time the dew is still lingering on the petals to help the flowers reach quality. Two of the company's products are produced and purchased from households with organic coffee gardens to ensure that the product no longer has residues of pesticides," Wang said.

Each year, 2 teas on Wang Thanh Thanh Company produce more than 500kg, the price of which is high on the market. In which tea from coffee peels costs 1.3 million VND / kg; Tea from coffee flowers costs 5 million / kg. Currently, the company's tea products are sold on most e-commerce platforms and some supermarkets. In it, TP. Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Dak Lak are 3 localities with large product consumption.

Assessing the potential to develop tea products from shells and coffee flowers, Mr. Wang said, the prospects are huge. These two types of products have no effect on the harvest of people's coffee fillings.

"We don't make tea from shells and flowers, people still have the main income from coffee fillings. If people produce more tea from shells and flowers, this is a great source of income 4-10 times higher. Each hectare of coffee people earn about 100 million. If you make more tea, you can earn from 400-500 million VND / ha. With this level of income, the company's organic coffee garden has been achieved.

The potential for both of these products is huge with the condition of switching from an inorganic to organic coffee model. I encourage people to switch production in an organic way to take advantage of all the sub-products and waste from coffee," Wang said.

A lot of potential but limited output.

Also one of the experimental units making tea from shells and coffee flowers, Mr. Tran Dinh Trong, Director of Ea Tu Fair Cooperative, Buon Ma Thuot City (Dak Lak) said that the economic potential of these products is still great. However, the difficulty of these products is the output.

According to Trong, the pilot cooperative made tea from shells and coffee flowers two years ago. However, the unit only produces a few dozen kilograms per year because of limited output. The products of cooperatives are selected in gardens that do not use feces, chemical drugs to ensure health.

For tea from coffee peels that taste especially fragrant like honey, the user reviews very well. "Ea Tu commune area is planned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for specialty coffee areas. When producing specialty coffee, there are many related products brought to the market. Specifically, instead of coffee peels as fertilizer as before, it is now used to make tea. With the above planning, the farmer's coffee tree can use all from flowers, bark, fillings and trees. The above products are characteristic of the Central Highlands. Currently the cost to produce tea from peels and coffee flowers is very low. Specifically, taking advantage of the available ingredients of coffee plants, but the selling price is very high, so the potential is great," Trong affirmed.

However, in order for this product to be recognized, local authorities also need to support the units in analyzing the use and promoting the image. Specifically, the state needs to analyze whether tea made from peels, coffee flowers have what uses then consumers trust to use.