Tea brand from the brink of bankruptcy to the pride of Son La

Nearly 10 years of building the brand of Trong Nguyen tea

In the middle of the OCOP Vietnam Fruit and Product Festival 2022 held at the Northwest Square (Son La City) at the end of May, just poured and invited visitors to the booth a cup of hot, fragrant tea and tea. Still smoking, Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh, Deputy Director of Binh Thuan General Service, Sales and Production Cooperative (Song Lai commune, Thuan Chau district, Son La province), recalled the journey of nearly 10 years. years of building a brand name for today's famous Trong Nguyen tea product.

In 2013, the time when many tea production and trading units in Thuan Chau district, Son La province were at high risk of falling to the brink of bankruptcy was also the time when the Binh Thuan Production, Business and General Service Cooperative. born. The cooperative was like a lifeline for tea farmers when it was committed to offsetting all output products for local people at that time.

In 2015, the cooperative was assigned a tea-growing area and was licensed by the Department of Planning and Investment of Son La province to build infrastructure for production. In 2018, thanks to the interest of Thuan Chau district, the brand of Bong Lai tea was born. In 2019, the cooperative officially launched Trong Nguyen tea and was rated as a 4-star OCOP product.

Until now, after nearly 10 years of searching for a way for Trong Nguyen tea products, Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh was finally able to smile at her achievements. After being put on the market, Trong Nguyen tea products have been well received by customers and are evaluated as a typical rural industrial product at the regional level in 2020. In 2021, the 4-star OCOP product Trong Nguyen tea is one of the typical rural industrial products at the national level.

Sharing with Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper about the difficulties that the cooperative encountered in the first years, Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh said that due to the crisis that tea products encountered at that time, many people wanted to destroy the area. tea to grow coffee. The cooperative as well as Ms. Binh had to encourage and propagate for farmers to continue to believe in tea.

When the cooperative was assigned the raw material area, the tea growing area was more than 300 hectares, so far it has reached 1,300 hectares. Many units, companies and cooperatives are committed to consuming output products for people, so the price is much more stable than the first time.

“The most difficult year must be 2016 when all tea exporters faced barriers of banned substance residues and quality evaluation criteria from the Taiwan market. After that, with the participation and help of units as well as local authorities, the awareness of the production of tea farmers has been improved, thereby ensuring the requirements from the fastidious market. like Taiwan," recalled Nguyen Thi Binh.

In order to improve the quality of Trong Nguyen tea products, Binh Thuan General Service Production, Sales and Service Cooperative has chosen to produce in tea fields that are guaranteed to be cared for, harvested and processed according to standards. , organic process.

Currently, farmers can rest assured to produce, Trong Nguyen tea products are not only supplied for the domestic market but also for export to international markets such as Taiwan and Thailand. Every year, the domestic market consumes about 30-40 tons of Trong Nguyen tea; Taiwan market consumes about 500 - 600 tons of dried bud tea, equivalent to nearly 3,000 tons of fresh bud tea.

“Among the 4-star OCOP products of Son La province, besides Trong Nguyen tea, there is also Ta Xua tea in Bac Yen district - a typical specialty associated with the Mong ethnic people here. Each product such as Trong Nguyen tea and Ta Xua tea is associated with stories of ethnic minorities. It is the creativity and enthusiasm of the people in making special products bearing the cultural identity of the region”, said Ms. Hoang Thi Thu Hien, Deputy Chief of the Office for Coordination of the National Program on Rural Construction. new Son La province, share.

The pride of Son La province

Sipping a cup of Trong Nguyen tea, Mrs. Pham Thi Ly (a resident of Phong Lai commune, Thuan Chau district, Son La province) squinted her eyes to enjoy the sweetness in her throat that a sip of tea brought. That sweetness is both thoughtful and rich and stays in the throat of the person who enjoys it for a long time.

“Everybody loves this tea. Products are produced, processed cleanly according to standards and packaged according to beautiful designs, so we are proud of the products of our homeland. Trong Nguyen tea as gifts, gifts are really lovely!", Ms. Pham Thi Ly expressed.

According to Ms. Quang Thi Phuong, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thuan Chau district, coming to the OCOP Vietnam fruit and product festival in 2022, Thuan Chau district is very proud to introduce Trong Nguyen tea products to you. tourist friends. Through this festival program, Thuan Chau district has also connected with a number of businesses wishing to learn about Trong Nguyen tea in particular and local OCOP products in general.

Trong Nguyen tea products are one of five products that have achieved 4-star OCOP certification in Thuan Chau district. In the coming time, the district will continue to maintain the development of the tea material area in Phong Lai commune and develop the development orientation according to the current market trend of applying high-tech science and organic production.

“For products that can meet the current difficult market, Thuan Chau district will also continue to propagate for people to apply scientific and technical advances in production and processing. In particular, the district will continue to support modern machinery in processing and preservation so that products can meet the requirements of fastidious markets," said Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thuan Chau district. .

Ms. Hoang Thi Thu Hien, Deputy Chief of the Office of Coordination of the National Target Program on New Rural Development in Son La Province, said that at present, Son La has 30 4-star OCOP products. Prominently, Trong Nguyen tea products are interested in Binh Thuan Production, Sales and General Services Cooperative from taking care of VietGAP and organic raw material areas. The production process of Trong Nguyen tea has also ensured the standards in accordance with the regulations in the evaluation of OCOP products.

“Especially, the product design is associated with nature, the bamboo root is made into an eye-catching product box and is suitable as a gift, gift when abroad, for international tourists. This is a product that can not only compete in the domestic market but also compete in the international market," said Ms. Hoang Thi Thu Hien.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh, from 2020, Binh Thuan General Production, Sales and Service Cooperative has put Trong Nguyen tea products on e-commerce trading floors to serve the domestic market. Currently, the cooperative is trying to perfect the product in the best way so that it can be eligible for sale on the e-commerce platform in international markets.

According to Ms. Hoang Thi Thu Hien, over the past time, a number of OCOP products of Son La province have been supported by businesses, put on a number of e-commerce platforms and are evaluated to bring good results in their work. promotion. Through those e-commerce platforms, the buying and selling method is also more convenient.

“This is one of the content we will prioritize to put into practice in 2022 to create the best conditions for cooperatives and businesses, especially business cooperatives that have been evaluated for OCOP products. in the past time”, said Deputy Chief of the Coordination Office of the National Target Program on Building New Rural Areas of Son La Province.