Taking the Flavor of Ancestral Land Tea Far and Wide

In the agricultural economic landscape of the Northern midland region, Phu Tho has long been likened to the “cradle” of Vietnamese tea plants. To ensure tea products extend beyond domestic consumption values or low-value raw exports, Phu Tho province is actively pushing forward a strategy to elevate product value, bringing the “flavor of Ancestral Land tea” far out into international markets using scientific thinking, modern technology, and sustainable brand-building strategies.

Natural Advantages Shaping Quality

The history of Phu Tho’s tea sector development is closely linked to bowl-shaped tea hills alongside centuries-old tea cultivation traditions. According to figures from the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the entire province currently hosts approximately 14.5 thousand hectares of harvesting tea land (ranking 3rd nationally), with the proportion of high-yield, high-quality area accounting for over 95%. The shift from unguided cultivation to applying strict technical standards such as VietGAP, GlobalGAP, and organic orientations represents a vital scientific turning point.

Phu Tho’s famous tea regions—such as Long Coc, Minh Dai, Yen Ky, Tu Vu, Thanh Thuy, and Thanh Son...—feature good quality grades and standardized product process management, step-by-step positioning Phu Tho’s tea brand in domestic and international markets.

Standardizing biological processes from variety selection to cultivation creates clear differences in flavor and nutritional content. Specifically, for export-focused varieties, hybrid tea varieties like LDP1, LDP2, and PH1 feature strong growth advantages, large buds, and stable tannin content, perfectly meeting processing standards for black tea to serve stringent international markets. High-quality varieties such as Kim Tuyen, Bat Van Tien, and Oolong contain high levels of L-theanine and catechins, creating a mild astringency, deep sweet finish, and natural fragrance. It is precisely this science-based material zone demarcation that has helped Phu Tho tea products maintain a firm foothold in the market and affirm the distinct brand value of the Ancestral Land region.

Harvesting tea in Long Coc — A key tea region effectively combining tourism development with deep processing of tea products.

Real-world experience demonstrates that relying solely on raw tea exports yields very limited returns for farmers. To solve this problem, enterprises and cooperatives across the province have actively invested in innovating deep-processing technology and perfecting packaging design.

At UT Tea Investment and Development Co., Ltd. in Thanh Ba commune, Ms. Le Thi Hong Phuong shared: “Our unit boldly invested in a modern processing line with a capacity exceeding 1,000 tons of products per year, linking with local tea farmers to independently control quality from fresh buds to finished products. As a result, product output is strong, gradually affirming both quality and brand.”

Additionally, models such as the Yen Ky and Da Hen Tea Production and Processing Cooperatives are proving their correct directions by earning 3-star OCOP certifications for their products and successfully building collective trademarks.

Phu Tho province currently hosts nearly 40 tea products achieving OCOP 3-star standards or higher. The OCOP program serves not only as a “passport” verifying food safety quality but also as a tool to enhance added value, helping Phu Tho tea step confidently into modern retail systems and e-commerce platforms.

Building a “Passport” to the World

Currently, approximately 80% of Phu Tho’s tea output is designated for export, present in many markets worldwide such as Japan, Russia, the Middle East, Pakistan... However, the greatest challenge to “going far” is the risk of brand dilution in international markets. To thoroughly address this issue, Phu Tho province has focused on managing and developing the “Phu Tho Tea” Certification Mark.

This serves as a crucial legal and economic solution to protect brand value, combat trade fraud, and safeguard the reputation of specialty products from the Ancestral Land. It ensures origin transparency, requiring all products bearing the certification mark to be clearly traceable via QR codes to guarantee consumer safety. Concurrently, it increases competitiveness by creating quality consistency, enabling businesses to easily access demanding markets like Europe, North America, or the Middle East. It can be affirmed that developing certification marks and standardizing VietGAP material zones form a solid foundation for the flavor of Ancestral Land tea to not only assert its domestic position but also confidently reach international heights.

To build a brand and maintain market reputation, the Da Hen Tea Production and Processing Cooperative in Dong Luong commune consistently focuses on elevating product quality and packaging. The unit has 3 OCOP-ranked products, including 1 product achieving a 4-star OCOP rating.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh — Director of the Cooperative — stated: “In today’s trends, modernizing technology and applying digital transformation are decisive factors for product quality and value. We cultivate tea safely, investing in spray irrigation systems to conserve water and ensure raw tea quality. Currently, we possess electric tea roasting machines, sheet metal drying ovens, and vacuum sealers... With modern equipment displaying technical parameters, finished products are uniform and meet quality standards.”

Tourists visiting and enjoying tea products in Long Coc commune.

To take the fragrance of Ancestral Land tea far, according to Comrade Phung Xuan Tien — Deputy Director of the Provincial Agricultural Extension Center, it is necessary to continue pushing forward digital transformation across the agricultural sector generally and tea production specifically, while updating information regarding production/business establishments and enterprises on the province’s agricultural digital map system.

Nearly 40 Phu Tho tea products have achieved 3-star OCOP certification or higher, gradually conquering domestic and international markets.

In the coming period, the Agricultural sector will coordinate with departments, sectors, localities, organizations, and enterprises to execute tasks effectively, with focus, key targets, and alignment with each tea region. In the short term, focus will be placed on standardizing tea sector data, origin traceability, and digital commerce—moving toward step-by-step applying digital technology to serve management, production, processing, and product consumption—contributing to building a stable, sustainable Phu Tho tea brand that adds value to the province’s overall agricultural structure.

Taking the flavor of Ancestral Land tea far is no longer an emotional dream, but has turned into a concrete action objective through the harmonious combination of cultivation science, processing technology, and market thinking. Thanks to the proactiveness of farmers, the accompaniment of enterprises, and correct orientations from local government, green tea buds from the midland region continue their journey to reach far, carrying rich culinary culture and the pride of the Ancestral Land to all five continents.

Minh Tu