There’s a statistic that anyone involved in the tea industry in Vietnam should know: in 2025, Vietnam exported 136,952 tons of tea, earning approximately $238 million, equivalent to an average price of around $1,700 per ton, only 60-65% of the world average price of around $2,600 per ton. This figure is often mentioned as a lament. But viewed differently, it represents the biggest value gap that the Vietnamese tea industry is leaving untapped, and also the clearest opportunity for businesses willing to do things differently. This article reviews the overall path from the domestic to the international market and what needs to be done to get there.
1. Price gaps are opportunities, not sentences.
The approximately $900 per ton difference between the average export price of Vietnamese tea and the world market price doesn’t reflect the quality of the tea leaves. It reflects how we sell. The majority of our production still goes out as raw material, packaged in large, unbranded bags, only to be blended and repackaged under a foreign brand name and sold at a much higher price.
It’s noteworthy that this lost value lies in areas where Vietnam is fully capable: deep processing, packaging, certification, branding, and distribution channels. These are not technologies beyond our reach, nor do they require resources we lack. Proof of this is that, within this overall picture, export prices to Europe have already reached approximately $2,000 per ton. Therefore, this gap should be seen as a roadmap showing areas for improvement.
2. The foundation we currently have at hand.
Before discussing what changes are needed, it’s essential to acknowledge the existing foundation. Vietnam ranks 5th in the world in tea production and export, with approximately 121,900 hectares of tea plantations in 2024, producing 1.154 million tons of fresh tea leaves and about 230,000 tons of dried tea annually. Vietnamese tea is present in over 70 countries and territories, a market network that many industries take a very long time to build.
In terms of raw materials, the climate and terrain allow for the cultivation of almost every type of tea: Thai Nguyen green tea, Lam Dong oolong tea, black tea, white tea, and especially the ancient Shan Tuyet tea from Ha Giang, Yen Bai, and Son La. New varieties have occupied approximately 54% of the area, showing that the tea plantation renovation process is truly underway. This foundation is strong enough to go much further than its current position.
3. Three bottlenecks that must be called by their proper names.
Frankly, the Vietnamese tea industry is facing three bottlenecks. Firstly, production is fragmented: the average farm size is only about 0.2 hectares, making it much more difficult to standardize cultivation processes, control inputs, and trace the origin of tea compared to countries with concentrated plantations.
Secondly, there’s the concern about pesticide residue, an issue that has directly affected the reputation of Vietnamese tea in markets with strict MRL (Maximum Residue Limit) controls such as Europe and Japan. Thirdly, there’s the inconsistent quality between batches, an inevitable consequence of the two previous problems. All three are issues related to production organization, not nature or craftsmanship. This means they have solutions, and those solutions are within the control of the businesses.
4. The first approach: deep processing
Increasing value begins with selling a finished product instead of selling raw materials. Deep processing in the tea industry is not just about more thorough drying, but about expanding the product range to include high value-added products: naturally flavored teas, custom-blended teas, high-quality tea bags, concentrated teas and tea powders for the beverage industry, and specialty handcrafted teas.
Each step in the processing chain retains a portion of domestic value. A ton of raw material sold in bulk and a ton of that same material after being sorted, blended according to a formula, and packaged for retail sale under a brand name are two completely different financial stories. This is also a way for businesses to escape price competition, where other countries always offer lower prices.
5. The second path: branding
Branding is the biggest factor creating price differences and also the weakest link for Vietnam. Building a tea brand for the international market doesn’t start with a logo, but with a sufficiently narrow yet memorable positioning: a growing region, a specific tea variety, a processing method, a verifiable story.
The practical path typically involves three stages. First, sell raw materials in bulk to maintain cash flow and understand market demand. Second, undertake private label manufacturing for foreign partners, learning their quality standards, packaging standards, and operational standards without paying the price of failure. Only then, build your own brand for a product line with moderate production volume and high profit margins. Skipping the first two stages and jumping straight to the third is a shortcut, but it’s very easy to fail midway.
6. The third path: certification and traceability
Certification and traceability are often seen as compliance costs, but they are actually pricing tools. For international markets, HACCP and ISO 22000 are the foundation; HALAL opens doors to the Middle East and Muslim Southeast Asia; organic certifications according to USDA or EU standards place products in the highest price segment; and Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade are the ticket to working with global brands.
This is accompanied by a traceability system from planting area codes, cultivation logs, batch codes to control samples. The industry’s orientation towards 2030, with 11,000 hectares of organic tea and 34,500 hectares of specialty tea, shows that this is a clearly defined direction at the national level. Businesses that take the lead in standardizing raw material areas today will be the ones with goods to sell when demand increases, instead of having to lag behind.
7. Specialty teas and ancient Shan Tuyet trees: a national story.
In the context of competitive production, what no other country can replicate from Vietnam is the ancient Shan Tuyet tea forests, hundreds of years old, located at altitudes above 1,000 meters in Suoi Giang, Hoang Su Phi, Lung Phin, and Ta Xua. This is a truly indigenous asset, closely linked to the livelihoods of the highland people and their almost natural farming methods.
In the international market, the specialty tea segment is growing, and buyers are willing to pay higher prices for origin, age of the tea plant, and uniqueness. If any industry can become the representative image that puts Vietnamese tea on the world map, it is this sector. While its production volume is small, preventing it from becoming the mainstay of export revenue, its role is to change how the world views Vietnamese tea, thereby raising the overall price level of the industry.
8. A value chain is only strong when all three links move together.
No single business can single-handedly increase the value of Vietnamese tea. Farmers need guaranteed outlets and stable purchase prices to ensure they adhere to strict cultivation practices, because abandoning a cheaper pesticide in favor of a more labor-intensive method directly impacts their income.
Processing businesses need to invest in factories, quality control systems, and branding, while also sharing market knowledge back with the growing regions. Distributors are often overlooked but possess the most valuable data: what customers truly need, their feedback, and which product specifications sell well. When these three links are only connected by short-term buy-sell transactions, quality will always fluctuate. Only when connected by long-term contracts and mutual commitments will the industry have a solid foundation for long-term growth.
9. A practical roadmap for a Vietnamese business to expand internationally.
For a business firmly established in the domestic market, a logical roadmap consists of four stages. Stage one, internal standardization: stabilizing raw material sources, establishing a traceability system, achieving HACCP or ISO 22000 certification, and completing legal documentation and capabilities in English.
Phase two involves entering the market through the least risky route: selling raw materials to importers or undertaking private label manufacturing, learning international operating standards through each order. Phase three involves selecting a target market, investing in the certifications required by that market, standardizing packaging and labeling, and participating in specialized trade fairs to find direct customers. Phase four involves introducing the private label product line into cross-border retail or e-commerce channels. Each phase should be measured by specific metrics such as average selling price and repeat order rate, not by subjective perception.
10. The position that Vietnamese tea can absolutely reach.
Vietnam ranks 5th in the world in terms of production. The next goal is not to climb higher in the production ranking, but to narrow the gap between $1,700 and $2,600 per ton. If export prices approach the world average, revenue could increase significantly without planting a single additional hectare. It’s a matter of value, not a matter of area.
The conditions for achieving that goal don’t lie in market luck, but in very specific things: clean and documented raw material sources, a certified factory, deeply processed products, packaging and labeling that comply with target market regulations, and a brand with a genuine story. For agents, distributors, and businesses considering expanding internationally, the immediate priority is to identify the weakest link in their supply chain and begin addressing it this quarter. Vietnamese tea doesn’t lack quality; it only lacks people who are persistent enough to take all the necessary steps to make the world see it.