In the staunchly competitive coffee industry, leading economists
forecast Vietnam is set to become the world’s largest coffee exporter,
providing the Southeast Asian nation can surmount its shortcomings,
radio The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) reported.
The Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) reports Vietnamese coffee
exports in the seven months leading up to August jumped 26.9 percent in
volume and 21.9 percent in value on-year.
The country shipped a
total of 1.12 million tonnes of coffee beans to foreign markets during
the period grossing 2.31 billion USD in revenue at an average sales
price of 2,043 USD/tonne, 4.84 percent lower than the previous year’s
figure.
Key coffee importers included Germany and the US with Belgium doubling its coffee imports over last year’s figures.
In
recent years, coffee has been one of Vietnam’s key export items
achieving high revenue. The local coffee industry aims to record higher
export growth in the future, with about 95 percent of its output being
shipped abroad.
Currently, Vietnam is the world’s largest
exporter of Robusta coffee. It ranks second in coffee export volume and
third in value. Economists say Vietnam is on a path to becoming the
world’s largest coffee exporter within the next few years.
According
to a recent report on exports by the Ministry of Industry and Trade
(MoIT), Vietnamese coffee has sharpened its competitive edge thanks to
favourable climate conditions, lower-cost production and a bumper coffee
crop. However, product quality remains low due to out-dated harvest
technology and poor processing facilities.
Additionally,
Vietnamese coffee suffers from lack of brand name recognition as local
exporters’ marketing skills are still limited and over 90 percent of
coffee products are essentially unprocessed materials with low added
value, MARD reports.
With such disadvantages, Vietnamese coffee’s
export price is lower than the world’s average. Nevertheless, thanks to
its firm foothold in the global market, Vietnam holds great potential
for improving its coffee quality and recording higher export
turnover.
Economists suggest Vietnam improve its production chain
and distribution networks, from producing, processing to marketing
processes, in order to increase export value for Vietnamese coffee.
Nguyen
Thi Thu Hang, a senior advisor in export evaluation and capacity
building for small-and-medium-sized enterprises, raised her concern over
the shrinking coffee cultivation area as aging coffee trees are
becoming prevalent and irrigation networks stay outdated.
The
local coffee industry should increase product quality by investing more
in research, post-harvest technology, and processing facility. It is
also equally essential to apply sustainable standards for coffee
production and supply high-quality products on request despite low
consumption, Hang said.
Other experts recommend the industry more
effectively control coffee growing areas to avoid an imbalance between
supply and demand. Coffee farmers should also be required to follow a
strict protocol to meet rising requirements of consumers.
According
to industry experts, sustainable coffee export growth will only be
achieved if domestic coffee producers, processors and exporters increase
product quality in line with international standards.-VNA