Building a brand for Hai Ha tea region

Changing their mindset, working methods, overcoming difficulties, and using the experience they have gained, young business people in the Duong Hoa tea region (Hai Ha) have succeeded in building and affirming their brand of high-end tea products. From a product that is mainly exported in raw form, Duong Hoa tea has been upgraded to become a delicacy, thereby increasing the value of the tea tree, contributing to defining Vietnamese tea in the eyes of international friends.

Ms. Huong chats with guests about making tea. — Ms. Huong and her husband chat with guests about making tea and building a tea brand.

Hai Ha is the only coastal tea region in the country, and that very characteristic has created the unique flavor of the tea here. In Hai Ha, it is certain that everyone knows the woman who is closely attached to the tea region, that is Mrs. Ha Ngoc Quynh. Starting out as a tea trader, with the desire to develop the tea region, since the 2000s, Mrs. Quynh has coordinated with the leaders of Duong Hoa Tea Farm to bring new tea varieties for cultivation. In addition to developing her own tea growing area, Mrs. Quynh supports money for people to develop hundreds of hectares of Ngoc Thuy O Long tea, and buys tea for people to consume. There was a long period when her tea factory exported most of Hai Ha tea output to the Taiwanese market... However, through many ups and downs, under the impact of the market mechanism, Duong Hoa tea region has sometimes been brilliant, but also sometimes full of silence. In that context, Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Huong (Mrs. Quynh's daughter) and her husband made a bold move, which was the decision to switch from producing raw tea to making more refined, high-end tea products.

“Previously, all raw tea was exported, with a peak year of purchasing and exporting up to 1,700 tons. However, exporting raw materials was not very effective and the profit was low. In 2019, when the Covid-19 epidemic broke out strongly, customers forced down prices, and with the risk of thousands of tons of tea being dumped, we did not let our mother's life's work go to waste. We encouraged her to find a new direction and increase the value of the product. From that context, we were forced to change our agricultural mindset and the Viet Tu tea brand was born. I always kept in mind that we have such good and unique raw materials, why not make really good products for everyone to use. We want to bring Duong Hoa tea to the market with a well-known brand, not just selling a product but spreading the quintessence and culture of the land to everyone; This is also a big challenge for my family in the big game", Ms. Pham Thi Thanh Huong, CEO of Viet Tu Construction and Trading Investment Company Limited shared.

In 2020, after establishing the brand, Ms. Huong and her husband went to famous foreign tea research institutes and brands to analyze samples and refer to the organic tea growing process according to Japanese, European and American standards. After that, she invited foreign experts to coordinate and put effort into creating tea processing formulas; built Viet Tu Tea House in Hanoi to invite tea tasting, introduce tea and experience Vietnamese tea drinking culture. Currently, Viet Tu's tea products cost from several million VND to hundreds of millions of VND/kg. Notably, in 2024, for the first time, 8 tea products of the unit were ranked OCOP Quang Ninh, all 8 tea products achieved 4-star rating. To date, Viet Tu is the first unit in the province to have the largest number of OCOP products achieving 4 stars.

Viet Tu cleverly incorporates tea into cuisine to create unique and attractive dishes.

Not stopping at making tea, from fresh green tea leaves, she and her family researched and transformed them into many dishes associated with local characteristics, unique and novel flavors such as: fish braised with tea leaves, fried tea buds, steamed or grilled chicken with green tea leaves, green tea salad, lotus seed oolong tea sticky rice, oolong tea rib soup... Each dish has a different flavor, but the creative combination of using tea leaves as ingredients and spices has brought diners an interesting and attractive culinary experience.

Tea master Ngo Thi Thanh Tam, founder of the International Tea Master Training Academy, owner of a collection of purple clay teapots that holds Asian and world records, shared: The first time I came to Viet Tu Tea Farm, I was very surprised. Just saying it was delicious is not enough, because the tea products here have very special flavors. From the love, hands, and minds of the veteran craftsmen, of the young intellectuals, eager to learn, not afraid of any difficulties, have produced quintessential, quality tea products. I am very proud that Vietnam has such a dedicated tea maker.

In its development strategy, Viet Tu always adheres to the criterion "Tea for the elite, tea must also be elite". From the continuous efforts and innovative ways of young people, contributing to enhancing the value of Duong Hoa tea trees, creating more elite products, continuing to affirm its position in the market.

Source