According to data from the Vietnam Customs Department, in the first six months of the year, Vietnam exported 57,897 tons of tea, worth 96.49 million USD. This is a decrease of 8.4% in volume and 8.9% in value compared to the same period last year.
The volume of tea exported from Vietnam to the leading market, Pakistan, increased by 10.1% compared to the same period last year, while exports to the next markets, Taiwan, China, and Indonesia, all decreased, with reductions ranging from 5% to 20%.
Notably, exports to markets, with a small proportion, have all increased compared to the same period in 2024, such as Iraq, India, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan. Businesses have initially succeeded in exporting tea to some Asian markets, but there is still a strong need for a systematic strategy to increase the value of tea exports through a unique brand to create breakthroughs.
Vietnam is the largest tea supplier to Indonesia. The export volume of tea to this market in the first four months of this year increased by 6%.
The world spent nearly 100 million USD to import tea from Vietnam in the first half of the year.
However, the import rate from other markets is increasing faster, such as Thailand with a 51% increase, China with a 76% increase, Japan with a 10.5% increase, and Malaysia with an astonishing 45,395.8% increase in volume and a 7,133.3% increase in value compared to the same period in 2024.
This has caused Vietnam’s market share, as the leading tea supplier to Indonesia, to drop from 82% to 76.9% in the first four months of the year.
The increasing demand for convenient beverages as urbanization occurs in Indonesia, with busy lifestyles driving the demand for convenience-oriented products such as ready-to-drink tea (RTD).
Indonesia’s urban population reached 58.5% in 2023, contributing to an increase in on-the-go beverage consumption. The retail beverage market in Indonesia is further supporting the growth of the RTD tea market as convenience has become a key factor of consumer demand for many Indonesians.
Currently, the quality of Vietnamese tea products is on par with any tea-producing country in the world. However, the price of Vietnamese tea exported to Indonesia in particular and globally in general is only half of the average tea price in the world. To increase export value, businesses need to focus on improving quality, investing in processing and product diversification, and building a brand for Vietnamese tea.