A farmer is harvesting coffee. Improving coffee quality and building brands are essential for Vietnam to expand export to the European Union. (Photo: VNA) The EU, the world’s largest coffee market accounting for nearly 48 percent ofthe world’s total coffee imports, is a huge potential market for coffeeexporters.
The EU is also the biggest importer of Vietnamese coffee, accounting formore than 16 percent of Vietnam’s total coffee export.
The Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) which removed 93 percent oftariffs, including processed coffee, opened significant opportunities forVietnamese coffee, according to the ministry, adding that coffee was also oneamong 39 geographical indications of Vietnam that the EU committed toprotection under the EVFTA.
Vietnam and Brazil, two major coffee exporters, both have trade agreements withthe EU, meaning that both enjoyed preferential tariffs when exporting coffeeinto the EU. However, Brazil mainly supplied Arabica coffee while Vietnamfocused on Robusta.
The ministry said that the potential for coffee export to the EU wasconsiderable thanks to the increasing demand for processed and high-qualitycoffee.
However, Vietnamese coffee lacked established brands in the global market asprocessed coffee was mainly exported under foreign brands. This means it willnot be easy to build a brand for Vietnamese coffee in the long term, whichcould undermine the competitiveness.
The Vietnamese coffee industry needs change to improve quality, ensure origintraceability, and comply with regulations on intellectual property and buildingbrands.
The post-pandemic recovery provided significant opportunities for Vietnamesecoffee export companies to expand in the EU market.
The UK-Vietnam FTA helped Vietnamese coffee become more competitive thancountries that do not have an FTA with the UK.
The ministry forecast that Vietnam’s coffee export to the EU will increasein the next two years, driven by advantages in export tariffs and moves toimprove product quality.
The ministry urged Vietnamese companies to focus on improving quality andbuilding brands for coffee to enhance competitiveness as competition from othermajor exporters like Brazil, Colombia and NorthAmerica grows fiercer.
However, the ministry noted that the shortage of containers and risinglogistics costs this year created a considerable barrier to exports.
Thai Nhu Hiep, Chairman of Vinh Hiep Company, which exports about 50-70tonnes of coffee, 60 percent of which are shipped to the EU, said that toenter the EU markets, coffee products must ensure that there are no residues ofpesticides and comply with strict quality regulations of the market,including traceability and geographical indications.
The ministry’s statistics showed that Vietnam’s coffee exports to the EU in2021 were estimated at 556,000 tonnes, worth more than 1 billion USD,increasing 7.9 percent in volume and 6.3 percent in value comparedto 2020./.
VNA
