Vietnam Coffee Producers Asked to Invest More in Processing Tech
Domestic coffee companies should invest more in processing technologies to add value to the product, according to the Vietnam Coffee and Cacao Association (Vicofa).
“Most processing plants in Vietnam just classify and polish the beans, as a result of which the country does not earn much profit from export of the beans despite being one of the world’s largest coffee exporters,” the association said.
Vicofa added that total raw coffee processing capacity currently reaches one million tons per annum.
Regarding coffee export contracts in the remaining months of 2009, Vicofa has also recommended its members keep a close eye on the world market to avoid losses.
From plant to cup, coffee goes through a clutch of other processes like sorting by color, roasting and grinding, which few companies in Vietnam undertake.
In the first five months of this year, domestic companies were estimated to have earned US$963 million from exporting 646 tons of coffee, down 12.1 per cent in value but up 21.6 per cent in volume against the same period last year.
The biggest buyers of Vietnamese coffee are the U.S., Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Japan and South Korea.
The price of coffee at the Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Exchange has been rising this month, going up to US$1,570 a ton, representing an increase of US$120 a ton from last month but still a decrease of more than US$400 from the same time last year. (Vietnam Economic Times)
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