The first Son La Coffee Festival in 2023 will be held in Son La City from October 10 to October 13, 2023 on a provincial scale to promote and honor Vietnamese coffee beans.
Tree to escape poverty for Son La people
After more than 30 years of developing coffee trees, Son La is now the locality with the largest coffee area in the North, with about 17,000 hectares, producing about 30,000 tons of green coffee per year. In particular, since 2017, Son La coffee has had a strong transformation, when it was granted a geographical indication certificate "Son La Coffee" by the National Office of Intellectual Property for the following products: Green coffee, coffee roasted coffee beans and ground coffee; become regional specialty products, highly appreciated by domestic and foreign consumers. Along with sustainable development of coffee trees, Son La province has had orientations, goals and strategic solutions to enhance the brand and further enhance the value of coffee trees.
In Son La province, there are 03 localities that are the main coffee raw material areas including: Thuan Chau district, Son La city and Mai Son district. (Thuan Chau with an area of 5,600 hectares, Son La city with an area of 5,000 hectares and Mai Son district with an area of over 6,400 hectares).
Since 2017, Son La coffee products have been granted a Geographical Indication Registration Certificate by the National Office of Intellectual Property, with 3 types of products: green coffee, roasted coffee and powdered coffee. Businesses and establishments eligible to use include: Son La Coffee Company Limited, Bich Thao Coffee Cooperative - Son La, Son La Branch - Cat Que Production and Trading Company Limited, Branch Son La – Minh Tien Coffee Import-Export Company Limited.
In 2021, Coffee products of Bich Thao Son La Coffee Cooperative achieved national 5-star OCOP product certification and the Vietnamese agricultural gold brand.
Currently, Son La coffee has been exported to nearly 20 countries (Japan, America, Middle Eastern countries and European countries) and is one of the main export products in Son La province. With the characteristics of suitable natural conditions, diligence and commitment of the ethnic people here, Arabica coffee trees grow, develop and produce coffee beans with great flavor, worthy of the title Specialties of the Son La mountain region.
From the "mission" of hunger eradication and poverty reduction, coffee has now become the main industrial crop of Son La province; Many specialty coffee products and high-quality coffee have gradually conquered demanding markets, contributing to affirming the image and brand of Vietnamese coffee on the world coffee map.
Many special events to promote Vietnamese coffee
The first Son La Coffee Festival in 2023 is expected to take place in October, including a ceremony and festival with many activities, such as: "Son La Coffee" Exhibition Fair; Workshop on improving the quality of Son La coffee; coffee product trade connection conference; Displaying beautiful photos of Son La Coffee. Along with that, the following activities will take place: Inauguration of investment projects in the coffee sector; Farmer competition; Coffee Gala night; Organize experiential tours, explore coffee tours...
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Cong - Vice Chairman of Son La Provincial People's Committee emphasized: The first Son La Coffee Festival was held to promote the Son La coffee brand; is an opportunity for Son La province to introduce its image, potential and strengths; promote and attract investment in the business and processing of coffee and other agricultural products of the province.
The event also aims to affirm the position of Son La coffee in domestic and foreign markets; honoring coffee growers, producers, processors and traders, encouraging the community to join hands in cultivating the development of coffee culture in Son La province in particular and Vietnam in general. This is an opportunity to introduce a unique image of coffee culture, people, potentials, strengths and tourism of the province, creating an image of Son La as friendly, hospitable, attracting investors, tourists coming to Son La; promote production development, connect supply and demand, innovate, raise income, and stabilize the lives of ethnic minorities and mountainous areas; Promote the spirit of entrepreneurship and business start-up, support the process of economic restructuring towards increasing the proportion of goods and services in especially difficult communes and ethnic minority areas based on the potential capabilities, strengths and locally available resources.
