HANOI, Vietnam – Vietnam and 14 other world leading tea and coffee exporters, including China, the Philippines and India took part in a tea and coffee festival at the United Nations headquarters in New York on May 18.
The event was organised by the UN Correspondents Association (UNCA) and the association of wives of Arab diplomats in the UN.
Products such as tea, coffee, candies and cookies were sold at 1 USD each. However, visitors did not pay in cash but in tokens sold by UNICEF at the entrance to the festival. All the proceeds will be used to support children in famine-ravaged Yemen.
UNCA President Sherwin Bryce-Pease said the festival was an occasion for countries to advertise their tea and coffee products, and for diplomatic workers to learn more about one another’s cultures.
An The Dung, Director of Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade’s trade promotion centre in New York, said it was a good chance for the country to popularise its beverage products in the US.
About 158 million people drink tea in the US, but Vietnamese tea has only a 2-percent market share.
