Vietnam to focus on quality. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has unveiled a master plan (until 2020 with vision extended to 2030) to develop the coffee industry, focusing mainly on processing as the main value-adding measure.
Vo Thanh Do, deputy head of the ministry’s Agro-Forestry, Seafood Processing and Salt Industry Department, said that although Viet Nam is the leading country in robusta coffee production and export, it lagged behind in making value additions to its produce.
The ministry will focus on improving the quality and hygiene of existing roasted and ground coffee products consumed domestically while increasing productivity to 50,000 tonnes (90 per cent of the designed capacity) in 2020 from the current 26,000 tonnes (50 per cent of the designed capacity).
Another priority is elevating instant coffee to become a high value-added product for export and domestic consumption, with an output of 55,000 tonnes by 2020 and 120,000 tonnes by 2030. Production of mixed coffee products like three-in-one and two-in-one sachets is expected to reach over 200,000 tonnes by 2020 and 230,000 tonnes by 2030.
Over the next 15 years, processed coffee products for export and domestic consumption are expected to generate US$1 billion, accounting for 25 per cent of the production value.
