Essence of highland villages: [1] Bang Phuc's wine in the mountains, tea in the clouds

Editor’s note: From the majestic Phja Bjooc range to the dreamy eastern slopes of Tam Dao, ethnic minority villages are awakening and transforming. There, tea buds, wine bottles, and vermicelli strands, once familiar in daily meals, have become key commodities, bringing livelihoods and prosperity to local communities.

Renowned Shan Tuyet tea

Along the Bac Kan - Ba Be Lake route winding through the mountains, the section passing through the Bang Phuc area in Dong Phuc commune, Thai Nguyen province, stretches like a silk ribbon, with ancient tea trees lining the roadside. Each tree is marked with identification numbers and QR codes for information access. This is a cluster of 12 ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees, some several decades old and others nearing 100 years of age, which have been officially recognized as heritage trees.

Sipping a cup of tea at a newly built rest stop atop Khau Tham Pass, I sensed a delicate yet deep aroma, a mild astringency that quickly gave way to a lingering sweetness settling gently in the throat. It was the natural, pure sweetness of Bang Phuc Shan Tuyet tea.

Bang Phuc is a land of overlapping mountain ranges embraced by cool streams flowing day and night. The mountains, waters, and clouds here, together with the diligent hands of generations of local people, have created the local specialties. Among them, Bang Phuc Shan Tuyet tea has long been famous far and wide.

On mountainsides at an altitude of 1,200 meters above sea level, the Shan Tuyet tea trees have large trunks and deeply anchored roots. The Bang Phuc area today is home to 740 ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees, including 12 recognized as Viet Nam Heritage Trees. Along the mountainsides, young tea buds are covered with a fine layer of white fuzz, the feature that gives Shan Tuyet tea its name.

Today, Bang Phuc Shan Tuyet tea is no longer hidden among the clouds and mountains but has emerged from the villages to become a well-known brand. From fresh tea buds, carefully processed by skilled hands, Bang Phuc Shan Tuyet tea products have gradually established their own position, with many brands reaching far.

Currently, the Bang Phuc area in Dong Phuc commune has more than 300 hectares of Shan Tuyet tea plantations. Bang Phuc Shan Tuyet tea was granted a collective trademark certificate in 2018.

Ngoc Thang Agriculture Development and Pharmaceutical Processing Co., Ltd. has been working closely with Bang Phuc tea growers for more than seven years. Each year, the company purchases dozens of tons of fresh tea buds. To secure a stable supply of raw materials, the enterprise has signed purchase agreements with more than 30 households in Bang Phuc. Currently, its Shan Tuyet White Tea product has achieved 4-star OCOP certification and is distributed in many provinces and cities nationwide.

In addition, products such as black tea, white tea, tea bags, and pu-erh tea processed from fresh Shan Tuyet tea buds by several enterprises and cooperatives are gradually establishing their brands. Notably, some Shan Tuyet tea products of Sachstea Bac Kan JSC have been exported to the U.S.

Leaf yeast wine reaches international markets

Bang Phuc is also famous for its leaf yeast wine, a traditional craft preserved by the Tay ethnic community in the area for hundreds of years. What creates the unmistakable flavor of Bang Phuc leaf yeast wine is the secret to making the fermentation starter. The yeast cakes are handcrafted by local people using valuable medicinal plants collected from the forest. This distinctive flavor has built the reputation of Bang Phuc leaf yeast wine over many years.

The commune currently has more than 300 wine production facilities. On average, each facility produces around 1,000 liters/month, with notable examples including Bang Phuc Leaf Yeast Wine Cooperative and Thanh Tam Cooperative. The locality currently has 11 wine products certified under the OCOP program, including 10 3-star products and one 4-star product.

Bang Phuc people have preserved the traditional wine-brewing craft while maintaining product quality and safety standards, along with an awareness of protecting the reputation and quality of their products. These efforts have gradually helped build the locality’s brand.

Wine brewing in Bang Phuc has existed for generations. In the past, the products were sold only within the province, but they are now available in many provinces and cities across the region. In 2022, the first shipment of Bang Phuc leaf yeast wine exported to the Japanese market marked a clear transformation in the local traditional brewing industry.

Thanh Tam Cooperative also signed a contract and delivered a shipment of traditional herbal yeast liquor to distributor Komeco Ltd. for export to Japan. The first export shipment consisted of more than 8,000 bottles, meeting the partner’s requirements in terms of quality and packaging. To date, Thanh Tam Cooperative continues to maintain exports in line with partner orders.

According to Mr. Trieu Quang Hung, Chairman of the Dong Phuc Commune People’s Committee, local residents have combined traditional leaf yeast wine production with pig farming, with many households earning hundreds of millions of dong annually. Alongside the cultivation and processing of Shan Tuyet tea, traditional leaf yeast wine brewing has been identified as the commune’s spearhead sector for economic development.

Three breakthroughs

Mr. Trieu Duc Thong, Vice Chairman of the Dong Phuc Commune People’s Committee, spent many years working in the agricultural sector before taking on his current leadership role. Through our conversation, we could sense his deep concern for local livelihoods and for the commune’s agricultural products.

The two products of Bang Phuc leaf yeast wine and Bang Phuc Shan Tuyet tea already have a solid foundation. The remaining challenge is to properly address bottlenecks related to production organization, branding, and market development.

Dong Phuc commune covers a natural area of more than 199 km² and is located 12 km from Ba Be Lake, along the tourism corridor linking Ba Be Lake, Na Hang, and Thai Nguyen. The area boasts a diverse ecosystem of forests, streams, caves, terraced fields, and the ancient Bang Phuc Shan Tuyet tea tree complex.

For Bang Phuc tea to reach international markets, it is essential to develop large, high-quality, and attractive plantations that attract investment from cooperatives and enterprises. According to Mr. Thong, there are four areas with potential to attract investors for tea plantation expansion: Khuoi En (around 200 hectares), Na Bay (about 40 hectares), Ban Chang (4 hectares), and Ban Moi (50 hectares).

The Dong Phuc Commune People’s Committee has proactively invited and attracted enterprises to invest in the production and consumption of Shan Tuyet tea through cooperation memorandum signing programs. Currently, Quan Chu Tea JSC is conducting surveys and plans to develop a project to preserve and restore ancient tea trees while expanding Shan Tuyet tea-growing areas associated with community-based ecotourism in Dong Phuc commune.

The company has also developed a specific roadmap to purchase fresh tea from local households, with an estimated output of around 6.2 tons of fresh tea to be processed at a nearby factory. In addition, the enterprise has proposed that the commune allocate around 30 hectares of land for developing new tea plantations, expected to be located in Phieng Phung village. Regarding conservation and restoration of ancient tea trees, the company plans to coordinate with local authorities to survey, assess, and prepare dossiers for heritage tree recognition, while implementing preservation measures for all ancient tea trees in the commune.

For leaf yeast wine products, Vice Chairman Trieu Duc Thong also acknowledged that although the products have been well received by consumers and consumption remains relatively stable, there is still no production unit large enough to build a sufficiently strong brand.

Although local households have implemented product labeling, most products have yet to obtain trademark protection registration, weakening their competitiveness and preventing product prices from reaching their full potential. Insufficient attention to branding and intellectual property protection has also increased the risk of counterfeiting.

After a few sips of leaf yeast wine that stir the senses, followed by a cup of Shan Tuyet tea, tourists often find themselves reluctant to leave Bang Phuc, a land renowned for both its good wine and clean tea.

To help Shan Tuyet tea and leaf yeast wine reach far, the Dong Phuc Commune People’s Committee has identified three breakthroughs. The first focuses on branding associated with the development of the collective trademark “Bang Phuc Leaf Yeast Wine” and the geographical indication “Bang Phuc Shan Tuyet Tea.”

The second breakthrough is in production organization, requiring provincial support to attract capable enterprises and cooperatives to participate in production, processing, and consumption linkages with local residents. The goal is to gradually establish stable value chains and large-scale commodity production while overcoming the current fragmented, small-scale production system.

The third breakthrough targets market development through digital transformation, including support for local residents and cooperatives to bring products onto e-commerce platforms and improve sales skills. The locality also aims to strengthen consumption linkages with supermarket systems and specialty stores both inside and outside the province, gradually building stable distribution channels and moving toward export markets.

Dong Phuc commune is orienting the development of leaf yeast wine production areas and Shan Tuyet tea zones in association with experiential tourism, including establishing visitor sites that showcase production processes and promote local products and the commune’s image, thereby creating additional livelihoods for local residents.