Mau Son Shan Tuyet tea waits an opportunity to the global market

A precious specialty awaiting full value realization

Amidst the mountain ranges covered in year-round clouds in Mau Son, ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees have been silently growing for hundreds of years. Thanks to the cool climate, high humidity, and characteristic soil of the high mountain region, Mau Son Shan Tuyet tea possesses a unique flavor, becoming one of Lang Son's precious specialties.

Currently, the Mau Son area - comprising Mau Son, Cong Son, and Ba Son communes, retains over 10 hectares of Shan Tuyet tea, with many trees aged between 100 and 300 years. In Ba Son commune alone, 12 trees were recognized as Vietnam Heritage Trees in 2023, while Cong Son commune saw an additional 99 trees recognized in 2024. This serves as a valuable resource, providing a firm foundation for developing the locality's signature products.

For many years, however, this potential has not been exploited to its full extent. Most of the tea acreage grows scattered across forests, and locals primarily harvest it based on traditional experience or for household consumption. The lack of concentrated raw material zones, manual processing workflows, and loose production alliances have prevented Shan Tuyet tea from becoming a high-value commodity product.

Although a few cooperatives have begun purchasing raw materials and processing products, their scale remains small. Resolving bottlenecks in raw material zones, branding, and output markets is essential to transforming Shan Tuyet tea into a flagship product of the Mau Son region.

Perfecting the value chain to elevate the product

From the aforementioned reality, the province's orientation is no longer confined to gene pool conservation, but is shifting toward developing Shan Tuyet tea along an integrated value chain, from raw material zones and processing to branding and product consumption.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Chien, Director of the Lang Son Department of Agriculture and Environment, stated that the Provincial People's Committee has assigned the Department to chair and coordinate with localities to review and statistics the current state of Shan Tuyet tea trees regarding acreage, quantity, and distribution. This will serve as a baseline to formulate conservation and development orientations tailored to ecological conditions, linked with processing, building OCOP products, and market consumption.

Concurrently, the Department will guide technical workflows for propagation, planting, caring, harvesting, and processing along safe, organic lines; while managing, exploiting, and protecting Shan Tuyet tea trees within special-use and protection forests in strict compliance with legal regulations.

In parallel, the Provincial People's Committee has assigned the Department of Science and Technology to continue implementing the research project "Researching the Conservation and Development of Mau Son Shan Tea." Based on the research findings, the province will select elite stock trees, restore the gene pool, construct propagation models, transfer processing technologies, perfect technical workflows, and support branding and traceability. This will create a solid foundation to enhance product quality and competitive capacity in the international arena.

Expanding markets from tourism to exports

Alongside perfecting raw material zones and production workflows, market expansion is identified as a pivotal step to elevate the value of Shan Tuyet tea trees.

Under the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Industry and Trade will support trade promotion, connect supply and demand, and introduce the products into modern distribution systems and e-commerce platforms. Cooperatives and enterprises will receive support to build brands, perfect packaging, improve product quality, expand into out-of-province markets, and gradually move toward exporting high-quality tea lines.

In the tourism sector, the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has been tasked with researching and developing experiential products associated with Shan Tuyet tea, such as tours of ancient tea zones, harvesting, processing, and enjoying tea. Combining Mau Son's natural landscapes, the culture of the Dao ethnic community, and specialty tea products is expected to effectively promote the image of Mau Son Shan Tuyet tea.

Mau Son, Cong Son, and Ba Son communes will continue to mobilize residents to protect ancient tea trees, apply technological advances to cultivation, harvesting, and processing, and cooperate with cooperatives and enterprises to establish stable raw material zones aligned with the province's agricultural development support policies.

Mr. Duong Trong Minh, Vice Chairman of the Mau Son Commune People's Committee, shared: "Previously, residents primarily let Shan Tuyet tea grow naturally and harvested it on a small scale, resulting in low value. The locality is coordinating with specialized bodies to review the acreage, mobilize people to protect ancient tea trees, and encourage the expansion of raw material zones. Once there are stable purchasing alliances with enterprises and cooperatives, people will confidently invest in cultivation, step-by-step turning Shan Tuyet tea into a signature local product."

According to the Lang Son Provincial People's Committee, the ultimate goal is not only to preserve ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees but also to transform this indigenous resource into high-value commercial commodities. Once the raw material zones, processing workflows, branding, and markets are perfected, Mau Son Shan Tuyet tea will secure more opportunities to reach major markets, step by step heading toward exports and creating sustainable livelihoods for local people.

From a specialty primarily preserved deep within forests, Mau Son Shan Tuyet tea is gaining more opportunities for systematic development. As the raw material zones, brand, and markets take shape synchronously, the product will not only contribute to conserving a precious gene pool but can also become a high-value agricultural commodity, bearing Lang Son's unique brand in both domestic and international markets.