Despite a high export revenue recorded so far this year, the coffee sector is advised to enhance the quality and competitiveness of their products to better conquer the world market.

Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that in the first 11 months of this year, Vietnam exported 1.36 million tonnes of coffee for 3.5 billion USD, up 3.4% year on year.

However, the export volume is decreasing in the recent two months, mostly due to low inventories.

Vietnam has the sixth largest coffee farming area in the world but the second biggest output thanks to high yields. However, the supply is dropping although Vietnam is entering a new harvesting season, leading to a hike in prices.

Do Ha Nam, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Coffee-Cocoa Association (Vicofa), said that the coffee price will further increase if farmers pay greater attention to enhancing the quality of material coffee. He advised farmers to concentrate on the harvesting stage and ensure the traceability of their products to meet export requirements, especially in the European market, the largest market of Vietnamese coffee.

Nam noted that among the 720,000 hectares of coffee across the country, only 185,000 hectares have received sustainable production certificates of different kinds, accounting for only a small part of the total area.

He underlined the need to manage the farming areas and farming area codes to avoid violations in anti-deforestation regulations.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Quang Binh, Editor-in-Chief of the Vietnam coffee magazine, said that in order to secure stable sale prices, Vietnamese coffee must meet the requirements of buyers, especially those in Europe where many new import regulations have been introduced.

VNA