“I hope that one day the Ambassador’s table will feature Vietnamese cocoa products from the Central Highlands,” said Mr. Bạch Thanh Tuấn, Director of the Center for Community Development (CDC), to Julien Guerrier, the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Vietnam, on a March day in the Central Highlands.
Ambassador Guerrier shared “I was born in France and spent many years living in Belgium. I hope to be able to enjoy organic chocolate produced by Vietnam”. His remark is certainly a great source of encouragement. France and Belgium are the chocolate-producing countries, while Vietnam has yet to establish a significant presence in this market.
According to statistics from Helvetas Vietnam, Vietnam’s total cocoa cultivation area in 2024 reached only 3,407.1 hectares. In which, the provinces of Đắk Lắk, Đắk Nông, Gia Lai, and Lâm Đồng account for 48%. Vietnam’s total cocoa bean output stands at 4,789 tons per year. Figures from the International Cocoa Organization show that global cocoa production currently exceeds 4 million tons per year.
Vietnamese cocoa products
The Ambassador’s encouragement is expressed not only in words but also through action. From 2022 to the present, the EU has funded a project worth nearly two million euros. The project aims to support the transformation of Vietnamese cocoa products in the Central Highlands and the Southeast region. The goal is to move toward regenerative and circular economic approaches. This will promote the application of the circular economy more broadly in the agri-food sector.
These days, farmers in Ea Kar District, Đắk Lắk Province—home to around 750 hectares of cocoa—are harvesting their cocoa in high spirits. Yields have increased and prices have continued to rise thanks to stable off-take agreements signed with several Vietnamese cocoa enterprises.
Ms. Nguyễn Hồng Thương is Director of Nhất Tâm Cooperative in Ea Đar Commune, Ea Kar District, Đắk Nông Province. She said that the purchase price of fresh cocoa beans this year has reached nearly 90,000 VND per kilogram.
With proper cultivation techniques, each hectare of cocoa can generate an average annual income of 500–700 million VND. Especially, several households earn up to 1 billion VND for selling Vietnamese cocoa products. Nhất Tâm Cooperative purchases fresh cocoa beans from farmers with a guaranteed minimum price. As a result, it gives them peace of mind to continue developing this crop.
Mr. Nguyễn Xuân Lưu is a farmer in Ea Đar Commune. He happily shared that earning 400–500 million VND a year is “already very good—what more could one hope for?” Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyễn Đức Thành brought a bag of fresh cocoa beans to sell to Nhất Tâm Cooperative in high spirits. He proudly said that after two harvests—each earning about 15 million VND—he had just bought a new motorbike.
Mr. Nguyễn Kim Đình is another farmer in Đắk Wil Commune, Cư Jút District, Đắk Nông Province. His family currently owns three hectares of land with 3,000 mature cocoa trees. According to him, in 2023 the purchase price of fresh cocoa beans was only around 24,000–25,000 VND per kilogram. Since last year, prices have risen significantly, allowing him to earn about 600 million VND.
Vietnamese cocoa powder
In recent years, global cocoa prices have continued to rise due to the impacts of climate change on key growing regions worldwide. For example, Côte d’Ivoire—the world’s leading cocoa producer—lost 3.8 million hectares of cocoa-growing area, equivalent to 26%, during the period from 2001 to 2023. As demand increases while supply declines, global cocoa prices have risen accordingly. This creates new opportunities for cocoa farmers in the Central Highlands.
Since 2007, the EU has implemented the “SWITCH-Asia Programme” to promote sustainable production and consumption models and behaviors in Asia. Promoting a circular economy in agriculture is one of the program’s key focuses in Vietnam. Cocoa was selected as a pioneering model because it is large enough to generate meaningful impact, yet small and concentrated enough to test and demonstrate effectiveness.
Mr. Phạm Hữu Thời, Director of Nhất Thống Company, which is intercropping cocoa with other crops across 300 hectares under a circular model, has received what he described as support that came “to the right people at the right time” from the project. With assistance from Helvetas Vietnam, the company has established seedling nurseries, developed vermiculture (earthworm farming) models, produced biological plant protection products, and put in place a circular farming system. The goal is to create organic products that meet international standards.
Meanwhile, at Nhất Tâm Cooperative, circular economy solutions are being widely applied to cocoa production. These range from using cocoa by-products as organic fertilizer and animal feed to converting cocoa waste into biochar. Biochar is then used as fertilizer for crops.
Standing beside a kiln that converts agricultural by-products into biochar, Mr. Vũ Dương Quỳnh, a consultant from the Institute of Agricultural Environment for Nhất Tâm Cooperative, explained that at a cost of 15 million VND, a household-scale kiln can currently process only 25–30% of a household’s agricultural by-products. However, it can still supply about one-third of the household’s annual fertilizer needs.
Vietnamese cocoa nibs
More importantly, biochar produced from cocoa by-products—such as pods, branches, and dried leaves—is of good quality. It helps to improve soil health, retain moisture, and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, it makes full use of the cocoa plant’s circular lifecycle.
Mr. Bạch Thanh Tuấn is a member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Coffee–Cocoa Association (VICOFA). He did not hesitate to affirm that the EU project is helping to awaken the potential of Vietnam’s cocoa sector. It is unlocking the potential of the Central Highlands and many other regions.
Through training programs, farmers have gradually changed their mindset. They are now moving toward products packing in terms of quality, environmental responsibility, and clear traceability. These Vietnamese cocoa products meet the stringent standards of European and global markets.
Mr. Tuấn hopes that the next step will be to incorporate carbon credits into the project as a way to catalyze new governance approaches. This would contribute in a small but meaningful way to achieving the Government’s net-zero target by 2050.
For his part, Ambassador Julien Guerrier was happy to see that, with EU support, businesses and farms in Vietnam are taking the lead in upgrading production. This is especially evident in the Vietnam’s cocoa sector, where circular economy models are being available.
The Ambassador also noted that he had visited a circular model in the Mekong Delta within the shrimp farming industry. In that model, shrimp ponds are designed as closed-loop circular systems. Fish in the ponds help process waste generated by the shrimp, creating a sustainable production chain. He believes that Vietnam is truly at the forefront and has strong potential to become a model for the circular economy for other countries.