Enhancing the value of Vietnam’s cocoa products: Restructuring green agriculture in the Central Highlands

The National Agricultural Extension Center has made a preliminary assessment that Vietnam’s total cocoa cultivation area is about 3,500 hectares. Total raw material output reaches nearly 5,000 tons of Vietnam’s cocoa products per year. Of this, the Central Highlands account for around 48% of the total area. This region has favorable natural conditions for cocoa development that can reaffirm its role in restructuring a green, circular agricultural economy.

For many years, cocoa in the Central Highlands existed as an “accompanying” crop rather than a mainstay. It was neither a primary crop nor a strategic commodity. Instead, farmers intercropped cocoa trees in coffee, pepper, or fruit orchards. However, as agriculture in the Central Highlands shifts its growth model toward high-value products and lower emissions, making cocoa different. It is not only a replacement crop, but as one that helps adjust the ecological and value structure of regional agriculture.

Vietnam’s cocoa products

Recently, both management agencies and scientists have assessed cocoa as one of the very few crops suitable for the Central Highlands. It fits local ecological conditions in terms of both biology and market potential. This assessment reflects reality, as many farming households and cooperatives have been developing Vietnam’s cocoa products along sustainable lines.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai is the doctor from the Western Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute (WASI). Based on her scientific research, cocoa has a unique advantage. It adapts well to basalt soils while also being able to participate in the high-quality chocolate segment of the global market.

Cocoa has a wide adaptability range and can intercrop under shade trees. It is also well suitable with agroforestry models. More importantly, the quality of Vietnamese cocoa beans—especially those from the Central Highlands—can fully enter the highest value segment of the chocolate industry.

This assessment captures the essence of the cocoa story. Cocoa is not a mass crop that aimed at chasing output volume. Instead, it focuses on value, quality, and sustainability.

Traditionally, agriculture in the Central Highlands developed under a nearly fixed “single-axis” model: coffee – pepper – rubber. While this model helped rapidly increase output of export-oriented commodities, it also created long-term consequences. These included soil degradation, water resource depletion, and heightened environmental and market risks.

In Lam Dong and Gia Lai provinces, cocoa follows a similar logic. It is not developed as a large-scale crop, but is gradually being recognized as an ecological component in local agricultural restructuring. In Lam Dong, cocoa is intercropped in areas undergoing crop conversion. It is linked to organic agriculture and high-tech farming models. The province positions cocoa as a complementary crop that helps diversify livelihoods and improve soil ecosystems. This is particularly important as many production areas face degradation pressures.

Vietnamese cocoa beans

In Gia Lai, cocoa appears sporadically in intercropping models with coffee, pepper, and fruit trees. It is mainly grown in areas with suitable cultivation conditions and land available for conversion. Provincial specialized agencies assess cocoa as having strong adaptability and minimal direct competition with key crops.

In addition, cocoa has the potential to foster high-value agricultural products linked to processing. As Gia Lai’s agriculture seeks crops that are both ecologically sustainable and market-oriented, cocoa is viewed as a strategic choice focused on quality and value addition.

Ms. Dang Thi Thuy is the Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dak Lak Province. She stated that Vietnamese cocoa is gradually asserting its role in agricultural restructuring. Cocoa is a long-term crop with relatively simple cultivation and care techniques. It requires moderate investment and is particularly well suitable with local climatic and soil conditions. Vietnam’s cocoa products are also able to meet the province’s diverse market demands.

Dak Lak is the locality with the largest cocoa cultivation area nationwide. It is considered to have ideal conditions for cocoa development, especially in areas with degraded gray soils where suitable alternative crops have yet to be identified.

According to the Dak Lak Provincial Agricultural Extension Center, the province currently has about 1,998 hectares of cocoa. Some assessments place the figure at 1,140 hectares. Average dry bean yields exceed 15.38 quintals per hectare, with total output in 2025 estimated at around 1,650 tons. Overall assessments by scientists indicate that Dak Lak cocoa is the highest quality in the country. This is thanks to favorable soil, climate, and agro-ecological conditions that allow cocoa to grow and develop well.

Vietnam’s cocoa trees

In addition, statistical data show that cocoa is highly suitable for cultivation under the canopy of other crops. Its by-products are also important raw materials for crop production under circular economy models. These conditions are key factors underpinning cocoa’s solid position within the trend of agricultural development associated with green growth and climate change adaptation.

Vietnam’s export enterprises typically apply full cocoa processing procedures, from fermentation through to finished products. The Dak Lak cocoa market not only supplies raw cocoa beans but also offers a wide range of finished products. These products are available through traditional markets, supermarket systems, clean food stores, institutional kitchens, and orders from neighboring provinces.

In addition, cocoa fruit itself is an attractive fresh fruit with high nutritional value. It has become a product rich in cultural and local identity, attracting domestic and international tourists to visit, taste, and experience.

Despite being one of the industrial crops with high economic value, cocoa has yet to secure a firm position in the agricultural structure of the Central Highlands. Instead, it faces intense competition from other perennial crops such as coffee, pepper, and rubber. It also competes with fruit trees like avocado and durian.

Currently, Dak Lak Province is developing a “Cocoa Industry Development Project.” The project aims to build the cocoa sector along a value-chain approach. Its goal is to ensure sustainability while meeting the growing demand for Vietnam’s cocoa products in both export and domestic markets.