Vietnamese tea is finding a bigger audience in the United States. Customs figures cited by Vietnam's Export-Import Department put shipments to the US at $7.64 million for January to August 2026 — 36.4% higher in value and 22% higher in volume than a year earlier. The average price on that route climbed 12% to $1,649 per ton.
The wider export picture is more mixed. Over the eight months Vietnam sold 77,256 tons of tea abroad, worth $143.5 million. Volumes slipped 9.8%, yet revenue fell only 1.5% because the average price rose 4.5% to $1,778 per ton. Saudi Arabia and Russia bought more, while shipments to Pakistan dropped by more than half.
Behind the numbers is a deliberate change of course: rather than selling raw leaf in bulk, Vietnamese producers are moving into processed green tea, oolong and flavoured blends that command better prices. Less volume, more value — a pattern playing out across much of the global tea trade.
Source: RetailNews Asia