Dalat wine in its integration advances

When referring to Vietnam wine, implicitly people think of Dalat which is known as the capital of “made in Vietnam” bottles of wine. Nor is it accidental that the french culture that the world honors as the master in the art of making wine and enjoying wine is “pure Vietnamese” and unique flavor in this “Little Paris”. Therefore along with the history of the founding of the Cily of Eternal Spring, Dalat wine has become a distinctive brand, to contribute to the economic development of this land. Dalat wine then continues to assert its name in its new advances, the “long” strides in the integration.

Asserting its brand name

To bring the aroma of red or white wine to each meal, each feast requires how much enthusiasm and passion of those who make Dalat wine, with both failure and success so that every bottle of wine can stand firmly on the market. We must make some survey at several wine-producing companies to understand the story behind each bottle of wine each wine brand.

In 2003, the Company continued to research and improve the design and launched three new product lines with dozens of wines and bitter wines especially white wine and red wine which have been preferred by domestic and foreign consumers Thanks to that, annual total sales of the unit increased by 5- 10%. With a total area of 8,700 m2 and a capacity of 2.5 million liters year, the company was put into business operation in early 2007. Mr. Tran Phu Loc Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dalat brewery and wine joint-stock company said”Dalat Beco wines are high quality products manufactured under modern technology to reach European standards Therefore, the management of product quality must be in strict compliance with prescribed standards. A types of company products before being launched in the consumption market are tested from preliminary processing to finished products. In the coming time, we will take gradual steps to invest in technology of modern production and processing to create higher quality products.

In another business strategy, towards sustainable development, Ladofoods company is one of the first businesses interested in developing clean material areas. Lam Dong Foodstuffs Corp. has decided to establish”Raw material areas development project in Ninh Thuan province with the function of developing material areas for processing products of Dalat wines, Developing the model of growing wine grapes for wine production following European BIO method; training consultant teams, technicians organizing conferences seminars and instructing Ninh Thuan farmers to develop farming, propagation of wine under the company’s new technologies to grape growers.

Mr Nguyen Huu Thuy, deputy general Director of Ladofoods said: The model of viniculture following the method of making fence and the BIO viticulture demonstration in the vineyard by European technology, under direct guidance of Austrian experts, testing process of improvement of taking care to gradually improve yield and quality of grapes, has reduced production costs, selected grape varieties suitable for the climatic and soil conditions of Ninh Thuan. With high output from this good material source, annually, the company consumes all products from farmers from 3-4 thousand tons year, enough to raise the capacity of Dalat Wine Factory up to four-five million liters year, including the high-quality product lines, that can walk abraist the high-end imported wines available in Vietnam market. Through experimentation, there are 7 imported wine grape varieties grown in Dalat-Lam Dong. So far, there are 2 varieties of Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah that have given good results, adapted to the natural conditions in Lam Dong.

Enhancing Dalat Wine to a new height

Dalat Wine has deep, delicious and passionate flavor and conforms to the taste of Vietnamese people. However, with the economic integration of the country and most recently when Vietnam joined the Trade Agreement Trans-Pacific (TPP) Dalat wine again stood between opportunities and challenges. Local wines are trusted and supported by consumers, but it is not enough, for domestic wine quality is not able to compete with imported wines. Especially since Vietnam joined the TPP, the tariffs are lifted, a lot of foreign reputed brands will be imported to Vietnam, so Dalat wine needs to assert its brand and quality.

Being a more than 20-year-old brand name, Vinh Tien is evaluated as the strong brand on the Dalat wine market. Mrs Nguyen Thi Bich Hue Company director said: What the Dalat wine brands should first aim at present is the quality to be able to sustain. For example, at our company, the production process of clean wines starts from grapes imported from France, grown in Dalat, through manufacturing processes with traditional fermentation technology of France, to produce high quality wine. Under the sponsorship of the Government of Denmark, since 2009 Vinh Tien Company has applied VietGAP(quality management processes to protect food hygiene and safety from farm to table) the production process. VietGAP is an assurance process from the selection of grape varieties, planting, harvesting and manufacturing of standardized wine. Product diversity must be also various in terms of products from light wine of 11degrees 11.5 degrees, 12 degrees to 12.5 degrees, and wine bags/wine boxes of 3-5 liters.

Vietnam wine market is increasingly growing diverse, rich with dozens of domestic wine producers and the massive arrival of foreign wine products. Making a comparison between Vietnamese and foreign wine, it is clear that foreign wine has a much higher price, while the quality of the wines (medium-sized) are even poorer than domestic wines. The first reason is that wine is seen as luxury goods, with high tax excise, therefore imported wine prices are pushed higher than the actual value when sold abroad. The second is due to the high cost, foreign wines in Vietnam are very often made fake.

With integration, opportunities and challenges are always parallel to Dalat wine, Dalat wine not only needs innovation, quality improvement but also copes with fierce competitiveness of imported wines. With the strategy of primary concern to the domestic market and customers, Dalat wine manufacturers have also started approaching the world market with lines of premium wines, enhancing Dalat wine to the new height.

A gradually mature market, increasingly knowledgeable consumers, better living income, improved living standards and a more convenient policy are promising factors for an exciting playground of wine brands. And in this playground, we believe Dalat wine will constantly make use of its advantage, keeping pace of current trends to assert its position and put Dalat wine to new heights, with its strategic and long-term advances. So that for every bottle of wine to reach consumers, they donot only prefer the special sweetness of Dalat wine but also remember the stories of making wine, and the wine brands from Dalat.

By Diem Thuong

cuisine