O Long Tea Plus was launched on the market by PepsiCo Vietnam in a noisy advertisement campaign. The products
are delivered for free at public entertainment centers and displayed at most groceries as ‘products with Japanese
quality’. The advertisement has led to the misunderstanding that O long Tea Plus is a product of Japan. Vietnamese
favor the product, because they believe in the high quality of Japanese products. However, doubts about the quality
of the products and the manufacturer’s ads have been raised after local newspapers discovered that the tea is made
of input materials imported from China. In Vietnamese thoughts, Chinese products mean ‘low quality’ and ‘toxic’
products.
Local newspapers have found customs declaration documents showing that from June to December 2015, Suntory
PepsiCo Vietnam imported input materials from China – Instant Oolong tea powder SUN60, 20 kilos per carton.
The documents showed Vietnam was the import country, while the original country was ‘CN’, or China.
Gia Dinh & Xa Hoi newspaper discovered that in the last six months of 2015 alone, Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam
imported 30,672 kilos of Instant Oo long tea powder SUN60, worth $1,272,365.
The information stirred up the public, especially when reporters said they could not contact the managers of Suntory
PepsiCo Vietnam to clarify the problem. Meanwhile, customers have accused the manufacturer of giving vague
information about the origin of materials in ads.
Vuong Ngoc Tuan, deputy secretary of the Vietnam Association for Standards and Consumer Protection, affirmed
that in principle, manufacturers must show the origin and elements of products and they must take responsibility for
the product quality.
While Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam imports tea materials from China, Vietnamese tea remains unsalable. Doan Trong
Phuong, deputy chair of the Vietnam Tea Association, said the Oo long tea inventory volume has reached 2,000 tons.
