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Region

Quảng Nam

Home of Trà My cinnamon, a geographical indication since October 2011

The former central province behind Trà My cinnamon: what national guidance and the research say about its trees, its bark and its seasons — and what they leave out.

Administrative note. Merged into Đà Nẵng city on 1 July 2025. The geographical indication keeps the name Trà My.

Last reviewed · How we know

A piece of dried cinnamon bark curled into a double roll on a wooden table, its cut end showing one thick layer of bark
A piece of cinnamon bark collected in Bắc Trà My district, Quảng Nam, photographed in March 2020: one thick layer of bark, curled into a double roll. The file description does not name the species; Wikimedia Commons files it under Cinnamomum loureiroi.Photo: Phó Nháy· CC BY-SA 4.0 · source · Cropped (protractor removed) and resized
Quảng Nam, shown on pre-2025 province boundaries.

Products from this region

  • CinnamonCinnamomum loureiroi

    Nam Trà My and Bắc Trà My are seed-source areas in national guidance; Trà My cinnamon has a geographical indication (October 2011).1,2

Why Quảng Nam matters for cinnamon

Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture names two areas of Quảng Nam — Nam Trà My and Bắc Trà My (Tra My) — among the country’s cinnamon seed-source areas.1 Its 2022 guidance for growers describes these as areas where cinnamon grows well, with thick bark and a high content and quality of essential oil.1 A 2024 report by Vietnam’s chamber of commerce names Quảng Nam among the provinces where the country’s planted cinnamon, “up to 180,000 hectares”, is concentrated.3

Trà My cinnamon received a geographical indication in October 2011,2 and quế Trà My is one of the regional Vietnamese names under which the bark is known.4 Đỗ Tất Lợi’s reference work on Vietnamese medicinal plants records quế Thanh, which it identifies as Cinnamomum loureirii, along the Trường Sơn range from Thanh Hoá to Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi.5

Quảng Nam is now part of Đà Nẵng

On 1 July 2025 Quảng Nam province was merged into Đà Nẵng city.6 The geographical indication keeps the name Trà My, and the sources use Quảng Nam, as does this page. Nam Trà My and Bắc Trà My are former districts.

Which cinnamon tree grows in Trà My?

A 2004 field survey of cinnamon in Vietnam suggested that bark from Trà My comes from Cinnamomum loureiroi — the species the international trade standard and US regulations name for Saigon cinnamon7,8 — while bark from Yên Bái may come from C. cassia. The two barks looked alike, and the Trà My bark contained much more oil.9 This is one survey, which we have read as an abstract; we report it as a suggestion, not a settled identification.

Vietnam’s own 2022 grower guidance names the cultivated tree C. cassia and does not distinguish between regions.1 What the species difference means for a label is covered in Saigon vs Ceylon cinnamon.

Trà My, Trà Bồng and Văn Yên: three protected cinnamons

Trà My is one of three Vietnamese cinnamon geographical indications in our sources. Trà Bồng, in Quảng Ngãi, was granted on 23 November 2020 and is also a national seed-source area.10,1 Văn Yên, in the northern former province of Yên Bái, was granted in 2010.11

When cinnamon bark is peeled

We found no source that gives separate peeling months for Trà My. The national guidance sets two seasons for the whole country.

Cinnamon peeling seasons in Vietnam’s national guidance
SourceJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Spring peeling season1Mar–Apr
Autumn peeling season1Aug–Oct
National guidance from the Ministry of Agriculture, not a Trà My calendar.

The guidance sets selective harvests at tree ages 10–12 and 14–15 years and a main harvest of trees over 15 years old; bark is peeled in 40–60 cm sections.1 The full sequence is in from tree to bark.

From Trà My bark to trade

Peeled bark is washed, sorted, dried on tarpaulins and bundled, then graded by where it grew on the tree and by thickness, from grade A (over 5 mm) to C (under 2.5 mm).1 These are national grades; we found no Trà My-specific specification.

Exports are reported for Vietnam as a whole: 120,295 tonnes worth US$300.2 million in 2025, as reported by the Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association.12 Our sources do not say how much of that came from Quảng Nam. Species, grades and markets are covered in the Vietnamese cinnamon guide.

Image credits

  1. “Vietnam cinnamon tree bark” by Phó Nháy, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped (protractor removed) and resized; converted to WebP.

Sources

12 sources · 5 primary · 1 scientific · 2 industry · 4 secondary. Source classes and how we weigh them: methodology.

  1. 1

    Hướng dẫn kỹ thuật trồng, chăm sóc, khai thác cây Quế (kèm Quyết định 14/QĐ-BNN-TCLN)

    PrimaryMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam2022-01-05Accessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Technical guidance for growers: seed-source areas (III.1), harvest seasons (VI.2b), harvesting and bark grading (VIII), processing and packing (IX). Names the cultivated tree “Cinamomum cassia BL.” (sic).

  2. 2

    Thơm lừng hương quế Trà My

    PrimaryMinistry of Industry and Trade of VietnamAccessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Trà My cinnamon geographical indication granted October 2011.

  3. 3

    Indonesia is Vietnam’s largest cinnamon import market

    IndustryAEC-VCCI (Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry)2024-11-01Accessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Planted area “up to 180,000 hectares” and the main growing provinces.

  4. 4

    Saigon cinnamon

    SecondaryWikipediaAccessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Used for names and history only, never for numbers.

  5. 5

    Những cây thuốc và vị thuốc Việt Nam — Cây quế

    SecondaryĐỗ Tất Lợi (reprint on vnras.com)Accessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Botany only: which Cinnamomum species occur in Vietnam and the traditional curing of quế Thanh. The medicinal sections are not used.

  6. 6

    Nghị quyết 202/2025/QH15 về việc sắp xếp đơn vị hành chính cấp tỉnh

    PrimaryNational Assembly of Vietnam (text on luatvietnam.vn)2025-06-12Accessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Yên Bái merged into Lào Cai; Quảng Nam into Đà Nẵng city; Kon Tum into Quảng Ngãi; Bắc Kạn into Thái Nguyên; Bình Phước into Đồng Nai (point 17; checked against the hoatieu.vn copy of the text on 2026-10-07). In force 1 July 2025.

  7. 7

    ISO 6538:1997 Cassia, Chinese type, Indonesian type and Vietnamese type — Specification (third edition at FDIS stage)

    PrimaryInternational Organization for Standardization1997Accessed 2026-10-07Title and status only (paid text)

    Title and status only. The standard is paid; its numeric limits are not reproduced here. ISO/FDIS 6538 has been at stage 50.00 since 2026-09-11.

  8. 8

    21 CFR 182.10 — Spices and other natural seasonings and flavorings

    PrimaryUS Code of Federal Regulations (Cornell LII)Accessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Lists “Cassia, Saigon” and “Cinnamon, Saigon” as Cinnamomum loureirii Nees.

  9. 9

    Field Survey of Cinnamon in Viet Nam

    ScientificIto M, Shimada Y, Kiuchi F, Tran Kim Qui, Honda GNatural Medicines 58(4):168–1762004Accessed 2026-10-07Abstract read

    The authors write that the attribution of Yên Bái bark to C. cassia “might be suggested”; we report it as a suggestion, not a finding.

  10. 10

    Quế Trà Bồng — từ non cao đi khắp năm châu

    SecondaryTạp chí Công ThươngAccessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Trà Bồng cinnamon geographical indication granted 23 November 2020.

  11. 11

    Sức sống cây quế Văn Yên

    SecondaryNhân DânAccessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Văn Yên cinnamon geographical indication granted in 2010.

  12. 12

    Xuất khẩu quế đem lại 300 triệu USD

    IndustryTạp chí Thuế Hải quan, reporting the Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association (VPSA)2026-01-08Accessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    2025 exports, markets and imports, as reported by VPSA.