For the past few decades, the manufacturing of coffee in Vietnam has turned out to be a significant export industry. Reports indicate that Vietnam is ranked as the second largest coffee producer in the entire world. Vietnam exports about 95% of its coffee produce, which amounts to billions of US dollars in revenue annually.
Coffee was first brought to Vietnam in the year 1857 by the French. Coffee was found to thrive in the country due to its favorable climatic conditions. In this regard, the production of coffee became the order of the day and by 19th century, Vietnam was doing large scale coffee production. Soon, in 1920s, Tay Nguyen, which is located in the central highland region of Vietnam, was established as the most preferred location for planting coffee. The area was earmarked for coffee production.
One factor that has led to the growth and production of coffee in Vietnam for exports is the government’s intervention in this industry. The government of Vietnam, in the year 1976 supported the migration of people to sparsely populated areas, for example, the Central Highlands. This was a means to foster the growth of employment in the country and get rid of social unrest. As a result, this region had an increase in population of up to 4 million people, who acted as the workforce that the coffee manufacturing companies needed in the farm lands. This led to the rise of coffee growth and exportation.
The government of Vietnam continued to favor market liberation as well as land reforms, which was a huge benefit for coffee farmers in the Central Highlands. This multiplied the production of coffee for export. Equally, the government of Vietnam declined to control the price of coffee by 1990s, but instead controlled other sectors, such as the rice production, which allowed many farmers in the country to move to coffee production in search for higher profits coming from global markets.
By the year 2016, the coffee production rate had grown to about 1.76 million metric tons. Most of all, about 95% of this coffee production is exported annually. On the same note, the secret to success of the coffee of Vietnam is the production of Robusta coffee, also referred to as, “Coffea Canephorain” Vietnam. This is a far-easy to grow and produce as compared to Arabica coffee, with minimal production costs.
Following the success of coffee growth and production in Vietnam, several coffee manufacturers ventured into this industry to benefit from the exportation profits. For example, Starbucks first established its coffee manufacturing store in Vietnam in the year 2013, further triggering a rise in the number of other brands joining the Vietnam coffee export business.
In the year 2017, Bachcoffee, a producer of gourmet café, opened a hi-tech store in Ho Chi Minh city, to produce and export coffee overseas.
Following the opening of many coffee manufacturing and exportation stores in Vietnam, Vietnamese coffee is currently available in retail stores, supermarkets and cafes globally. The Vietnamese coffee has since seen an expansion of its local coffee brands to international markets. It is now competing with other brands internationally, leaving a mark in the world rank of coffee consumption globally.