Vietnamplus

In the 10 years since it began NESCAFÉ Plan, a public-private partnership programme between Nestlé, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Western Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute and other partners, has helped improve the quality of coffee beans and increase farmers’ incomes by 30 percent.

Vietnam, the world's biggest producer of robusta, has become the top supplier of coffee beans for Japan as the consumption of instant coffee, which uses robusta, is soaring there amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Nikkei Asia Review.

The first batch of Vietnamese coffee destined for the EU under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) was exported on September 16.

Coffee farms in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) province of Kon Tum are producing higher yields from new coffee trees and older trees grafter with with young shoots.

Nestlé Vietnam has introduced Nescafé Aromatico and Nescafé Excellente – the two latest products made of premium quality coffee beans sourced from the Central Highlands region.

Vietnam has set itself a target of increasing the ratio of processed coffee from the current 10 per cent to 30-40 per cent by 2030 to add value.

A global glut of coffee has come to an end, and the price of coffee is likely to go up in the near future, according to industry insiders.

Vietnam’s coffee sector needs to have strategies to improve material quality and step up intensive processing to increase export value and incomes for farmers as well as develop Vietnamese coffee brand, said experts at the Vietnam Coffee Week in HCM City on December 4.

Real Bean Coffee, Trung Nguyen Legend and Lamant Coffee won the gold, silver and bronze prizes at the first Vietpresso Contest held in Ho Chi Minh City last week.

Even though Vietnam’s coffee sector has enjoyed fast development in recent years in terms of cultivation area and output, foreign businesses still gain more advantages in the world market.

The Trung Nguyen group, Vietnam’s famous coffee business, plans to open 3,000 E-Coffee shops by 2020, before bringing the franchise chain to overseas market.

Vietnam exported 943,000 tonnes of coffee worth 1.6 billion USD in the first half of 2019, representing decreases of 9.2 percent and 19.9 percent year on year, respectively.

More than 20 famous coffee brands in Vietnam are being showcased at a coffee festival in the central city of Nha Trang, south central Khanh Hoa province.

Vietnam supplied 25 percent of Japan’s imported coffee products in the first 11 months of 2018, according to Nikkei Asian Review.

Coffee production areas across many Vietnamese provinces, including Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Son La and Lam Dong, are endowed with crop varieties, weather conditions and soils that are suitable to develop speciality coffee, according to experts.

Vietnam shipped 74,120 tonnes of coffee beans to Algeria in 2018, earning 132.48 million USD, up 56 percent in volume and 28 percent in value from 2017, the General Department of Vietnam Customs reported.

Dak Lak, the country’s largest coffee growing province, plans to reduce the area under the crop from 204,800ha now to 180,000ha by 2030, according to Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Hai Ninh.

The total export value of agro-forestry-fishery products from January-November expanded 9.1 percent year-on-year to reach 36.3 billion USD.

Vietnam expects to export 1.7 million tonnes of coffee this year, earning about 3.5 billion USD, said Chairman of the Vietnam Coffee – Cocoa Association (VICOFA) Luong Van Tu.

Economic, trade, and investment ties between Vietnam and Romania remain modest and have yet to match their full potential, as heard at a seminar introducing the Romanian market in Hanoi on October 22.