A Da Lat-based La Viet Coffee in Hanoi. La Viet Coffee wants to promote its products with the tourism model across Vietnam when travelling resumes after the pandemic (Photo courtesy of the firm) Coffee experts gathered at the RMIT University’s International Business Forum2021 last week to share how to promote the local commodity to the world.
According to the experts, Vietnam has consistently ranked among the world’s largestcoffee producers and exporters in recent years. Even before COVID-19 and laterthroughout the crisis, many Vietnamese coffee businesses have made efforts todiversify their export markets, improve quality, leverage the potential ofspecialty coffee, and expand online marketing and distribution channels.
RMIT International Business Senior Lecturer, Abel Alonso, said: “Responding tothe current crisis through value-adding efforts and activities is crucial forVietnam’s coffee industry. Besides the established coffee house culture, manyhospitality and tourism activities are making coffee their central product,especially in the post-COVID era.”
“Stakeholders in this industry should understand that future developmentrequires increased focus on value-adding activities and raising awareness ofVietnam’s specialty coffee, as success stories from other countries like Perudemonstrate,” he said.
Based on a couple of recent studies related to Vietnam's coffee industry, RMITTourism and Hospitality Management lecturer Vu Thi Kim Oanh emphasised theefforts made by Vietnamese coffee stakeholders in the journey to bringVietnamese coffee to the world.
“Many stakeholders in the industry have taken specific actions to contribute tobringing Vietnamese coffee to the world. For example, tour companies, hotels,and coffee businesses have collaborated to build an experience model of a"coffee path", “from farm to cup", or "from seed tocup" for visitors,” Oanh said.
Sharing experience from Les Vergers du Mekong company, known for its Follietcoffee brand, General Director Le Van Dong said that strong market knowledge, afocus on reducing adverse environmental impact, and technology application havebeen key to their sustainable success for the past two decades.
“We manage our supply chain very carefully. For instance, we have designed atraceability app, and frequently hold workshops and provide support to farmersso that our international quality standards are maintained. We also useeco-friendly packaging and are piloting organic farming. These are the basisfor our competitive advantage and high sales,” Dong said.
Speaking at the forum, Tran Nhat Quang founder and CEO of Da Lat-based La Viet Coffee,highlighted the potential of ‘in-country export’. When building their factoryin Da Lat, La Viet combined their production facilities with a coffee shop inone space, so that visitors can enjoy their coffee while learning throughvisitation about the production process and products.
“We have a two-hour tour of our factory and the roasting and brewingexperience. We also have a one-day tour, which offers an in-depth experiencefor international tourists interested in local farming. This tourism model wasvery successful prior to COVID-19, and we intend to continue with it whentravelling is enabled again,” Quang said.
Quang now has coffee stores in the most tourists in Vietnam in Da Lat, Hanoi andHo Chi Minh City.
According to Nguyen Van Minh, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Farms andAgricultural Enterprises Association, the coffee industry has been and will continueto be a mainstay in Vietnam’s international business.
“Vietnam is gearing towards a smart, organic and value-adding agriculturalsector. The coffee industry is part of this trend. Vietnam can improve thevalue of its coffee gradually by innovating, applying technology and creativityin new products, and attracting prestigious investors,” he said.
The International Business Forum is organised by RMIT annually since 2017 tobring together leading international and Vietnamese experts, policymakers andacademics to discuss key themes in international business with a Vietnamesecontext.
Initiated by RMIT Associate Professor Nguyen Quang Trung and chaired by Dr AbelAlonso, the annual forum aims to enhance the exchange of knowledge, usefulexperiences and best practices among domestic companies, multinationalcorporations, and key stakeholders in international business in Vietnam./.
VNA
