Vietnam

Type: 95% robusta, 5% arabica
Processing: Dry process, not much washing
Classification:
Region:

Notes on aroma: Vietnamese coffees pack quite a punch with their high caffeine content. Enjoy them in the morning for a caffeine-powered day!

History

Vietnam was still called Indochina when the French colonists introduced the first coffee plants in the 19th century: arabica was cultivated on many French plantations starting around 1857.

The struggle for independence, the war with the United States, in which the Soviet bloc sided with North Vietnam, and the collectivisation of land weakened the production of the country’s coffee crop, which was generally considered mediocre until the 1990s, when the Vietnamese government intensified robusta production and developed arabica production in the North. In the space of 10 years, the country went from being a secondary supplier, accounting for just 1% of the world’s production, to being the world’s second-largest coffee exporter.

Geography

In Vietnam, coffee is produced mainly in the central highlands, in the north, and in the south. These mountainous regions offer a favourable climate and ideal weather conditions for growing coffee. In the north, the subtropical climate is generally humid, while the central and south-central regions enjoy a tropical monsoon climate. The central and southern regions are also have a tropical savannah climate.

These regions also enjoy relatively abundant rainfall, which is suitable for growing coffee: there is between 1,200 mm and 3,000 mm of rainfall throughout the year, with annual temperatures ranging from 5° C in December and January to 37°C in April and May.

Agronomy

Botanical species:

• Robusta: 95%

• Arabica: 5%

Botanical varieties: Catimor, Chari (Excelsa)

Altitude:

Harvest:  Manual, from September to March

Processing: Dry process, not much washing

Economie

Vietnam is the second largest coffee producer in the world after Brazil, and the second largest exporter, producing and exporting mainly robusta coffee, which is drunk in 70 countries. The United States and Germany are the biggest importers of Vietnamese coffee, while Vietnam itself drinks only 5% of the coffee it produces.

Three major companies account for the lion’s share of this sector:

Vina Café

This state-owned company, which was restructured in May 1995, is the largest corporate group in Vietnam, with 65 subsidiaries, 50 of which are large plantations linked to the group’s processing facilities.

Thang Loi
This company, located in the north of the country, produces up to 500,000 tonnes of green coffee per year. It handles the entire production process, from cultivation to export. Arabica, and particularly the bourbon variety, are particularly appreciated. A few thousand hectares are even dedicated to organic coffee.

Tây Nguyên

This import/export company is one of the country’s leading coffee companies. It has its own laboratory, where samples are tested before export, and it produces instant coffee as well as “green” fertilisers from the husks.