VietNamNet Bridge - Trung Nguyen Coffee is a giant in the instant coffee market, but is not yet a big coffee exporter.

 


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Trung Nguyen Coffee is a giant in the instant coffee market.

The Vietnamese instant coffee market is controlled by three players – Trung Nguyen, Vinacafe and Nescafe.


Some years ago, Vinamilk, the nation’s dairy producer, attempted to jump into the instant coffee market when it launched its Moment coffee into the market. However, it has quit the market.

Meanwhile, Dao Heung, a Laos brand, remains unknown to many Vietnamese.

Vietnam exported 1.66 million tons of coffee in the 2013/2014 crop, worth $3.4 billion
In fact, PhinDeli, a new brand in the market, is also believed to be a formidable rival to the three big players. PhinDeli has had active media campaigns. It has a famous owner Pham Dinh Nguyen, who bought a town in the US. And it also has signed a cooperation plan with the sweets giant Kinh Do Group.
However, PhinDeli is still considered a ‘rookie’ in the market which is still far from a threat to the three big players.

Of the ‘big three’, Trung Nguyen is an impressive brand which has been built in association with the image of the founder Dang Le Nguyen Vu, who is called the ‘Coffee King’. 

Vu is famous not only in Vietnam, but overseas as well, especially when he stated that  Starbucks, the well-known US coffee chain, just sells water with a coffee flavor, not real coffee, and not coffee with a strong flavor that Vietnamese want.

In Vietnam, Trung Nguyen is known as the owner of G7 instant coffee and roasted coffee. Meanwhile, it is also a coffee bean exporter and franchiser.

However, while a giant in the instant coffee market, Trung Nguyen is just a baby in the export market.

A report of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association showed that Vietnam exported 1.66 million tons of coffee in the 2013/2014 crop, worth $3.4 billion. 

The association also released the list of the top 100 Vietnamese coffee exporters based on their export turnover. Intimex, Tin Nghia and Louis Dreyfus Commodities Vietnam topped the list, while Trung Nguyen ranked 36th, after Petec JSC.

Petec JSC was reported as exporting $18.5 million worth of coffee products, with a small market share of 0.5 percent.

Since Trung Nguyen is a giant in the instant coffee market, its suspension in providing instant coffee to the market for a couple of weeks has bewildered the public. 

Trung Nguyen on December 2 announced it has resumed supply after completion of equipment maintenance. However, sources said the problem was related to an asset dispute with the Trung Nguyen president.

 


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