Nestle inaugurated a new capsule coffee production line in Dong Nai

Nestlé inaugurated a new Nescafe Dolce Gusto capsule production line in Dong Nai province in July.

Ganesan Ampalavanar, general director of Nestle Vietnam, said by using 100 percent of materials from Vietnam, Nestle will help boost the value of Vietnam’s coffee.

It is expected that 10 percent of the output will be consumed in Vietnam, while the remaining will be exported to 13 markets.

For many years, Vietnam has been exporting coffee beans, but only one-third of exporters have processing mills. Though one of the biggest coffee exporters in the world, Vietnam earns $3.24 billion in revenue.

The figure is modest if noting that the global coffee market is valued at $500 billion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). 

Vietnam sells coffee at $2 per kilogram, while foreign coffee products are sold at $200, which means that only one percent of the value chain goes to Vietnamese enterprises.

Luong Van Tu, chair of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa), said to improve their income, enterprises need to boost the export of roasted and instant coffee, products which can bring twice the turnover as coffee beans.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, instant coffee exports only account for 4.2 percent of total export volume, but can bring 12 percent of total value. Meanwhile, capsule coffee will even bring higher value.

In the domestic market, analysts say Vietnamese have become more familiar to the western coffee drinking style. That is why Nestle began selling capsule coffee in Vietnam in October 2015.

Other well-known capsule coffee brands, such as Carraro, Lavazza and Gimokia, all are  in Vietnam, especially in hotels, restaurants and coffee chains.

Meanwhile, King Car began offering Mr Brown capsules in Vietnam in May.

Vietnamese coffee producers have jumped on the bandwagon. Vinacafe Bien Hoa two years ago marketed Café de Nam, a kind of capsule coffee using automatic drip.

Vinacafe Bien Hoa hopes that besides Italian Espresso and the Americano, the world will know a Vietnamese way of tasting coffee – Vietnamo. 

Prior to that, Sagaso pioneered making capsule coffee, with design similar to Nestle’s Nespresso.

Sources said that Trung Nguyen plans to launch Trung Nguyen Legend Capsule in September. 

RELATED NEWS

Vietnam’s coffee industry relies on merchants

What is the standard for ‘safe roasted coffee’?