Viet Nam is widely known as the second-largest exporter of coffee globally and proud to be the world's leading Robusta coffee crop. As for 2022, our country is home to 710,000 hectares of coffee in 20 provinces, of which 650,000 are harvestable, mainly in the Central Highlands region which is often referred to as the “capital of coffee”.
In Viet Nam, Robusta and Arabica are the two most common coffee varieties, of which Robusta account for 95% of coffee production and Arabica make up the remaining 5%.
Although Vietnamese coffee is now present in more than 80 countries and territories worldwide, its impact on the world coffee market is not commensurate with its position. The foremost reason is Vietnamese coffee exported is mainly raw and unprocessed, so the added value is not high. Coffee brands and their refined products have not been paid much attention yet.
As an agricultural country slowly enters the world market - a level playing field with other countries, Viet Nam is now facing significant challenges.
It is predicted that by 2050, about 30% - 50% of the coffee crop land will be degraded due to serious damage from climate changes. The old land area is increasing rapidly, production costs are increasing higher while world coffee prices are at very low levels, the harvest and post-harvest of farmers also have many challenges.
Overseas, especially Europe - the world's largest coffee consuming market, is extremely interested in production sustainability. Meanwhile, sustainable coffee accounts for only about 9% of coffee exports in Vietnam. Breaking the old thinking of Vietnamese coffee quality is really a big challenge.
However, opportunities for the VietNam coffee industry are quite promising.
Thanks to the EVFTA Agreement, Vietnamese brands get great opportunities to export their processed coffee products to the EU when tariff lines come to 0% and the EU has committed to protect 39 geographical indications of Vietnam related to coffee.
In our country, there are few small organizations that have started to implement projects to teach farmers how to apply science and technologies to coffee production. Investing in scientific research to research coffee bean varieties could result in coffee that is more resilient to deal with climate change and develop the high-quality coffee industry in association with green growth and sustainable development.
Today we are here, at Specialty Coffee Expo 2023 to introduce more and more quality Vietnamese coffee to the world with ‘old but gold’ Robusta, an amazing new bean Starmaya (first-generation (F1) hybrid) and Liberica - a highly sustainable coffee variety that has been neglected for a long time on the way coming back.
Join us on a journey of discovery and joy, you could see in each cup, we are not only sharing a taste of our culture but also promoting sustainable and ethical farming practices.
“CRAFTED BY VIETNAMESE SOUL”
Soul represents the souls of children from Buon Ma Thuot, the coffee capital of Vietnam, where coffee culture is evident, and life is vibrant with Highland’s cultural heritage.
The humans at Soul, whose childhood spent at coffee farms and among coffee farmers, not just pursuit, but embrace commitment of the successor generation: What can we do to do justice to Robusta beans and thus spread the respect and recognition that Robusta deserves?
With that said, it set the foundation for Soul to explore creative product-driven approaches to Fine Robusta with traditional and local resources from day 1. In 2022, Soul successfully introduced our Soulful collection products which are naturally processed Fine Robusta with double fermentation to incorporate Buon Ma Thuot’s specialties such as Can wine, craft beer, glutinous wine, as well as locally sourced ingredients like passion fruits, honey pineapples, white peppers which all encapsulate the West Highland’s nature.
EVERY HALF BEAN HAS ITS SOUL MATE
Every Half Coffee Roasters was founded on the belief that every half of a coffee bean has a soulmate. With a strong belief in the quality of our beloved country’s coffee and always putting sustainable agriculture as the top principle as well, we nurture our connection with provincial states and farmers to research and develop new varieties and through sustainable, ethical farming practices in combating climate change issues.
Our coffee dream has stretched all over the country. Where there is coffee, there is a dream ahead. Starmaya [a F1 hybrid originating from a cross between Marsellesa and a male-sterile Ethiopian or Sudanese landrace variety] and the late bloomer Liberica are two varieties that make our sustainable coffee dream become true with high rust resistance and good quality.
Especially the interesting species that has been neglected for years - Liberica which has unexpected interesting experiences by different processing methods will break no-potential-flavor prejudice. Along with being able to grow in almost any soil and at any altitude, we have a faith that Liberica will be a magic door to help farmers adapt to climate change and a bright future for the coffee industry.
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