STiR coffee and tea magazine

STiR coffee and tea 43 South China Sea Gulf of Tonkin Northwest Region Southern Region Northeast Region China Laos Cambodia East Sea Ha Giang Lai Chau Yen Bai Son La Thai Nguyen Thanh Hoa Nghe An HA NOI Arabica Robusta Cities Quang Tri DA NANG Kon Tum Gai Lai Dak Lac DA LAT Central Highlands Lam Dong Dong Nai HO CHI MINH CITY country turns its eye to more arabica production, and seeks to improve the way it processes and packages coffee for export. In 2012 the government unveiled plans to expand land used for arabica production, hoping to more than double output of the superior-quality bean by 2020. The goal is to have 40,000 hectares under arabica, and maintain that level until 2030. This would mean increases of around 96,000 tons per year, bumping arabica production up to 9% of the country's total production. According to Patricia Marques, general manager of Star- bucks Vietnam, the Da Lat area is prime growing region for quality arabica. This led Starbucks Vietnam to release their Re- serve Da Lat product, a robusta-arabica hybrid grown outside the Highlands town, cashing in on the rising popularity of ara- bica harvested inside the country. But with so many farmers reli- ant on growing robusta, Marques believes it could take up to a decade before arabica is exported in any real quantity. The case for robusta Vietnamese farmers are hard-pressed to give up the robusta crop they've learned to harvest with higher efficiency than any other nation. Yields for robusta in Vietnam reach 2.4 tons per hectare per year, outpacing even Brazil at around 1.4 tons, and more than doubling most nations. Effective farming practices have been the deciding factor. Vietnamese farmers irrigate their robusta crops, whereas other producers consider the returns on robusta too low to bother. They've also managed to plant improved tree varieties, on which they practice pruning to maximize fruiting and use large amounts of chemical fertilizers, all of which contribute to their record-high yields. This despite aging trees. More than 30% of Vietnam's robusta trees are between 20 and 30 years old. Yields are declining. For farmers in key areas, this is an incentive to start harvesting more arabica. Café culture Rising affluence among Vietnamese citizens has allowed for more income to spend in cafés, which are quickly becoming the country's most popular urban hangouts. In 2000 Vietnam's an- nual per capita income averaged around $400. In 2016, that number has jumped to more than $2,200. The Coffee House is a home grown chain of shops founded by Hai Ninh Nguyen, who recently appeared on Forbes' 30 Un- der 30 Asia list. The company operates 74 locations. Nguyen's cafés serve a base for Vietnamese who find Starbucks too ex- pensive, but have moved on from the traditional roadside ca phe sua da and prefer Western style pour-overs and latte. He's catering to a generation of Vietnamese who've traveled to cafés abroad and want the same experiences back home. Nguyen's success sets him apart, but his story is not unique. Independent cafés are becoming more common in Vietnam, many of them serving high-grade blends using locally sourced beans. This marks a departure from the commodity based mar- ket Vietnam is known for. At least domestically, consumers and café owners are embracing a high-quality scene, and finding a ready supply of local arabica to meet demand. As production picks up, Vietnamese arabica will become a highly-desirable bean in international markets. Distributors like Len Smith, who roasts and sells Vietnamese coffee to 40 cafes in the US and abroad, says the market for specialty Vietnamese coffee is active and growing. Approximately 80% of Vietnam's coffee growth is concen- trated in the Central Highlands. Provinces including Gai Lai, Bak Lak, Lam Dong, and Dong Nai, have 500,000 hectares under coffee, mainly robusta cultivars. Arabica is grown in Lam Dong province, with the popular tourist destination of Da Lat as its capital. In recent years the government has added acreage in the northern provinces of Ha Giang, Son La, Nghe An, and Lai Chau, which also sit at elevations high enough to grow the higher quality arabica cultivars. "It's a built-in market because every year people come back from Vietnam, and they loved the coffee but there's nowhere else to buy it," said Smith, who noted that arabica beans or blends make up about two thirds of his sales. Quality is still an issue Inferior quality has plagued the nation in recent years. In 2016, a study by the Vietnam Standards and Consumers Association found that 30% of coffee products sold in Vietnam contained very little or no caffeine, despite what their labels claimed. In order to reduce production costs, some manufacturers mixed

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