Vietnam coffee industry urged to shift from volume to value-driven exports: foreign expert

The call was made at a consultation workshop titled ‘Robusta Quality & Market Transformation,’ held on Monday in Buon Ma Thuot Ward, Dak Lak Province, located in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, by the Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Association.

The event, part of the Robusta XXI initiative led by the association and its partners, gathered more than 100 domestic and international coffee experts, businesses, and organizations.

Participants said it is time for Vietnam’s coffee sector to enter a new phase of development, where growth can no longer rely solely on output expansion but must shift toward higher quality and value addition.

Over the years, Vietnam has maintained its position as the world’s largest sẽ Robusta producer, accounting for more than 40 percent of the global supply.

However, the value generated has yet to match the scale of output.

Manuel Díaz, a coffee expert from Mexico, said Vietnam’s key achievement between 1980 and 2010 was turning coffee into a driver of poverty reduction while rising to become the world’s second-largest producer and leading Robusta supplier.

He noted that most exports remain in raw form, limiting value addition, while the sector also faces structural challenges such as ageing coffee trees, water shortages, price volatility, and fragmented small-scale production.

He also pointed to growing regulatory pressure, including the European Union Deforestation Regulation, which requires greater traceability, farm-level data, and environmental compliance, pushing the sector toward more structured reform.

Looking ahead, Díaz said the next 30 years should focus on quality, branding, and global positioning, with Vietnam transitioning from a commodity producer to a hub for high-quality Robusta, deep processing, and product innovation.

He added that the industry should move beyond green bean exports into higher-value segments such as processed coffee, traceability systems, quality standards, branding, as well as products like instant coffee, ready-to-drink beverages, and by-product-based items.

From a business perspective, Nguyen Hoai Thu, general director of Ea Pok Coffee JSC, said the issue is not coffee quality but the lack of a system to demonstrate and communicate it to the market.

“We do not lack good coffee, but we lack a common language to describe, compare, and position quality,” she said.

Le Duc Huy, vice-chairman of both the Vietnam Coffee-Cocoa Association and the Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Association, said Vietnam’s Robusta output leadership does not automatically translate into stronger quality standards or global value positioning, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

He said the sector still needs to strengthen standardization, quality measurement, and sensory description, as well as its academic and market voice, adding that this gap led to the creation of the Robusta XXI initiative, which aims to develop a science-based quality assessment framework and voluntary standards for Vietnamese Robusta coffee.

Sharing a similar view, Thai Anh Tuan, general director of Simexco Dak Lak, a major coffee exporter in Vietnam, said the shift from volume to value rests on three pillars: standards, transparency, and trust.

He said the Robusta XXI initiative could provide a foundation for this transformation through voluntary standards, a sensory lexicon, a research database, and quality measurement tools.

Trinh Duc Minh, chairman of the Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Association, said that without a strong shift toward quality and value creation, the sector would struggle to achieve higher economic goals and ensure long-term sustainability.

He added that Vietnam must shift its mindset from volume-based production to value-based exports and from simple production to setting international standards.