Coffee, whether black iced coffee, brown coffee, silver coffee or egg coffee, has long been an integral part of Vietnamese culture. However, becoming a coffee shop owner is certainly not the career choice that many middle-class parents in Vietnam today want their children to pursue.
"At first, my family didn't know much about this," Dinh Tu shared. "Gradually they found out and weren't very supportive." Tu's parents tried many times to persuade him to return to his high-paying job in banking and finance.
But Tu persisted with his original vision. Within four years, he opened four Refined branches in Hanoi, each one packed with customers day and night. What makes Refined attractive to coffee lovers is that they get to enjoy robusta – Vietnamese coffee – in a space that feels more like a cocktail bar than a coffee shop.
Explaining his parents' objection, Tu explained: "They saw the hardships in running a business – from financial management to human resources, and they didn't want me to struggle."
Having worked in the financial industry for 5 years with countless opportunities, Tu Vu still decided to "leave" to find himself.
Indeed, Vietnam was a poor, centrally planned economy until the early 2000s, when the country emerged from a manufacturing boom. It is not difficult to understand why many parents want their children to rise up and have a place in society through stable, high-income careers such as medicine or law. Meanwhile, coffee has become a symbol of creativity and freedom of self-expression.
As an 'artist'
According to Sarah Grant, associate professor at California State University: "In Vietnam, owning a coffee shop has become a way for young people to break social norms and family pressure to study well, go to university, get a degree... have a stable job and be financially stable."
“Coffee shops also become spaces to connect creative people in a community, whether they are graphic designers, musicians, or many other types of artists…” Grant, an anthropologist specializing in Vietnam, added.
Coffee first appeared in Vietnam in the 1850s, under French colonial rule. The shift in the 1990s and early 2000s to large-scale production of robusta beans transformed the country into the world’s second-largest coffee producer and exporter. Grant says Vietnamese passion for coffee is often tied to this history. Coffee entrepreneurs, she adds, “take great pride in Vietnam as a coffee-producing country and have a significant influence on the global market.”
Coffee is a symbol of creativity and freedom of self-expression of young people.
In a small alley in the center of the capital, Nguyen Thi Hue, 29, is making a lychee matcha cold brew at her new cafe – a "Slow Bar" with only one owner. She got her first cup of coffee when she was a child from a neighbor who roasts and grinds his own beans. "When I make coffee, it's almost like I'm making art," Hue said.
But going to coffee shops is a huge trend these days, and if a coffee shop attracts selfie-loving Gen Zers, it can be a profitable business. “No one dresses casually to go to coffee shops,” Hue says. The shop owner herself is wearing a pair of bright blue-rimmed glasses that match her scarf.
A former journalist, Nguyen Thi Hue is now thriving in Hanoi's dynamic coffee industry.
Coffee - a serious profession
Sitting relaxing at a cafe across the street, Dang Le Nhu Quynh, 21, a university student, is typical of a new generation of customers. Nhu said that for her, the style of the cafe is much more important than the quality of the drinks. "I don't really like coffee," Nhu admitted.
According to brand consultancy Mibrand, Vietnam's coffee industry is currently worth $400 million and growing at an average of 8% per year. However, according to Vu Thi Kim Oanh, a lecturer at RMIT University, there are thousands of coffee shops that are not officially registered with the relevant regulatory authority. "If we have problems with office life, we quit our jobs and think: why don't we save up... find a place, rent a house, and open a coffee shop," she said. "If business is good, we continue; if not, we change direction."
In addition, global brands are also having difficulty penetrating and dominating the Vietnamese market. According to Euromonitor International, after 8 years of entering Vietnam, in 2022, Starbucks only accounted for 2% of the coffee shop market share in Vietnam. At the beginning of this year, the brand announced that it would close its only store in Ho Chi Minh City that specializes in selling its specialty coffee.
Starbucks strives to win over Vietnamese customers by using only "high quality" arabica beans.
Unlike most local coffee shops, the giant Starbucks only uses “high-quality” Arabica beans, which have a completely different flavor than the Robusta that Vietnamese people usually drink. According to many analysts and marketing experts, the main reason the company is having difficulties in Vietnam is because it has not met the typical tastes and preferences of Vietnamese people for coffee.
For Dinh Tu, his parents have finally accepted his current job – and he plans to open more Refined locations, hoping to create a workforce that loves coffee as much as he does. “I want to build a mindset that this can be a serious career,” he says.
