Vietnam

Vietnam is overwhelmingly a robusta origin, with the Central Highlands producing most of it and small arabica pockets in cooler, higher uplands.

Vietnam is the world's second-largest coffee producer after Brazil and the largest robusta-growing origin, with robusta about 97% of output. Most robusta comes from the Central Highlands (Đắk Lắk, Gia Lai, Đắk Nông, Lâm Đồng and Kon Tum), at altitudes of roughly 300 to 500 m, and Perfect Daily Grind puts the Highlands at around 80% of Vietnamese robusta. Small arabica plantings sit in higher, cooler pockets such as Đà Lạt, Điện Biên, Nghệ An, Sơn La and Quảng Trị. French missionaries are believed to have introduced coffee in 1857, the first plantations were set up in 1888 in Ninh Bình and Quảng Bình, and in the 1920s the French opened Central Highlands coffee zones, mainly in Đắk Lắk. After wartime disruption and collectivization, the Đổi Mới reforms of 1986 allowed private enterprise again and production surged. The 2013/14 harvest of about 29.5 million bags, up from 17 million, added to global oversupply and prices fell sharply. USDA forecasts 2026/27 production at 32.5 million 60kg bags, 31.4 million of it robusta and 1.1 million arabica. Domestically, coffee is brewed in a single-serving metal phin filter, usually over sweetened condensed milk, which replaced scarce fresh milk in the French colonial era. Dark-roast robusta suits it, and cà phê sữa đá is the iced version. Egg coffee, whipped egg yolk, sugar and condensed milk over phin-brewed coffee, is a Hanoi drink reportedly created at Café Giảng in the late 1940s. Provincial mergers in 2025 (Resolution 202/2025/QH15) combined several Highlands coffee provinces, and this file keeps the traditional region names.

History

Coffee reached Vietnam with French missionaries in 1857, and the first recorded plantations date to 1888 in Ninh Bình and Quảng Bình, in the north, mostly of arabica at first. In the 1920s the French opened coffee zones in the Central Highlands, mainly in Đắk Lắk. Production was disrupted through the Vietnam War, collectivized after 1975, and then rebuilt and expanded after the 1986 Đổi Mới reforms permitted private enterprise, with millions of people migrating to the Highlands. The 2013/14 season jumped to about 29.5 million 60kg bags from roughly 17 million the year before, adding to global oversupply. Vietnam is now the world's second-largest producer and the largest robusta-growing origin. A small, higher-altitude arabica sector persists in areas such as Đà Lạt, Sơn La, Điện Biên, Nghệ An and Quảng Trị.