When China's population reached 1 billion, Dang Le Nguyen Vu told me that if a Chinese person spent 1 "dollar" on Trung Nguyen coffee, the group would earn a billion USD. The G7 coffee factory in Bac Giang was built for that purpose. But with each step, Dang Le Nguyen Vu's goal was raised to a new level. On November 23, 2017, Trung Nguyen took another step on its journey to conquer the billion-people market by officially opening a representative office in Shanghai - known as the coffee capital of the world.
Just 2 years later, in 2019, Trung Nguyen Legent became the most popular and trusted instant coffee brand due to its delicious flavor from the world's best Robusta raw materials according to Chnbrand - China's leading brand ranking agency. Vietnam's No. 1 coffee brand affirmed its position by holding the 2nd largest market share in the country's e-commerce market.
Currently, G7 energy coffee products are widely sold on all major online shopping websites such as Alibaba, Taobao.com, Tmall.com, Yihaodian.com, jd.com and over 1,000 supermarkets in China. An achievement that surprises many people, especially when looking at the situation of exporting raw coffee, borrowing the name of Vietnamese coffee for decades.
Scene of the opening day of Trung Nguyen Legend Coffee World space in Shanghai
However, Dang Le Nguyen Vu, known as the "king" of Vietnamese coffee, is still not satisfied. September 2022 marked a new turning point for Trung Nguyen by opening the "Trung Nguyen Legend Coffee World" space on Tay Nam Kinh Road (Shanghai), the busiest and most luxurious street in China.
West Nanjing is considered the Champs-Élysées of the East, where many world-famous brands gather. Notably, even in Shanghai, which has the highest number of coffee shops in the world with 7,857 stores - far surpassing big cities like New York, London and Tokyo, Vietnamese coffee spaces are still among the most worth-trying coffee shops on some of this country's applications.
Opened right before China's National Day holiday, Trung Nguyen Legend has become a check-in address that attracts young people in Shanghai. Many hot girls, KOLs, and reviewers have chosen the restaurant to experience, evaluate, and film vlogs.
The first space in the international market of the Trung Nguyen Legend Coffee World model at 699 Nanjing Shanghai, China
But just talking about coffee is not enough, Dang Le Nguyen Vu has brought to international guests and Chinese people a space imbued with Vietnamese culture with traditional patterns and materials such as volcanic rock, red basalt soil, pottery, and bamboo and rattan utensils. Along with that are the special dishes of Vietnamese cuisine such as pho, banh mi, Hanoi vermicelli with grilled pork, Hue beef vermicelli... In particular, the Vietnamese language is present everywhere in the restaurant that diners can easily see. Dang Le Nguyen Vu's intention is to emphasize the origin of the brand: Vietnam.
Recreating a coffee space with a strong Vietnamese identity right in the heart of Shanghai
Many customers come to enjoy iced milk coffee and typical Vietnamese dishes at Trung Nguyen Legend Coffee World Shanghai
The success of Trung Nguyen Legend in Shanghai, the first time it "brought the bell" to the world's coffee capital and the unique way to honor Vietnamese coffee, was the reason I decided to go to M'Drak (Dak Lak) to meet Dang Le Nguyen Vu at the end of May. Vu said that China is the group's important coffee consumption and export market, especially the coffee shop channel. In the near future, Trung Nguyen Legend will expand through investment cooperation (franchise) with a plan to develop 1,000 shops in all provinces and cities of China. That is the "novelty" of Trung Nguyen that Vu has cherished for many years: Promoting the presence of Vietnamese coffee to the world through spaces with local culture, not just being a "merchant" to make profit like in the previous period.
Those who work in coffee in particular and in the service industry in general know that opening a shop abroad is sure to result in losses, at least for the first few years. Not only do Vietnamese businesses with limited financial potential easily fail when going overseas, but even foreign "big guys" entering Vietnam are not easy to make a living. Many foreign coffee brands have been expanding in Vietnam, but after a few years, they have quietly disappeared...
Dang Le Nguyen Vu knows that. Competition in the coffee capital of the world is fiercer than ever. But Vu has had the desire to position Vietnamese coffee on the global stage since very early on. That desire has been nurtured, nurtured and increasingly burned in the heart and mind of the "king" of Vietnamese coffee. Therefore, Trung Nguyen has long been "unsatisfied" with the usual export revenue problem. Dang Le Nguyen Vu does everything, every way to position Vietnamese coffee on the world map. His goal is that one day, when talking about coffee, the world will think of Vietnam. Just like when talking about tea ceremony, people think of Japan.
Young people check-in at Trung Nguyen Legend Shanghai Coffee World
"Currently, Trung Nguyen is present in over 100 countries. The group's factory in Vietnam cannot produce enough for export orders, so it is preparing to build more. I told my colleagues in the group that we must do well what we have now, but globally. That means Trung Nguyen's instant coffee and roasted coffee products must be present and must conquer global consumers," Dang Le Nguyen Vu said calmly. Because for him, "selling each package of coffee in the usual way, even if you earn a revenue of 1 billion USD or several billion USD, can never surpass existing corporations."
Vu has a new strategy in mind. That is to provide a mindful ecosystem, providing a design including a library, kitchen, equipment related to coffee, meditation, bookcases...
"The light of the house is the library. Reading requires skill, not a lot. But the basics must be there and understood. Nowadays, many families do not invest in books but rather in computers. Therefore, Trung Nguyen has researched, designed and is standardizing the model to provide for coffee lovers around the world" - Vu explained. Along with that, it is promoting the presence of coffee spaces with strong Vietnamese identity and culture globally. "Tomorrow, Trung Nguyen people will fly to the US to prepare for the plan to open a shop in this market. Then to Dubai, Southeast Asia, the Middle East... must do everything" - Vu said.
The first space in the international market of the Trung Nguyen Legend Coffee World model at 699 Nanjing Shanghai, China
You just said that if you only sell coffee, it would be difficult to surpass existing corporations in the world. But more than 10 years ago, you said that Starbucks sells coffee-flavored drinks mixed with sugar. So which "existing" brand is Trung Nguyen's competitor?
I always say that in the group, Trung Nguyen must achieve uniqueness. This is difficult, not easy, but in terms of ideology, we are unique. Currently, only Trung Nguyen has researched and condensed three coffee cultures including Ottoman, Roman and Zen. Trung Nguyen must stick to that to do and go. It must be delicious, absolutely excellent in quality for customers to enjoy. As for presentation, it must reach perfection and have a message of beauty. It must be done continuously and must reach that threshold. Don't be satisfied with anything you have. Otherwise, no matter how much sales, it is just a mediocre business. So Qua doesn't think anyone is Trung Nguyen's competitor.
Coffee lovers in Shanghai enjoy exploring the performance art of Zen Coffee - a cultural coffee product, artistic coffee created by Trung Nguyen Legend.
Excellent in quality and beautiful in presentation to conquer foreign customers. What about domestic consumers? As the leading coffee brand in Vietnam, what plans does Trung Nguyen have to enhance the position of Vietnamese coffee in the context of the increasing presence of foreign brands in the domestic market?
I have a specific plan for Trung Nguyen and now I just carry it out. For example, Trung Nguyen Legend will develop at key points, central places. It is like a pillar, the rest is the E-Coffee model (launched in 2019 and now has nearly 1,000 stores nationwide). I have asked the Board of Directors to research and count all small coffee shops in 63 provinces and cities nationwide in terms of habits, income... to have a strategy to upgrade these shops. If I want to contribute to the coffee civilization of humanity, I have to upgrade the coffee culture at home.
Nowadays, there are many sidewalk cafes selling poor quality, shabby coffee. Of course, at the present time, sidewalks and sidewalk cafes also have their own uniqueness and differences. But that is a low-level difference that people in developed countries, people who are living in luxury, now sit around and find strange, interesting, and fun. After traveling, they also tell, talk, and write online... But we don't want the world to judge Vietnamese products only like that, right?
Therefore, Trung Nguyen's plan is to gather those small shops, have a training program for them, bring them the most economic benefits but must upgrade them so that Vietnam's coffee culture will be different. So that international tourists coming to Vietnam will see a completely new image of a country known as a coffee powerhouse. That is the mission of the E-Coffee model. I told my brothers, if done well, the E-Coffee model will "dominate" the domestic coffee market.
Trung Nguyen Legend Coffee World Shanghai received the Best Cafe Award 2022 - Best Coffee Shop of 2022
Choosing which products to position Vietnam on the world map is still controversial. Some people think that we should choose Vietnam's strong products, others think that we should choose products that follow the trend of the times, what about you?
Choosing any product must ensure two factors. First, you must start from your own coordinates. That is the reality and that is very important. If you have nothing in hand, you are nothing, then it is very difficult. Second, you must create novelty for that product. For example, coffee is not new, it has been around for hundreds of years. But if we talk about philosophical coffee, religious coffee, only Trung Nguyen has it because it requires a different thinking foundation, not just a normal drink for the stomach. I have spent more than ten years researching the history, culture, economy... of coffee throughout the development process of mankind to condense three typical coffee civilizations Ottoman - Roman - Zen to create a position for the Vietnamese coffee industry. That is to become the leader of the world coffee industry.
Specifically, how will Trung Nguyen make a difference, to make Vietnamese coffee become the "global coffee leader" and so that when world consumers think of coffee, they will think of Vietnam?
There is still a long way to go to the path of coffee religion. It has to go from physical coffee to philosophical coffee, artistic coffee and then to ethical coffee. I have prepared for decades in terms of ideology and philosophy, I have it all. Now it is just execution. I often tell my colleagues in the group that we must put our heart and soul into it, and must practice and research day and night to help Vietnamese coffee contribute to the coffee civilization of humanity.
Currently, the students (staff) are also implementing, building a coffee museum, starting to create a product system, introducing coffee religion, meditation at the Buon Ma Thuot center... It's just the basics, but doing that is quite a start. To achieve what I want, which is to contribute to humanity, requires a new mindset, a new theoretical basis. For normal people, coffee is like a food, a drink that goes down the stomach, but if you understand its properties and know how to use it, it's a completely different story.
Look at the world and you will see that successful people are those who know how to concentrate. Concentration to the point of becoming an obsessive desire will achieve the best results. But to concentrate is not easy and that is the property of coffee. Coffee creates concentration, its nature is meditation. Meditation is known as sitting meditation, and concentration meditation is called moving meditation, intellectual meditation. So how can we use coffee to concentrate on great and noble things for ourselves, for our families and further for our people, for our country and for humanity. That is Trung Nguyen's goal. Focus on putting Vietnam on the world map with coffee religion, contributing to human civilization, not just normal export.
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