Why can't chili coffee "cause a fever" in Vietnam?

(NLDO) - Launched in December 2023 and still "making waves" in the Chinese market, the chili-mixed coffee dish, also known as spicy latte, has not created a trend in Vietnam like many other dishes.

Recently, many foods and drinks that have just "caused a fever" abroad have quickly entered Vietnam and created a "trend" such as cheese coin cake (originating from Korea), hand-pounded lemon tea, clay pot milk tea, stone-grilled sausage (China)... Only chili-mixed coffee, also known as spicy latte, was created by a Jingshi coffee shop in Jiangxi province in December 2023 and quickly exploded in China, but so far no one has dared to try selling this type of drink in Vietnam.

According to the owner of Jingshi Coffee, this dish combines traditional iced latte with dried chili and chili powder to satisfy the spicy needs of local people. Each cup of this coffee costs 20 yuan/cup (equivalent to 68,000 VND).

The shop said it has had many curious customers come in to try the product. Some days, the shop sells about 300 cups of spicy latte.

By early February 2024, this drink appeared a lot on social networks. However, many users in Vietnam said that the above drink is difficult to create a trend because it is contrary to Vietnamese taste. Currently, there is still no place in the country that dares to sell this product.

Vì sao cà phê ớt chưa thể — Coffee mixed with chili

According to Mr. Hoang Tung, an expert in the F&B field, not every product that is causing a fever in China can attract Vietnamese diners.

For a product to become a trend, it must have at least elements such as quality, good intrinsic qualities and strange elements that stimulate consumers. For example, hand-pounded lemon tea has a very strange and fragrant taste when drunk, or Mixue ice cream, Yunnan grilled milk tea, salted coffee... are also easy to drink and have a unique taste.

Based on that, Mr. Tung thinks that the chili coffee dish is not enough to create a trend because it only has the strange factor, the rest is not satisfied. If this dish appears in Vietnam, it will only make people try it out of curiosity and it will be difficult to maintain for a long time.

According to a coffee shop owner in Thu Duc City, the name of the chili-mixed coffee product only arouses curiosity because it is unique, but is completely unsuitable to Vietnamese tastes.

"Just hearing the word chili makes customers think of spicy, combined with bitter and sweet milk coffee. If I were a customer, I wouldn't dare try this drink" - the owner of this coffee shop said.

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