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Introduction
With final offers clarifying and consolidated export approaching, we are in a good position to reflect on a successful second year in Vietnam. In this piece, put together by our sourcing lead, Erinn Buyhoff, we’re reviewing the state of our work in Vietnam, clarifying our goals for the present and near-future, and checking in with each of the supply partners who will be represented among our forthcoming imports this spring. These reflections come after a ~2.5 week visit to the country, meeting with each of the partners detailed below for logistical, qualitative, and overall relational check-ins that we’re happy to say have left a lingering enthused impression even after the dust has settled back home.
Following the success of our first Vietnam import during the 24/25 harvest season, we are entering our second year with a focus on momentum and growth. With demand slowly but steadily increasing, our goals this season are to expand our network to accommodate customer interest based on feedback from last season, further develop and solidify the relationships we initiated last year, and continue building our role as envoys of the two-way coffee cultural exchange between the Vietnamese and American roaster/retailer markets.
Quality and processing improvements this year position specialty Vietnamese coffee to continue making real waves in the U.S. market, and we are poised to be a vanguard in this space. This harvest cycle, in particular, represents a measurable step forward in baseline quality. Despite severe and, in some regions, catastrophic rainfall during cherry maturation, the net effect for the coffees that remained was delayed and more even ripening. Early picking was discouraged, allowing most cherries to reach fuller maturity before harvest. This was followed by an abrupt transition into a cool, dry production season—ideal for controlled drying and stabilization. The result across nearly every partner we visited was improved ripeness consistency and cleaner drying execution than we have yet experienced in Vietnam.
Logistically speaking, last year we workshopped the framework of an efficient export model, bringing a few small Vietnamese producer groups into direct contact with the U.S. market for the first time. This year we are building that framework into a collaborative network of trusted partners in order to confidently grow volume and offset higher market prices with efficient and scalable logistics solutions.
It is also worth noting that Vietnam remains one of the most competitive coffee environments globally, where year-to-year loyalty is rare and buyers willing to prepay often dominate. Against this backdrop, the willingness of our partners to continue prioritizing working with us—despite alternative market pressures—signals that something more durable is coming to fruition, which is perhaps the most gratifying aspect of this whole process so far.
During last year’s trip, most inquiries were marked by a stern warning from the Vietnamese coffee community: “Competition is tough, and loyalty is hard to come by.” Returning to the country this year, we were thankful to see that we had evaded this foreboding, met instead by partners excited to work with us again, and in some cases going out of their way to do so. New potential partners were also easy to come by, with many unsolicited samples and meetings falling taking place organically.
With ongoing volatility in the coffee market and specialty Arabica being the primary segment affected, Robusta continues to prove itself as an anchor for meaningful volume from Vietnam. As we grow our Robusta program, our support of Vietnamese Arabica will follow and help elevate the broader industry through continued quality development.
The feedback given to our producer partners last year was taken seriously. This year they returned with samples and milling outturns that often exceeded our own expectations. This progress has been accompanied by interest in developing their own quality labs to continue pushing the quality ceiling higher in Vietnam.
Though anecdotal, some consistent structural bottlenecks across labs were the prevalence of extremely soft bottled water for cupping, combined with high-elevation boiling constraints, and limited access to full five-cup SCA evaluation setups. Rather than imposing rigid replication of lab standards we are more accustomed to, our approach focused on adaptive standardization: identifying which variables must remain fixed (extraction intent, calibration logic, evaluation language) and which can flex (grind size compensation, roast development adjustments, cupware material) in order to produce operable and repeatable results.
Fundamentally, we believe that the biggest obstacle to skyrocketing enthusiasm for Vietnamese coffee is a simple mismatch in understanding. Unsurprisingly, no one understands Vietnamese coffee better than the Vietnamese producers and roasters who work with it daily. The U.S. market has much to learn from them, and we hope to continue connecting these two markets to the benefit of all involved. Facilitating information exchange (Robusta roast profiles, blend pairings, etc.) and quality feedback (physical and sensorial evaluation data) will support stronger demand and greater producer empowerment. A little later this year, we are planning to invest some real energy into spotlighting how to bring the best out of Robusta in both roasting and brewing contexts—stay tuned for that.
This past year has been one of significant change for Great Cherry, with a reorientation toward specialization in specific areas. After restructuring its previous milling partnership, Great Cherry is refocusing its model on logistics solutions and value-added actions through lot separation, milling, and the creation of quality tiers within its Robusta exports.
Will and Tami, the duo at the helm of the project, have presented several options this year, organized into tiers:
While much of Vietnam’s emerging “fine Robusta” movement centers on fermentation novelty and experimental co-ferments, Great Cherry’s core advancement is more foundational. The primary quality lift comes from disciplined ripeness selection, color sorting, and structured lot tiering that generates measurable improvements before the bulk of the processing is even underway. This distinction creates premium pathways at the level of cherry selection and sorting, allowing more value to flow toward smallholders rather than concentrating solely at the processing stage.
Higher cherry prices this year, driven by the supply-restricting cataclysmic flooding in the South-Central Highlands, pushed regional pricing upward. Nonetheless, Will was able to successfully hedge his position to approach near-parity with initial pricing expectations, identifying even more cost-effective options in the process. As mentioned in the introduction, heavy rains discouraged early picking and improved ripeness consistency across the board, followed by a cool, dry production season allowing coffees to dry and stabilize extremely well, cumulatively resulting in improved consistency and quality—much deserved victories for communities reeling from the acute devastation of the rains.
Finally, Great Cherry’s pivot toward logistics has positioned them as our primary consolidation and export partner this year, proving themselves efficient, communicative, and reliable. To support their growth and strengthen their role as our most trusted export partner, their lab is now equipped with a Kaffelogic unit, and their evaluation lab is now in earnest development. There is truly tremendous potential for Great Cherry to become the trusted Robusta quality evaluation lab in Vietnam, further increasing the efficacy of our continued work together.
Zanya has returned this year with impressive results. Marian has expanded his network to more than 30 families in his area, processing and finding markets for all who bring cherry to sell. His project to install mechanical dryers for more cost-effective specialty Arabica processing remains underway and looks promising for next year.
Last year’s drying challenges due to the late rainy season were not an issue this year, as has already been detailed, with a range of processing styles being the beneficiaries of the cool, dry weather that followed the rains. Although prices are higher due to elevated cherry costs, quality improvements justify the increase.
Marian’s double washed Arabica, in particular, stands out as the structural backbone of our Arabica program this season: intensely sweet, clean, and consistent in the mid-85 to 86 range, with a profile anchored in chocolate, caramelized sugars, and restrained fruit. While experimental lots generate interest, it is this disciplined and repeatable execution that offers scalable opportunity and real footholds into roasters’ menus.
Second, pre-financing and early commitments matter—but only when paired with clear procedures. Another hallmark of
Lots of interest from Zanya include:
During this trip, we calibrated equipment in the field while working on sample roast profile development and cupping protocols in the lab. This alignment clarified our intake and evaluation standards and strengthened the weight of our feedback, and will continue paying dividends as we collaborate from a distance.
96B is primarily a Liberica-focused project—though a small portion of our total work in Vietnam, this remains an intriguing point of collaboration and one that we intend to stick with as that season (which comes a bit later) progresses. More update on this supply chain will crystallize in the months ahead.
Loc Rung (Nature’s Gift) has been on our radar, but is the primary new-to-us partner for this coming season. The connection came via Marian at Zanya, who personally purchases high-quality cherry from them. Loc Rung is a small, three-year-old operation quickly gaining recognition in Asian specialty markets.
Their coffees have already reached high-profile specialty buyers in Europe, Korea and Japan. The team is small: production managers Kate and Leo, a core crew of 4–5 mill and greenhouse workers, and a rotating group of local pickers committed to their strict ripe-cherry-only standard. Few operations in Vietnam maintain this discipline, and the impact of this differentiation cannot be overstated: multiple selective picking passes—rather than strip picking once or twice—fundamentally alter the baseline quality before processing even begins. The improvements in sweetness, clarity, and defect reduction are rooted first in cherry discipline, then amplified through fermentation work. Their elevation range (1500–1850 masl) further supports that quality.
While their washed lots are strong, their fermentation work is exceptional. Carbonic Maceration (Washed and Natural) and an in-house aerobic fermentation style called “Ferveo” are standout offerings. This experimentation has attracted Asian roasters seeking collaborative fermentation trials and co-ferments.
Standout lots this year include:
All samples cupped in their lab were impressive and distinct, and we calibrated roast profiles and cupping standards during the visit to better align evaluation protocols.
Loc Rung is actively pushing the quality ceiling in Vietnam, and building this partnership early should prove valuable in reshaping quality perceptions of Vietnamese coffee over the long term.
Altogether—improved ripeness conditions, strengthened partner alignment, advancing lab standardization, and more clearly differentiated Robusta positioning—this harvest represents a pivotal moment for our Vietnam program. Prices have risen, but unlike prior cycles, quality improvements provide a defensible value proposition to match. If there were ever a year to lean confidently into Vietnam with coordinated and focused effort—this is that year, and we’re doing it.
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