Vietnam Embraces Western Coffee Shop Culture
By Heneage Mitchell
Vietnam has long had an established coffee shop culture. It produces an abundance of robusta and plenty of arabica, and coffee is an important crop that provides a substantial income for the government. So it is no surprise that coffee drinking is well established.
There is no shortage of local coffee shops in Vietnam. One can find them on almost every street in cities and towns across the country. So Vietnam presents unique challenges to incoming coffee shop franchises. For one thing, the Vietnamese tend to prefer a sweeter, stronger coffee than is typically served in western-style coffee shops. Vietnamese coffees are often flavored during roasting, with butter, sugar or hazelnut, for example. Espresso machines have been relatively rare until now as coffee lovers tend to prefer filtered coffee drinks. In short, the flavor profiles and preparation techniques employed by the majority of Vietnamese coffee shops tends to be radically different to those adopted by western coffee shops and preferred by western customers.
Last Updated on Friday, 26 March 2010 09:15
