Top 9 Coffee Chains in Vietnam

Today, the cafe is one of the favorite places for young people. Holding that demand, a series of chain cafe brands were born and achieved success. Let’s discover the Top 9 Coffee Chains in Vietnam. Highlands Coffee, The Coffee House, Cong Coffee, Urban Station Coffee, Trung Nguyen Legend, Phuc Long Coffee and Tea, Gemini Coffee were established by Vietnamese people. Starbucks and Tous Les Jours are international brands.

1. Highlands Coffee

Leading the top 10 chain cafe brands in Vietnam is definitely Highlands Coffee. This is considered as the most successful chain cafe brand, when in the Vietnamese market even makes rival Starbucks – the world’s No. 1 chain cafe brand – must have difficulty in competition. Starting with the sale of instant coffee, Highlands Coffee was founded by David Thai – an overseas Vietnamese, under Viet Thai International Joint Stock Company since 2002.  Since then Highlands Coffee has expanded its chain of stores located in expensive locations such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Most of Highlands Coffee’s locations are under buildings, next to the commercial center, with two fronts right on the busy main street. Highlands Coffee’s customers are relatively diverse with office people, business people, families with good income. As of 2016, Highlands Coffee had 130 stores nationwide. After the success of Highlands Coffee, Jollibee international corporation recently bought this brand of chain cafe and continues to develop widely. Highlands Coffee was introduced into its restaurant systems by Jollibee in the Philippines, Indonesia … helping Highlands Coffee not only a “case-study” about chain cafes in Vietnam but also throughout Southeast Asia.

2. The Coffee House

Born long after Highlands Coffee, but up to now, The Coffee House is also very successful with its own unique business philosophy and culture. The Coffee House was founded by Nguyen Hai Ninh – a young founder who also owned another famous chain cafe brand, Urban Station. Nguyen Hai Ninh was also voted by Forbes magazine to be on the list of 30 under 30 – 30 most influential young people in Vietnam. Established in 2014, The Coffee House has 80 stores nationwide. Unlike the space and culture of Highlands, The Coffee House designs the space in a modern, luxurious direction, often with open space and beautiful view, towards young people who are passionate about working (workaholic). Creativity … The Coffee House is a reliable destination for those who want to experience working in a cafe but also suitable for groups of friends to exchange, chat … With a youthful career beginning spirit, The Coffee House also thoroughly applied logistic management, as well as marketing tools to promote its brand. Recently, The Coffee House has released a viral “Passionate journey from farm to a cup of coffee” which is highly appreciated by experts for quality.

The Coffee House

3. Cong Coffee

For young people who love to go out to a cafe to chitchat with their friends, Cong Coffee is certainly a not so strange place. Cong Coffee was born in 2007, with its origins as a small drink shop on Trieu Viet Vuong street in Hanoi – a place famous for the “toad cafes” on the sidewalk since the subsidy period. The Cafe was inspired by that; design and decoration have cultural subsidy. The word Cong (addition) makes us think of “Communism” – the form of the Vietnamese state at that time. Cong Cafe’s strange, interesting, recollective style turns out to be attractive to young people. Young people come to Cong Cafe not only drink coffee but also to experience the green space of the soldiers, with peacock blankets, Rang Dong thermos, wooden cupboards, TV boxes, iron windows … These are the things that used to familiar to us when being young but now no more, making young people nostalgic. Currently, Cong Cafe not only has 14 locations across Hanoi but also has many branches across the country, with the number of young customers always very crowded and busy.

Cộng Cà Phê

4. Urban Station Coffee

Urban Station is a prime example of a start-up cafe chain. Urban Station was founded by Dinh Nhat Nam and Nguyen Hai Ninh in 2011. Both are voted in the 30 under 30 list by Forbes. Inspired by the American culture of coffee “take away” in the 90s of the 20th century. Urban Station was built in the style of its name: An urban stop. Urban Station’s space is designed in a youthful, urban style with the main green color, the wall is painted with creative images, resonating with Western countries. As of 2015, Urban Station had 36 stores nationwide.
Urban Station

5. Trung Nguyen Legend

As the leading retail coffee brand in Vietnam, having been successful in the form of a franchise, in the end, Trung Nguyen Group of Dang Le Nguyen Vu has officially entered the chain cafe market with branch brand name Trung Nguyen Legend. This is the official coffee chain of Trung Nguyen, after many years of franchising, Trung Nguyen has not ignored this potential and lucrative market. With the name and quality of Trung Nguyen coffee trusted by Vietnamese consumers, along with the reputation, cultural knowledge, and financial potential of Trung Nguyen Group, Trung Nguyen Legend quickly succeeded, with a unique culture that is admired by many people: Legend – Cultural cafe space of a mindful, successful and happy lifestyle. Therefore, Trung Nguyen Legend is also present in the Top 10 leading chain cafe brands in Vietnam.

Trung Nguyên Legend

6. Phuc Long Coffee and Tea

If Cong Cafe is a leading chain cafe brand in Hanoi, Phuc Long Coffee and Tea is a leading chain cafe brand in Saigon. This is a long-standing brand, established in Saigon in 1968, has become familiar to many generations of customers here. Like Cong Ca, Phuc Long Coffee and Tea is an indispensable destination for young Saigonese.

Phúc Long Coffee and Tea

7. Gemini Coffee

Gemini Coffee is a chain cafe brand that is interested in the quality of coffee, famous for its “green and clean” coffee. Gemini Coffee was launched in 2008, is one of the chain cafe brands for young people who are at the forefront of the trend of start-up chain cafes. Unlike successful chain cafe brands such as Highlands, Coffee House, Gemini Coffee focuses on young customers with middle income, with the “delicious-nutritious-cheap” beverage philosophy. That is one of the factors that helped Gemini Coffee “survive” after the storm chain cafe crisis in 2013. As of 2017, Gemini Coffee has a total of 18 stores nationwide.

Gemini Coffee

Coffee chains established by Vietnamese people

8. Tous Les Jours

Despite not quite a chain cafe brand, Tous Les Jours is still present in the Top 9 leading chain cafe brands in Vietnam. Tous Les Jours is a French pastry brand, with a French name, but few people know Tous Les Jours was founded by a Korean in 1997 and belonged to CJ Group – the group that owns the CJ CGV cinema brand.

Entering the Vietnamese market, Tous Les Jours quickly succeeded, not only supplying cakes but also providing beverages, coffee, including Viet coffee, capuchino, americano, expresso … Up to the year 2016, Tous Les Jours has 32 stores in Vietnam, including many stores located in beautiful locations such as Royal City, Times City, Keangnam Landmark, Indochina Plaza, Vinhomes Central Park Tan Cang, Diamond Plaza…

Tous Les Jours

9. Starbucks

Starbucks is also indispensable in the Top 10 leading chain cafe brands in Vietnam because it is the world’s leading chain cafe brand. Starbucks represents “American Cafe”, was established in 1971 in Seattle, USA. To date, Starbucks has 17,800 stores in 49 countries, including 11,068 stores in the US, 1,000 stores in Canada, and 800 stores in Japan. With the famous mermaid logo in a blue circle, Starbucks is an international brand, ranked 34th in the Top 100 most valuable brands globally by Forbes magazine, above the luxury brands such as Gucci, Audi, Zara …

Starbucks entered Vietnam in 2013 after had gone into Hong Kong and Macao markets successfully. According to Ms. Patricia Marques – CEO of Starbucks Vietnam, the Vietnamese market is a growing market with great potential. Vietnamese people have the habit of drinking coffee outside the shops, which are passed down from French and American culture when these two countries occupied Vietnam in the past. Vietnam is also a coffee powerhouse, with the 2nd exporting coffee volume in the world. Therefore, this world’s leading coffee brand decided to penetrate the Vietnamese market. However, in Vietnam, Starbucks faces fierce competition from domestic coffee brands, especially Highlands, which have decentralized customers, and quality relatively close to Starbucks Vietnam. Starbucks did not achieve great success as expected for many reasons: Starbucks does not provide Vietnamese coffee (roasting), Starbucks coffee has high prices compared to the average Vietnamese income; the most favorable places are occupied by Highlands. However, Starbucks is still a strong brand and is gradually gaining the trust of Vietnamese consumers, especially young people, and high-income businessmen, families, as well as a top destination for foreign tourists in major cities.

Starbucks Vietnam

Above are the top chain coffee brands in Vietnam. Have you chosen for yourself a cafe to go to yet? Having fun.

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