In effort to realize goal of exporting agricultural, forestry and aquatic products worth 100 billion USD, coffee is identified as one of the most important "leading engines".
Restructuring value chain and aspiration to become the "world's robusta capital"
In structure of Vietnam's agricultural exports, the greatest growth potential currently lies in changing proportion of products. Although Vietnam is the world's leading exporter of Robusta coffee, rate of deep processing in Vietnam is currently only 15-20%, much more modest than Brazil's 45%.
Analyzing breakthrough strategy, Mr. Le Duc Huy, Chairman of Board of Directors of Simexco Dak Lak Company, affirmed that focusing on deep processing and brand building will bring significant added value. Coffee industry needs to aim to make Vietnam the "world's robusta destination," with Dak Lak province playing role of the "capital".
Actual operations at Simexco Dak Lak demonstrate that shifting towards developing specialty coffee and participating in auctions can increase value of green coffee beans by 2 to 3 times.
Through Climate-Adaptive Coffee Program (RCP), linked with tens of thousands of farming households in the Central Highlands, applying sustainable farming models helps reduce input costs by 20-30%, increase productivity by 10-15% and raise farmers' total income on the same area by up to 40%.
Assessing international stature of Vietnamese coffee, Mr. Daan Wensing, CEO of Stichting IDH (Netherlands), noted that Vietnam's proactive cooperation with Uganda – the two largest Robusta coffee producers globally – is an unprecedented precedent. This cooperation creates a strong negotiating position and helps producing countries assert their autonomy in determining their sustainable development agenda.
Mr. Daan Wensing recommended that Vietnamese businesses focus on maximizing "domestic added value", bringing high-tech final products to the market to retain profits domestically. Meeting stringent standards early on, such as preventing deforestation, protecting environment and ensuring a "living income" for growers, will transform green barriers into absolute competitive advantages, making Vietnam a "powerhouse" in global food system.
From a business perspective, Mr. Le Duc Huy also set a goal of reaching Net Zero by 2035 and generating additional revenue from commercialization of carbon credits.
Cooperation in sustainable coffee development, bringing name of Vietnamese coffee to the world
In the Central Highlands, digital transformation and application of high technology are becoming an endogenous driving force helping cooperatives and farmers optimize production costs.
Recently, the People's Committee of Dak Lak province and the representative office of Stichting IDH in Vietnam held a signing ceremony for a Memorandum of Understanding to implement the "Sustainable Coffee Program adapting to climate change in Dak Lak province, 2026-2030".
Mr. Nguyen Thien Van, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dak Lak province, said that the locality currently owns more than 217,000 hectares of coffee, which is core livelihood of hundreds of thousands of households and brings in nearly 900 million USD in export revenue each year. Dak Lak province hopes that through cooperation framework with IDH, it will expand scale of sustainable production, improve the quality and added value of products to meet stringent standards of international import markets and attract more investment resources from private sector and development organizations.
Mr. Huynh Tien Dung, Head Representative of IDH Vietnam, said that agreement aims to establish a sustainable raw material area of approximately 75,000 hectares in key areas of the province using a landscape and regional approach. Cooperation focuses on four key objectives: Conservation and efficient use of land and water resources associated with climate change adaptation solutions; Enhancing production capacity and promoting close linkages between farmers, cooperatives and businesses; Building a database of growing areas and a traceability system to meet European Union's Regulation on Deforestation (EUDR); and Mobilizing resources and active participation from stakeholders.
Along with Robusta coffee capital of Central Highlands, Arabica coffee region of Northwest Vietnam is also making a significant mark on the international trade map. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Cong, Vice Chairman of Son La Provincial People's Committee, informed that the province has agreed with partners on a plan to auction Son La Arabica coffee in Hawaii (USA) in November 2026. The province also aims to bring product to national coffee auction in the second quarter of 2027.
To meet traceability standards and EUDR regulations, Son La province has proactively digitized its growing area data, accurately identifying 158,451 coffee plantation plots with a total area of approximately 65,000 hectares.
Regarding post-harvest management, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Cong noted that agricultural product losses can reach up to 65% of their value if not properly preserved and transported. Son La province requested that central ministries, agencies and scientists increase support for technology transfer in post-harvest preservation and improve logistics infrastructure to protect the value of the 65,000 hectares of coffee and over 85,150 hectares of fruit trees in the province.

Source: Vitic/ baochinhphu.vn