Bringing Khe Sanh Arabica coffee to the US: Specialty products from Arabica coffee

Before the 1990s, Khe Sanh Abarica coffee was mainly exported to the German market. This is considered a commodity with great export potential from Quang Tri province; it provided a main source of income for thousands of households in the area. However, the export of Khe Sanh Abarica coffee to Germany was halted after some time.

The price of coffee dropping tremendously is also one of the reasons as to why the coffee growing areas tend to decrease. The output and quality of Abarica coffee in Huong Hoa district has subsequently declined. Many coffee gardens have fallen into a state of overgrown grass, and damaged by pests.

Such situation poses an urgent requirement for the restoration of area, productivity, quality and output of Khe Sanh Abarica coffee.

Following the coffee replanting programs implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Quang Tri province, this key crop is showing signs of recovery. Huong Phung has been assigned by the Ministry of Agriculture to build a Vietnamese specialty coffee brand. The National Office of Intellectual Property has also granted a collective mark protection title for the Khe Sanh Arabica coffee brand.

This is an opportunity to restore the Khe Sanh coffee brand. A new way to elevate Khe Sanh coffee has been pioneered with Pun Coffee Co., Ltd. leading the spearhead.

Mr. Phan Hong Phong, technical officer from Pun Coffee Co., Ltd. said that, due to the unique soil, climate characteristics as well as the tradition of growing coffee without shade trees, Khe Sanh Abarica coffee possesses weak physical traits. As a result, the coffee roasting is not satisfactory when exported to the US market. The first few export shipments by Pun Coffee Co., Ltd. were considered failures. However, the story has completely changed since 2020.

“We considered roasting the coffee before exporting. And that has brought success with 2 tons of exported coffee per year” shared Mr. Phan Hong Phong.

During its journey, Pun Coffee Co., Ltd. has established remarkable milestones. One of which being the National Specialty Coffee Award in 2021; these are products made from coffee beans that meet 3-star OCOP standards or coffee products that are currently popular on the market. Ripe coffee pods are combined with a variety of herbs to produce 1 ton of coffee annually with a selling price of 750,000 VND/kg.

Diversifying the products processed from coffee to serve the needs of consumers is the path that Pun Coffee Co., Ltd. has chosen for both their short-term and long-term strategies; thereby, serving the dream to bring Khe Sanh Abarica coffee to the the world market.

Ms. Luong Ngoc Tram, Director of Pun Coffee Co., Ltd. said that in addition to standard planting, the stage of coffee harvesting and processing is also very important. For the drying stage, if the weather is too sunny, the drying area must be covered with a tarpaulin so that the coffee beans do not tan while retaining the flavor. The coffee roasting process also requires extreme meticulousness, the coffee roaster for export must be highly skilled and dedicated to their job.

According to Ms. Tram, Khe Sanh Abarica coffee is grown, nurtured and harvested by the Van Kieu ethnic people in accordance with the standards established by the World Specialty Coffee Association (SCA); The coffee is subsequently roasted, ground and packaged at factories that meet the ISO 22000-2018 and HACCP standards; the roasting techniques are aso certified by the SCA. These are the mandatory requirements that partners request if Khe Sanh Arabica coffee aims to have a firm foothold in the hearts of consumers around the world.

Not only serving the domestic market as well as the US market, Abarica coffee aims to be exported to larger and more demanding markets. Businesses and coffee farmers must strive to make great efforts together in order to achieve such goals.

“We will have more new products. Khe Sanh Arabica coffee will also be available in different markets around the world. And in order to do that, branding is an important story; but coffee farmers and processors must maintain integrity, ambitions and enthusiasm", Ms. Tram added.