Vietnam recorded a milestone for its coffee industry in August, overtaking Brazil to become the world's largest exporter of instant coffee for the month, highlighting the country's growing strength in higher-value coffee processing.
Vietnamese companies are accelerating investment in instant coffee production and trading for the domestic market and exports (Photo: Nam Binh).
According to the International Coffee Organisation (ICO), Vietnam exported around 310,000 bags of instant coffee, each weighing 60kg, in August, equivalent to approximately 18,600 tonnes. The volume surpassed Brazil's exports and placed Vietnam at the top of the global rankings for the month.
Instant coffee is also accounting for an increasingly larger share of Vietnam's coffee exports. During the first 11 months of the 2024-25 crop year, instant coffee represented 12.4 per cent of the country's total coffee exports, up from 11.5 per cent during the same period a year earlier.
The figures reflect a broader shift within Vietnam's coffee sector, which has traditionally relied on exports of green coffee beans but is increasingly moving towards value-added processing.
Domestic demand is also strengthening. Data from e-commerce analytics platform Metric showed that instant coffee sales on Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada and Tiki reached VND 217.2 billion (USD 8.3 million) between June 1 and August 31.
More than 1.1 million products were sold during the three-month period through approximately 1,700 online stores. The number of sellers increased 24 per cent compared with the previous quarter and 63 per cent year-on-year, while sales volume rose 47 per cent from the same period in 2025.
Metric said the figures excluded fraudulent orders and promotional gift products to provide a more accurate reflection of market activity.
Although online sales represent only part of the domestic market, the data suggests instant coffee is expanding its presence across modern retail channels while strengthening its role within Vietnam's processed coffee exports.
Research firm Mordor Intelligence estimates Vietnam's coffee market will be worth USD 518.72 million in 2025 and could grow to USD 737.99 million by 2031. Instant coffee is expected to account for approximately 37.1 per cent of industry revenue this year.
Globally, the instant coffee market is projected to reach USD 38.57 billion in 2026 and grow to USD 51.18 billion by 2031, representing a compound annual growth rate of 5.82 per cent.
Investment shifts towards value-added processing
Growing demand at home and abroad is driving a new wave of investment in coffee processing facilities across Vietnam.
According to the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa), the country's 10 largest companies currently account for 85.3 per cent of processed coffee export turnover.
The group includes both domestic and international firms such as Nestlé Vietnam, Outspan Vietnam, Iguacu Vietnam, Sucafina Vietnam, URC Vietnam, ILD Coffee Vietnam, Tata Coffee Vietnam and Instanta Vietnam.
Among domestic companies, Trung Nguyen is developing the Trung Nguyen Legend Energy Coffee Factory and an expansion project for its existing coffee plant.
Its instant coffee factory project has a total investment of approximately VND 2 trillion (USD 76.6 million) across two phases and a planned annual output capacity of 7,896 tonnes. Commercial production is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2027.
Intimex, which has operated an instant coffee plant in Binh Duong since late 2019, plans to invest an additional VND 450 billion (USD 17.2 million) to expand capacity to 8,000 tonnes per year.
Tata Coffee, a subsidiary of India's Tata Consumer Products, has also selected Vietnam as a production base for freeze-dried instant coffee. Its Binh Duong facility began operations in 2019 with an annual capacity of around 5,000 tonnes. An expansion phase launched in 2026 is expected to double output.
Nestlé recently commissioned a new glass-jar production line at its Tri An factory in Dong Nai Province. The facility has an initial capacity of more than 350,000 jars per day, with products exported to 11 international markets.
Domestic agribusiness group Phuc Sinh is also expanding processing operations through its K Coffee brand.
In July, the company launched a VND 500 billion (USD 19.2 million) agricultural processing centre in Dak Nong Province. The facility is designed to process 50,000 tonnes of coffee and 15,000 tonnes of pepper annually.
According to Phan Minh Thong, chief executive of Phuc Sinh Group, K Coffee remains in an investment phase and has yet to become profitable. The company is focusing on expanding distribution networks while leveraging coffee supplies from its own production areas.
The common theme across many of these projects is scale and export orientation. While Vietnam's coffee industry has long benefited from abundant raw material supplies, the latest investment wave suggests competition is increasingly shifting towards processing technology, branding and the ability to produce higher-value coffee products for international markets.
