The young man with the desire to bring coffee to the international level

Mr. Tran Van Phu won the Luong Dinh Cua award.

The push from anxiety

He is Tran Van Phu - Director of the Dak Ka Agricultural and Commercial Cooperative in Quang Tin Commune, Lam Dong Province. He is also the honorable recipient of the Luong Dinh Cua Award in 2024 thanks to his tireless efforts in raising the profile of Vietnamese coffee on the world map.

The story began in 2013, when Mr. Phu accidentally read an article listing the 10 most expensive coffees in the world , but none of them came from Vietnam. That made him worried, because at that time, Vietnam was the second largest coffee exporter in the world.

But why is Vietnamese coffee still “forgotten” on the specialty coffee map? Explaining this paradox, Mr. Phu realized that most of Vietnam’s coffee is commercial robusta, harvested and sold as raw coffee beans, without careful classification, without investment in post-harvest processing. “Farmers only focus on productivity and do not care about quality. That is what makes our coffee prices unstable and our brand obscure,” Mr. Phu shared.

From these concerns, Mr. Phu decided to start researching and experimenting, with the desire to make real specialty coffee right on his homeland. With only 1 hectare of coffee from his family, he diligently learned and experimented with advanced processing techniques, including the honey method to create a unique flavor.

In 2014, his first batch of specialty coffee was born and was quickly purchased by a company in Ho Chi Minh City. That was his first success, but also the impetus for him to continue his longer journey, which is to connect local youth, forming a group to produce high-quality coffee.

Cooperatives - a launching pad for coffee to go far

In 2017, Mr. Phu officially established a production group with 10 members, focusing on cultivation techniques and processing of specialty coffee. 3 years later, the group developed into the Dak Ka Cong Bang Agricultural and Commercial Cooperative with the goal of producing high-quality coffee that meets international standards.

Currently, the cooperative has 37 members and associate members, of which 70% are local youth, with a raw material area of up to 100 hectares. Not only that, the cooperative also cooperates with other cooperatives and cooperative groups in the province to produce together, increasing the total output to 200 tons of specialty coffee per year. The infrastructure is also invested in a systematic way with 1,000 m² of coffee drying greenhouse and 220 m² of roasting workshop, with a total investment of up to 6 billion VND. Thanks to that, the quality of the cooperative's coffee has been significantly improved.

The efforts of Mr. Phu and his colleagues do not stop at the promise of quality but have been proven by prestigious certifications. The specialty coffee products of Dak Ka Cooperative have been recognized by the International Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) as Fine Robusta - a big step forward for Vietnamese robusta coffee. In addition, the Cooperative's FRD (Fine Robusta Daknong) ground coffee product also meets the 3-star OCOP standard.

With a revenue of over 1 billion VND/year, Dak Ka Cooperative led by Mr. Phu creates stable jobs for many workers. More importantly, the Cooperative has brought new ways of working and new thinking to farmers here - shifting from small-scale production, chasing output to sustainable farming, prioritizing quality.

In 2024, the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union announced Mr. Tran Van Phu as one of 36 outstanding young people to receive the 19th Luong Dinh Cua Award. This is a worthy reward for his quiet but persistent efforts over the past decade, in bringing local coffee closer to international standards.

Sharing about his future direction, Mr. Phu affirmed: “I will continue to expand the raw material area, invest in more modern machinery and technology, and develop the FRD brand further. I hope to contribute to building the reputation of Vietnamese coffee in the world market.”

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/chang-trai-voi-khat-vong-dua-ca-phe-vuon-tam-quoc-te-387920.html