On November 25, in Ho Chi Minh City, the first Global Coffee Heritage Festival 2025 was officially announced. The event is expected to become a strategic push to put Da Lat (Lam Dong) on the world coffee map, aiming to build this place into the "Global Coffee Capital".
The program is organized by Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee in coordination with TNI King Coffee Group, taking place from December 18 to January 2, 2026 in Da Lat. The festival follows the Southeast Asian Gong Festival 2025, promising to turn the "dreamy city" into the most vibrant cultural and tourist center of the year-end festival season.
From a 1932 train car to a global coffee economic forum
Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, Deputy Director of Lam Dong Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that the festival, themed “Honoring Heritage - Creating the Future”, is not only about performances but also an economic forum, connecting international producers, artisans, businesses and investors.
The highlight is the “Global Coffee Journey Week” - experiencing coffee on an ancient train car from 1932 at Da Lat Station. This space was restored as “Da Lat Coffee Tour”, connecting the architectural heritage of Indochina with the unique coffee culture.
Guests attend the press conference to launch the first Global Coffee Heritage Festival (Photo: Organizing Committee).
At the festival, an art painting created from Robusta beans - a work that set a Vietnamese record - will be displayed in an open space for visitors.
Other large-scale activities include: Re-enacting the 200-year journey of Vietnamese coffee history; International Barista Competition at Lam Vien Square; International Coffee Conference and launching of the Vietnam - World Coffee Alliance (GCA).
“Tourists will not only enjoy coffee, but also interact directly with artisans and producers and gain a deep understanding of the multi-layered Vietnamese coffee culture. This is also an opportunity for Lam Dong to attract investment and affirm the brand of specialty coffee,” Ms. Ngoc shared.
Journey to enhance the value of Vietnamese coffee
Mr. Pham S - former Vice Chairman of Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee, Program Advisor - said that Da Lat is the cradle of Arabica coffee in Vietnam with a commercial history of more than 100 years. However, the area of specialty Arabica, especially in Cau Dat area, is still not developing proportionally, even shrinking in some places.
“This is a great loss for the local coffee industry. This festival is an opportunity to connect investors and businesses to revive the Da Lat specialty coffee region, turning this place into a new capital of global coffee,” Mr. S said.
People harvest coffee in Dak Lak (Photo: Ha Duyen).
From a business perspective, Ms. Le Hoang Diep Thao, General Director of TNI King Coffee, said that she is working with Lam Dong to develop a specialty coffee area in Da Lat with a scale of up to thousands of hectares to regain the "position and reputation" of Da Lat Arabica coffee. The company will also promote Arabica growing areas in Mang Den (Gia Lai), high-quality Robusta coffee in the Central Highlands to export high-value products.
Ms. Diep Thao affirmed that Vietnam has a rare advantage in being able to grow both high-quality Arabica and Robusta. Vietnam is the second largest coffee producer and exporter in the world, and this is the time to shift from raw exports to deep processing - a strategy to raise the standards of Vietnamese coffee and increase export value.
“I have been to nearly 50 coffee-growing countries and found that Arabica Da Lat and Robusta coffee in the Central Highlands are of high quality and, if processed further, will create high-end products for the world market. The festival is an opportunity for us to reaffirm this position with international friends and is the first step in the journey to turn Da Lat into the Global Coffee Capital,” said Ms. Thao.
Affirming the unique value and strength of Robusta coffee (of which Vietnam is the largest grower and exporter in the world), the female director said that reducing raw exports, promoting deep processing and building international brands are inevitable directions to increase the value of the Vietnamese coffee industry and improve the lives of the people.
“At this Festival and subsequent activities, the coffee business community wants the world to understand that Vietnamese Robusta, when grown and processed properly, can absolutely become a premium product line, with its own identity and emotional value, not inferior to Arabica,” Ms. Thao affirmed.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/cong-bo-ke-hoach-dua-da-lat-thanh-thu-phu-ca-phe-toan-cau-20251125200144259.htm
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