Sahra Nguyen, founder of Nguyen Coffee Supply: Demanding "fairness" for Vietnamese Robusta coffee beans.
Nguyen Coffee Supply is the first brand in the US specializing in selling products made from Vietnam's specialty Robusta coffee beans. Beyond simply doing business, founder Sahra Nguyen aspires to spread Vietnamese coffee culture throughout the world .
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| Sahra Nguyen, founder of Nguyen Coffee Supply. |
Deeply attached to Vietnamese Robusta beans.
Since 2022, Nguyen Coffee Supply's specialty coffee and cold-brewed Robusta coffee products have been available in over 550 Whole Foods stores across the US. This represents a significant shift for the brand, reflecting a change in American consumer mindset regarding Vietnamese coffee.
"My dream is to build the world's largest coffee company from Vietnamese Robusta beans," shared founder Sahra Nguyen.
Founded in 2018, Nguyen Coffee Supply is the first artisanal coffee producer in the US to use Robusta beans sourced 100% from Vietnam. Even in the brand name, the founder, born in 1986, uses his surname, Nguyen, to enhance representation and visibility to the Vietnamese community.
Sahra recalls that in 2016, when Vietnamese iced milk coffee was becoming increasingly popular in New York, she drew parallels to Japanese green tea or bubble tea, Asian beverages that had created consumer trends in the US. She believed that Vietnamese iced milk coffee would become the next trend.
However, every time Sahra bought iced milk coffee, she noticed that the beans used weren't Vietnamese, but rather from Ethiopia or Colombia. The more she investigated, the more Sahra realized that American consumers also wanted to engage with Vietnamese culture, but it was impossible to find high-quality, authentic Vietnamese coffee beans in the American market. Large coffee companies like Blue Bottle, Stumptown, La Colombe, and the Whole Foods retail chain didn't carry any Vietnamese Robusta beans.
"That's strange," Sahra said to herself.
My dream is to build the world's largest coffee company using Robusta beans from Vietnam. 
- Sahra Nguyen
She searched online and learned that Vietnam is the world's second-largest coffee producer and the world's largest grower of Robusta coffee. The moment she discovered this truth, Sahra felt enlightened. Vietnam plays a significant role in the international coffee experience, yet consumers are unaware of it. Even within the coffee industry, Robusta beans don't receive the same attention as Arabica beans from Africa or South America.
"I want to show the world that Vietnamese coffee is just as delicious as coffee from anywhere else," Sahra said about the reason for establishing Nguyen Coffee Supply.
Importing coffee beans from farmers in Da Lat and Son La , Nguyen Coffee Supply roasts and grinds them before selling them in the US market. Sahra said that it's not that Americans prefer Arabica beans, but rather that previously, American customers were only offered Arabica coffee products. After trying coffee supplied by Nguyen Coffee Supply, more and more Americans have come to love Robusta beans because of their smooth, creamy, dark chocolate-like flavor, which pairs well with sugar and milk.
The coffee bean of the future.
Currently, Nguyen Coffee Supply imports both Robusta and Arabica beans from Vietnam to diversify its product range, but Robusta remains its main focus. Compared to Arabica beans, Robusta beans contain twice the amount of caffeine, twice the amount of antioxidants, 60% less sugar, and 60% less fat.
“This doesn’t mean one coffee bean is better than another, because coffee beans don’t live in a hierarchical order, and we’re not promoting a hierarchical culture in coffee. Instead, we’re pointing out the fact that all customers deserve greater product diversity and quality,” Sahra emphasized.
In the context of increasingly complex climate change, Sahra Nguyen expresses her belief that Robusta coffee beans are the beans of the future, possessing remarkable resilience. While no bean is completely immune to climate change, research shows that Robusta beans can withstand rising temperatures better than Arabica beans. Robusta beans can also be grown at various altitudes, whereas Arabica beans must be grown at very high altitudes. Because Robusta beans contain twice the amount of caffeine as Arabica beans, that caffeine acts as a natural pest repellent, ensuring farmers harvest more coffee beans.
"For all these reasons, we truly believe that Robusta beans will play a significant role in the future of the coffee industry," said Sahra Nguyen.
Over the past six years, Sahra and Nguyen Coffee Supply have persistently promoted Vietnamese coffee and the culture of Vietnamese filter coffee to the world. Things are gradually looking brighter. Sahra and the story of Vietnamese Robusta coffee beans have attracted the attention of international media. The founder, born in the 1980s, was also honored by Imbibe Magazine as one of 75 people changing the way Americans eat in 2021.
The success of Nguyen Coffee Supply has also inspired many large local coffee businesses to gradually change their mindset. In January 2023, Blue Bottle launched its first blended coffee product in over two decades of operation, incorporating Vietnamese Robusta beans. Sahra Nguyen, the founder, is not worried about competition; on the contrary, she expresses a desire for more businesses to join in order to elevate the position of the Vietnamese coffee industry.
"In business, competition is good because it drives innovation. We need more businesses and more generations to participate in this arena, increasing the reach of Vietnamese coffee in the US, because I can't do it alone," shared the founder of Nguyen Coffee Supply.
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