The fragrant coffee season

QTO - Starting in November each year, the coffee ripens. On the hillsides of Khe Sanh, Huong Phung… the deep red Arabica berries silently release their fragrance amidst the highland sunshine and wind, following the footsteps of the people from the fields to the villages. Each smile is a slice of the harvest season, where the land, people, and coffee beans blend together, telling a gentle story of a land growing with its own aroma.

According to Le Thi Phuong Nhi, founder of the BruLe Coffee brand: In 2025, Khe Sanh and Huong Phung coffee will have a bumper crop, record high prices, and impressive yields (up to 25 tons/ha in some areas).

According to Ms. Nhi, in the Xa Ry region, coffee is being cultivated organically, so the coffee product is gradually shifting from mass production to specialty coffee. This has helped farmers significantly increase their income with the highest fresh coffee prices ever, creating an incentive for investment in quality and expansion of production.

Towards the end of the year is the coffee harvest season. The atmosphere in the coffee-growing areas of the southwestern communes of Quang Tri province becomes more bustling than ever. Nearly 4,000 hectares of coffee in the region are entering their main harvest season. Coffee growers are very excited because this is the most bountiful harvest and the highest prices ever recorded.

According to Phan Ngoc Long, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Huong Phung commune, the entire commune currently has about 2,100 hectares of coffee plantations in production. Statistics show that the average yield is about 8-10 tons of fresh fruit per hectare, with some households achieving yields of up to 15-20 tons per hectare through good care. Encouragingly, the price of coffee has never been as high as this year, fluctuating between 24,000 and 27,000 VND per kilogram. At this price, after deducting costs, including harvesting labor, coffee growers earn a net profit of approximately 14,000-17,000 VND per kilogram.

Van Kieu and Pa Ko women harvesting ripe red coffee berries - Photo: NT

Notably, this year's harvest season has also created jobs for thousands of seasonal workers, mainly ethnic minorities. With wages ranging from 300,000 to 400,000 VND per day, these workers have a stable source of income, contributing to improving their lives, especially in the last months of the year.

In addition, the local government has many activities to support and link consumption, ensuring quality and transparent pricing, and combating fraud. On the plantations, the smiles of the women of Huong Phung shine with pride as they cherish the specialty coffee beans—the fruit of their hard work. Ripe coffee beans are carefully sorted, ensuring quality right from the first stage.

Huong Phung Arabica coffee is processed according to a strict procedure: from initial processing and drying in greenhouses to roasting and grinding with modern machinery. Each step requires meticulousness and precision to preserve the delicate, subtly acidic flavor and characteristic sweet aftertaste of highland coffee. The coffee beans rotate steadily in the roasting drum, emitting a captivating aroma—a culmination of the earth, the sky, and human hands.

That's the flavor of Huong Phung, of Quang Tri, which is gradually establishing its place on the map of Vietnamese specialty coffee.

To achieve that success, Khe Sanh and Huong Phung coffee also went through difficult times when prices dropped and farmers lost patience in cultivating them. Particularly during the period of 2010-2015, many coffee plantations were cut down to make way for new crops. Now, specialty coffee not only provides a sustainable livelihood for the people but also opens up a new direction for green agriculture .

When people mention Khe Sanh, they not only remember a land that once experienced fierce warfare, but also know it as the cradle of Central Vietnam's specialty Arabica coffee. On hillsides more than 500 meters above sea level, amidst a cool climate year-round, coffee plants are persistently growing, carrying with them the aspirations for change of the highland people.

The harvesting is done manually and with careful selection, contributing to the quality of specialty coffee - Photo: NT

Ms. Luong Thi Ngoc Tram from Pun Coffee Co., Ltd. stated: The natural conditions of Khe Sanh and Huong Phung are suitable for Arabica and Catimor coffee plants. The basin-like terrain and average altitude of 500-900m above sea level are not ideal for the development of this coffee variety. However, Arabica still adapts to the natural conditions here thanks to the large temperature difference between day and night (7-9 degrees Celsius). That is why Khe Sanh Arabica coffee is considered the most unique coffee variety in Vietnam. Other factors such as the tropical monsoon climate, year-round hot and humid, an average temperature of 22 degrees Celsius, and an average rainfall of 2,262mm/year also contribute to the growth of this coffee variety. Khe Sanh and Huong Phung also have abundant water resources from a complex system of ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, and small creeks. As a result, the coffee plants grow well and yield high production.

To promote the improvement of Vietnamese coffee quality and bring Vietnamese coffee to the world, in 2021, the former Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development approved the Project for the Development of Vietnamese Specialty Coffee for the period 2021-2030, implemented in 8 provinces of Vietnam, including Quang Tri. During the period 2021-2025, the coffee growing area in Quang Tri reached 11,500 hectares (accounting for 2% of the total coffee growing area nationwide); during the period 2026-2030, the coffee growing area reached 19,000 hectares (accounting for 3% of the total coffee growing area nationwide).

At the end of the year, when the coffee harvest is in full swing, the Khe Sanh and Huong Phung areas are more bustling than ever. On the plantations, Van Kieu and Pa Ko women, dressed in traditional clothing, diligently pick each ripe red coffee berry. The harvesting is done manually, with careful selection, only picking berries that have reached perfect ripeness—a crucial factor in creating the quality of specialty coffee.

Today, Khe Sanh and Huong Phung coffee is not just an agricultural product, but also a symbol of rebirth, of the striving to rise from a land that once suffered so much loss. In the aroma of coffee spreading through the vast forest, one can feel the new rhythm of life—slow, persistent, and full of hope. From the hillsides of Khe Sanh and Huong Phung, the specialty Arabica coffee beans are telling the story of Quang Tri with a gentle yet profound aroma—the story of the land, the people, and a green future being sown.

Le Ngoc Tu

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/kinh-te/202601/mua-ca-phe-thom-ngat-19f0ba2/