Fierce battle for market share between coffee chains in Vietnam

Vietnam's food and beverage (F&B) industry finally got back on its feet last year following the Covid-19 pandemic, and large coffee chains such as Highlands Coffee, Phuc Long and Katinat have been working tirelessly ever since to capture market share.

A recent report by iPOS.vn on the 2023 F&B market showed that there were 317,299 coffee and tea shops in Vietnam, an annual increase of 1.26%.

This increase was lower than predicted at the start of the year because many chains had closed stores and downsized.

Although the overall number of stores did not increase by much, revenues still raced into double digits, up 11.6%, reaching VND590 trillion ($24.1 billion).

Highlands Coffee retained the number one spot, with 777 stores operating in provinces and cities nationwide, according to its website.

This marked an increase of more than 170 stores compared to 2022, while the company was also operating more than 50 outlets in the Philippines.

Highlands has a policy of expanding in existing territory, rather than developing a diverse menu like its competitors.

The company also invested down the chain, spending VND500 billion ($19.64 milion) on a coffee roasting factory in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province with a capacity of nearly 10,000 tons per year in the first phase, which could increase by 75,000 tonnes.

Phuc Long also had a busy year, opening around 25 flagship stores in the last six months of 2023, aiming to make the brand the second-largest beverage chain in Vietnam.

By May 15, Phuc Long had 157 stores and about 45 integrated kiosks in Winmart+ stores.

Trung Nguyen of 'coffee king' Dang Le Nguyen Vu had a different business approach, although it had almost as many stores as Highlands. Last year, it had about 700 stores, including 108 Trung Nguyen Legend stores, 548 E-Coffee stores, and other outlets overseas.

Overseas expansion is a key part of Trung Nguyen Legend's business strategy.

VTC News online newspaper quoted Trung Nguyen as saying that the business was planning to develop 1,000 Trung Nguyen Legend coffee spaces in China and about 100 stores in the U.S.

The most unexpected newcomer was Katinat Saigon Cafe, which opened new stores in prime locations in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Katinat remains a small coffee chain and at the end of 2021, it had just 10 stores in HCMC, but over the past year it has been accelerating fast. The pace of new store openings is only just behind that of Highlands Coffee and Phuc Long.

The Coffee House also surprised the market, but in the opposite direction.

At the end of 2022 it had 155 coffee shops, while today it has only 133.

As for Starbucks, it currently has 108 stores after entering the Vietnamese market 11 years ago, seemingly taking a slow and steady approach to expansion.