HCM CITY — Stories about the nearly 200-year journey of Vietnamese coffee, from the earliest plantations to the iconic Vietnamese phin-brewing culture, will be vividly reenacted at the upcoming Global Coffee Heritage Festival 2025 in Lâm Đồng Province.

This announcement was made at a press conference for the festival held on Tuesday in HCM City.

Co-organised by the People’s Committee of Lâm Đồng Province and TNI Corporation (King Coffee), the festival will be an international cultural tourism and trade event taking place for the first time in Đà Lạt, a popular destination for tourists in the Central Highlands province. 

Running from December 18 until January 2, 2026, the celebration is set to become a new cultural and economic symbol in Việt Nam’s coffee production and export industry.

Addressing the press conference, CEO of TNI Corporation Lê Hoàng Diệp Thao, widely known as the 'Queen of Vietnamese Coffee', outlined the nearly 200-year journey of Vietnamese coffee, from the earliest plantations in the Central Highlands to Việt Nam’s position today as the world’s second-largest coffee producer.

This year’s Global Coffee Heritage Festival is a milestone celebrating Việt Nam’s status as a global powerhouse in robusta bean exports and its capacity to become a hub for coffee culture worldwide, she said.

Phạm S, former vice chairman of the Lâm Đồng People’s Committee, said that around 70 countries grow coffee worldwide. The global average coffee yield is about 0.9 tonnes per hectare, while Việt Nam's yield reaches 2.5 tonnes, three times the world average. 

Lâm Đồng currently has 41,700ha of coffee plantations producing 120,000 tonnes of beans, accounting for 43 per cent of the planted area but 58 per cent of the total output.

“This shows that Lâm Đồng is not only Việt Nam’s coffee hub, but also the world’s,” he said. 

“Through this festival, we aim to transform coffee from an agricultural commodity into a heritage of cultural, economic and tourism value.”

Head of the organising committee Nguyễn Thị Xuân Hương said that the event will welcome companies and associations from leading coffee-producing nations like Brazil, Ethiopia and Indonesia. This opens opportunities for new export and cooperation partnerships, promoting a creative economic model for the coffee industry.

Highlights will include the International Coffee Conference and the establishment of the Việt Nam–World Coffee Alliance, an exhibition of a restored 1932 heritage train carriage, the Global Coffee Journey Week and a grand music night blending traditional and contemporary performances called 'Coffee Music Night', the Global Coffee Heritage Festival is set to become a major tourism and economic event.

It will contribute to local development, promote Việt Nam’s image and confirm to the world that Vietnamese coffee is not only abundant in quantity, but also rich in stories, culture and vision.

Nguyễn Thị Bích Ngọc, deputy director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that the festival will also reflect Việt Nam’s pioneering role in hosting such a large-scale event, connecting the past, present and future of the global coffee industry on a foundation of sustainability and heritage.

As part of the Global Coffee Heritage Festival 2025, an international barista contest will be held under the theme 'Honouring Talent – Affirming Heritage'. This will be an international stage where baristas, the so-called 'keepers of the heritage flame', can showcase their creativity and contribute to the sustainable development of the coffee industry. — VNA/VNS