VietNamNet Bridge – Starbucks Coffee, the well-known coffee
brand, will surely be present in the Vietnamese market. The first shop of the
chain will be in HCM City, not far away from the New World Hotel in the central
district No 1.
The path to Vietnam is rosy
The hot topic of the articles on
local newspapers last week was the appearance of the fast food brand Burger
King in Vietnam, while the topic of this week is the upcoming arrival of the
coffee brand Starbucks.
Starbucks warned about its
arrival in Vietnam in 2011, when Starbucks’ Managing Director Howard Schultz
told BBC that the chain would penetrate the Vietnam market prior to 2013.
In fact, Starbucks have been
eyeing Vietnam for a long time. When the Australian Gloria Jeans Coffee opened
its first shop in Vietnam in January 2007, branding companies then gave
prediction about the appearance of more big brands, including Starbucks.
In 2008, they had proofs to
affirm that The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf would arrive in Vietnam, and in
2009, information was spread out that Starbucks sent its staff to Vietnam
already.
Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam
(C&W), which is in charge of looking for the business premises for
Starbucks in Vietnam, has revealed that the first shop of Starbucks would be
not far from the New World Hotel in district 1.
The detailed information about
this would be made public only when the procedures on the premises leasing are
completed in order to be sure that everything would be okay for the first shop.
C&W Vietnam CEO Christ Brown
said that Starbucks would have one shop in 2012 only, but it plans to open 3-5
shops more in the central areas of HCM City the next year.
The CEO said that Starbucks only
opens its first café in 2012 because it needs time to find local partners and
suitable business premises.
Coffee quality standards to be reset
Most of the world’s well-known
coffee brands have been present in Vietnam under the mode of franchising.
Gloria Jeans Coffee, for example, has been brought to Vietnam by Phong Cach
Song Viet Company, while The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf by Viet Ca Phe Trade Company.
A question may be raised that who
brings Starbucks to Vietnam. Those, who keep watching the news about the
wedding of the Vietnamese showbiz star Tang Thanh Ha, could easily guess who.
As for Jonathan Hanh Nguyen, the father in law of Ha, bringing Starbucks to
Vietnam is not a difficult job at all, according to a consultancy expert.
The expert also said that he can
see big changes in the taste of Vietnamese people. Young Vietnamese now like
going to the café with western style like Gloria Jeans Coffee or Starbucks
rather than traditional shops.
Besides, Vietnamese consumers
nowadays tend to demand more for clean coffee. Especially, women now also like
the drinks provided by the modern cafes.
However, despite the higher
demand for the western styled café, the shops still have been witnessing modest
growth. This can be seen in the modest number of the shops opened so far by the
big guys. Gloria Jeans Coffee has got six cafes, while the Coffee Bean &
Tea Leaf has developed the chain of eight shops in HCM City and Hanoi.
It is really very difficult to
find satisfactory retail premises in HCM City. The representative of Starbucks
Vietnam also said in the immediate time, it would look for separated retail
premises, while penetrating shopping malls would be the story of the future.
DNSG
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