Why Starbucks SUCKS in Vietnam — And Why Only 1 Vietnamese Drinks It

Why does a city of 1.2+ MILLION people have only around 10 Starbucks? Because Vietnamese people already have coffee. A LOT of it. ☕️ Vietnam has 500,000+ coffee shops—roughly 1 for every 200 people. USA: ~1 branded coffee shop / 7,600 people Canada: ~1 / 4,900 Vietnam: ~1 / 200 Vietnam has a coffee-shop infestation. 😂 ☕️ VIETNAM IS A COFFEE COUNTRY Vietnam is one of the world's biggest coffee producers and historically #2 in coffee exports behind Brazil. 2024–2025 export revenue exceeded $8.4 BILLION. The variety is incredible: ☕ Cà phê đen — black phin coffee 🧊 Cà phê đen đá — iced black coffee 🥛 Cà phê sữa — coffee with condensed milk 🧊🥛 Cà phê sữa đá — iced coffee with condensed milk 🥚 Cà phê trứng — egg coffee 🥥 Cà phê dừa — coconut coffee 🧂 Cà phê muối — salt coffee 🥛 Cà phê sữa chua — yogurt coffee 🥑 Cà phê bơ — avocado coffee Vietnam is heavily associated with strong Robusta, while Starbucks says its espresso is 100% Arabica. That's a very different coffee experience. 🇻🇳 LOCAL LOYALTY + PRICE Many Vietnamese prefer Vietnamese-owned businesses and local brands. Your neighborhood café might know your name and order. Starbucks sees you and thinks: “Would you like to join our rewards program?” 😂 🤔 SO WHO ACTUALLY GOES TO Starbucks? This is where my title comes from. I visited TWO Starbucks locations in Da Nang. Most people I saw were NOT Vietnamese. Across both locations, I personally saw only ONE Vietnamese person drinking there. Obviously, that doesn't mean only one Vietnamese person in Da Nang drinks Starbucks—that's why the title is deliberately sarcastic. I asked people: “WHY ARE YOU DRINKING STARBUCKS IN VIETNAM?” Some liked the atmosphere, brand or photos. For foreigners, Starbucks is familiar—a little piece of home. 🤯 BUT HERE'S THE INTERESTING PART... Starbucks DOES use Vietnamese coffee. It has sourced Arabica from Đà Lạt and sold Vietnamese-origin coffee internationally. So Vietnamese coffee is good enough for Starbucks. The challenge is getting Vietnamese customers to pay Starbucks prices for it. It's like opening a hamburger restaurant in Texas and saying, “We have hamburgers too.” 😂 So why hasn't Starbucks taken over Vietnam? Is Vietnamese coffee better? Do people prefer local cafés? Is Starbucks too expensive? Or is it selling the brand and experience? With 500,000+ coffee shops, Starbucks isn't convincing people to drink coffee. It's trying to convince them to drink THIS coffee. Would YOU choose Starbucks or a local Vietnamese coffee shop? 0:00 Why Starbucks sucks in Vietnam 3:22 Coffee adventure at Wind Cafe 7:36 Explaining Vietnamese coffee 11:20 Trying egg coffee in Da Nang 15:25 Confronting Starbucks customers 22:21 Promoting Highlands Coffee