Forging Son La Arabica Identity with Detech Coffee’s Sustainable Strategy

Arabica from Son La is emerging as a key part of Vietnam’s sustainable coffee development. Through transparent production and modern processing, Detech Coffee is helping transform this long-standing growing region into a high-value Arabica source that can compete in the global specialty coffee market.

Detech Coffee’s factory in Hung Yen, Vietnam

Detech Coffee and the journey for sustainable Son La Arabica

Detech Coffee’s journey began with an everyday experience. In 2012, while running her own cafe, Dr. Dao Ngoc Anh realized that most high-quality coffee still had to be imported. The question that seemed simple at first pointed to a deeper issue: “Why is Vietnam, a global coffee powerhouse, still unable to create Arabica products that meet specialty standards and earn the trust of Vietnamese consumers?”

She began exploring Arabica from Son La, a long-established growing region with significant untapped potential. The challenges were clear: a lack of standardized harvesting practices, inconsistent post-harvest methods, and a regional story not yet strong enough to enter the high-quality segment.

With a careful and consistent approach, in 2018 she founded Detech Coffee and established a sustainable development strategy based on three pillars.

A panoramic view of the Konnai Coffee Shop experience space

Environmental sustainability: Detech Coffee uses an agroforestry model that interplants coffee with macadamia, leucaena, and native species to protect soil, conserve water, and maintain biodiversity in the growing areas. At the Son La factory, husks from milling are collected and reused as fuel for subsequent drying batches, reducing waste and adapting to local production conditions.

The company is also piloting new Arabica varieties such as THA1, H1, Starmaya, and H16 to evaluate climate resilience, yield, and flavor. This diversification supports long-term sustainability of the raw material area, gradually replaces aging trees, reduces pests and diseases, and enhances resistance to climate change.

Social sustainability: By the end of November 2025, Detech Coffee had built a cooperation network with 6,500 farming households from ethnic minority communities. The company provided training in ripe-cherry harvesting, labor safety, and annual incentives for each kilogram of certified coffee. It also focused on improving the skills and professional capacity of employees across the entire system.

Sustainable governance: Detech Coffee implements full traceability across its value chain to ensure transparency from sourcing to production. Its corporate culture is built on fairness, respect, and accountability.

Built on these three pillars, Detech Coffee has gradually developed a Son La Arabica value chain that can compete in international markets. With global certifications and many years of experience in sustainable production, the company is now a partner in the processing and supply chains of leading global coffee brands.

Detech Coffee has exported its products to more than ten countries across three continents, including high-standard markets such as the United States, Germany, and Japan. Specialty roasters in these markets value the quality of Arabica from Son La and recognize the company’s efforts to ensure full transparency in sourcing. The number of international customers has grown steadily year after year, reflecting increasing confidence not only in Detech Coffee but also in Vietnam’s Arabica sector.

Reflecting on this journey, Dr. Dao Ngoc Anh, Chair and CEO of Detech Coffee, said: “To elevate the global position of Vietnamese coffee, we cannot rely on volume alone. That is why Detech Coffee has spent years working directly with farmers in Son La to improve quality at the source. For us, sustainable development guides our daily actions. When farmers are happy, the coffee tastes better. When coffee is produced with integrity, the world will listen to Vietnam’s story.”

Detech Coffee and IWCA Vietnam at the seminar “Vietnamese Women’s Journey toward Sustainable Coffee”

Son La Arabica - A regional identity in flavor

Detech Coffee is among the first companies to invest in a wet-processing plant located directly in the growing region, ensuring that cherries are processed within 24 hours of harvest. This minimizes fermentation defects and helps maintain a clean and stable flavor profile.

When using natural processing, Arabica from Son La often carries a distinctive dried-plum note, a rare characteristic that evokes local fruits such as apricot, plum, and peach from the northwest highlands. This flavor note creates a unique regional identity and sets Son La apart from other Arabica-growing regions in Vietnam.

In this year’s harvest, the company partnered with international experts to standardize processing techniques, including fermentation, temperature control, and sensory evaluation, with the goal of continuously improving the quality of Son La Arabica each season.

Alongside production, Detech Coffee actively promotes Son La Arabica at major events such as Cafe Show Vietnam, World of Coffee, and Coffee Expo Vietnam. At these events, the company showcases flavor profiles, sustainable development practices, and the story of the growing region through cupping activities and engagement with the domestic and international coffee community.

Konnai - Sustainable Vietnamese coffee brand

The Konnai brand was established by the Detech Coffee team to elevate Vietnamese agricultural products through deep processing, create jobs, and foster national pride. The Konnai logo features the saola, also known as the Asian unicorn, symbolizing resilience and aspiration.

Konnai products are designed to meet the diverse needs of modern consumers while preserving the authentic character of Vietnamese coffee. The roasted coffee line follows European standards to retain its signature aroma and bright acidity, while the drip bag line provides convenience without sacrificing the richness of Vietnamese flavor.

Beyond traditional products, Konnai has expanded into instant coffee, canned coffee, and fruit juice with coconut jelly, providing convenient options with a wide variety of flavors that consumers can enjoy in their own style. All products are developed based on sustainability, transparency, and community connection.

At the same time, the Konnai Coffee Shop chain promotes green consumption by using paper packaging, reducing plastic, encouraging customers to bring personal containers through the 5K program, and sharing stories of the growing region through its baristas. Konnai Coffee Shop showcases the culture of coffee appreciation and highlights the story of Son La Arabica.

Detech Coffee at World of Coffee Geneva 2025

Partnering with IWCA Vietnam to strengthen the voice of women in the coffee value chain

Detech Coffee has collaborated with the International Women’s Coffee Alliance Vietnam (IWCA Vietnam) to implement programs that support women coffee farmers.

Activities include training in farming practices, ripe-cherry harvesting, workplace safety, household financial management, and developing community-based tourism linked to coffee. These programs help women improve their coffee production skills and build confidence when contributing ideas within their communities.

The collaboration between Detech Coffee and IWCA Vietnam reflects the company’s view of sustainable development: improving coffee quality must go hand in hand with improving the quality of life for farmers, especially women who work directly with coffee every day. This foundation enables Son La Arabica to grow sustainably and fairly, and to participate more deeply in the global coffee value chain.

Taking Son La Arabica global from local value to international markets

With its cool climate, highlands, and flavor profile shaped by the northwest region, Son La has the potential to become one of Vietnam’s signature Arabica regions. To realize this, Arabica from Son La requires a fully developed ecosystem, including raw material zones, quality standards, traceability, community capacity, and international promotion. The sustainable development models that Detech Coffee is implementing in Son La demonstrate a viable path, but broader industry participation is needed to achieve greater progress.

In November 2025, community engagement initiatives such as the seminar “Vietnamese Women’s Journey toward Sustainable Coffee,” organized by IWCA Vietnam, became a key highlight. The event gave women across the value chain, from farmers and cooperatives to businesses, the opportunity to share stories, experiences, and challenges in sustainable production. These conversations opened new perspectives for shaping the development of Vietnamese Arabica in a time of deeper global integration.

Looking ahead, Detech Coffee hopes for greater collaboration from organizations such as Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (VICOFA), and international programs. The goal is to create shared platforms where Vietnamese Arabica can be showcased consistently and professionally. Bringing Son La Arabica closer to international markets is not only a commercial effort but also a journey to affirm the identity and quality of Vietnamese coffee amid increasing global competition.

By Duy Binh, Vietnam Business Forum