Vietnam, Italy Seeking to Boost Coffee Trading

Representatives from 11 Vietnamese leading coffee producers and exporters and Italian businesses discussed ways to boost coffee trading at a workshop in Rome Sept 26, the Vietnam News Agency-run Vietnam & World Report said.

 

Addressing the seminar, jointly held by the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy and the authorities of the Lasio region, President of the Vietnam Coffee Corporation (VINACAFE) Doan Dinh Thiem said that Vietnam is now the second-largest coffee exporter in the world, holding a 20 per cent share of the world market with an average annual export volume of 840,000 tons.

 

Vietnam is also the second biggest exporter, following Brazil, of coffee to Italy.

 

Italy is estimated to import around 66,000 tons of coffee yearly from Vietnam over the past eight years, becoming the forth-largest importer from Vietnam, after Germany, the U.S., and Spain.

 

Several largest coffee companies in Italy like Lavazza and Pecorani have also opened representative offices and commenced joint ventures in Vietnam.

 

Vincenzo Sandalj, President of the Coffee Association of Trieste city, said Vietnam’s coffee share has sharply increased in Italy market over the past years because Vietnamese coffee meets Italian consumers’ taste.

 

But he said that Vietnam’s coffee export volume to Italy is only half of Brazil’s, and a little higher than India’s, the third biggest coffee exporter to the country.

 

“Vietnam should boost coffee quality as well as trade promotion in Italy,” he said.

 

He said Italy, the fifth-largest coffee importer in the world, with an annual growth rate of 6 per cent, holds still more opportunities for Vietnamese businesses. (Vietnam & World Economy)