One of the major competitors in the Vietnamese coffee industry is Trung Nguyen Group.

Trung Nguyen - born in 1996 - is a fledgling coffee brand in Vietnam. However, within ten years, from a
small coffee shop located in the coffee capital of Vietnam, Buon Ma Thuot, Trung Nguyen has grown into
a large corporation with six member companies. Trung Nguyen is also the organization that pioneered
the business franchising model in Vietnam. Up to now, Trung Nguyen has a network of nearly 1,000
franchised cafes nationwide and abroad. Trung Nguyen's coffee products, especially G7 instant coffee,
have been exported to 43 countries worldwide (Doan, 2020).

Vision:

"Becoming a corporation that promotes the rise of Vietnam's economy, keeps the country's economic
autonomy and arouses and proves Vietnam's aspiration to conquer the world."(Nguyen, 2019) Trung
Nguyen's statement on the vision of the organization clearly shows that Trung Nguyen's oriented
strategy is the expansion method. Trung Nguyen's market is worldwide. The future that Trung Nguyen
wants to aim for is a big corporation, a pioneer for Vietnam's economy, thereby affirming Vietnam's
economic aspiration to reach the world.

Mission:

The company's mission is "Connecting and developing coffee lovers and enthusiasts around the world."
(Nguyen,2019) With this mission, Trung Nguyen has affirmed that the purpose of the operation is for
customers. Desire to bring customers coffee that inspires all. Trung Nguyen's business is also mentioned
as coffee, and Trung Nguyen's market is the whole world.

SWOT Chart

Strengths: Weaknesses:
- The factory is located in the capital of - Massive franchise system, difficult to
coffee in Vietnam. control quality.
- Cheap labor source. - Having many ambitions and projects at the
- Wide distribution network thanks to the same time.
network of franchised cafes. - Compete with big brands like Starbucks,
- The product is highly appreciated, suitable Nestle.
for the needs of consumers, especially the
G7 instant coffee product.
Opportunities: Threats:
- Vietnam joins the WTO, and coffee is - Production costs are unstable, so it will be
protected by the state in terms of rights challenging to plan to adjust prices and
and trademarks, creating favorable control raw materials.
conditions for exporting products to - Many other coffee products can replace
foreign countries. instant coffee.
- Instant coffee products are becoming - Customers have other options for sobriety
popular. besides coffee.
- Trung Nguyen is a big brand in Vietnam, so
it can quickly call for investment capital
 and cooperation abroad.
Strengths:

- Trung Nguyen has a significant advantage in terms of raw materials. Trung Nguyen's factory is located
in Buon Ma Thuot, considered the capital of coffee in Vietnam. Vietnam is known as the most significant
coffee supplier in the world. The fact that the factory is located right in the coffee capital of Vietnam is a
strong point in reducing freight costs. Furthermore, Trung Nguyen has strong relationships with high-
quality coffee suppliers. According to Saigon Times Dai, Trung Nguyen Group organized a training course
for 1500 coffee growers in Dak Lak province (Nhat, 2011).

- A strong point of Trung Nguyen Group has cheap labor. Vietnam had a population of about 98 million
people by 2020, ranking 15th among the most populous countries globally, (Worldometer, 2021)
providing an abundant and affordable human resource and labor force. The number of working-age
people in Vietnam increases significantly, accounting for 75.6% of the population in 2020 (Statista,
2020). In which the number of employees working in the coffee industry accounts for 2% (Nguyen,
2019). Therefore, according to the international coffee market, Vietnamese coffee is the cheapest coffee
product globally.

- Trung Nguyen has a vast distribution network with more than 1000 franchise stores across the country
and abroad. Trung Nguyen is also present infamous brand buildings and offices, increasing brand
recognition.

- Made from the best ingredients, modern technology, and unique extraction know-how, Trung
Nguyen's coffee products, especially G7 instant coffee, have a remarkable flavor that suits the taste of
coffee of the vast majority of people (Hoang, 2019).

Weaknesses:

- Too many franchised coffee shops also cause many difficulties for Trung Nguyen in quality
management. Mr. Nguyen Tran Quang - Marketing Director of the company - said that some coffee
shops - mostly in small provinces and cities - did not sign a contract to become a franchised shop with
Trung Nguyen. However, they still use the sign trademark and logo of Trung Nguyen. In addition, some
real franchised shops do not keep the image that Trung Nguyen wants (Vietnam Economic Times).

- Trung Nguyen Group wishes the Trung Nguyen brand and coffee products to compete with big brands
globally such as Starbucks, Nestle, etc. However, it is easy to see that this is an unequal battle. To
achieve expectations, Trung Nguyen has launched many projects at the same time. However, the results
are still not very good.

Opportunities:

- In 2007, Vietnam officially joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). That has opened up
opportunities for Vietnamese companies to participate in the international market. Besides, coffee
products are also protected by the government in terms of rights and trademarks (Bui, 2020). These
things have opened up opportunities for Trung Nguyen to export coffee to foreign countries.
- Nowadays, life is becoming more and more dynamic, so solutions to become sober and quick are
increasingly popular. Trung Nguyen's G7 instant coffee product was born to meet all the speed and
instant alertness needed to users.

- Born in 1996, Trung Nguyen has become a strong brand in Vietnam. With the advantage of the brand
name, Trung Nguyen has the ability and opportunity to attract more capital sources and strengthen
cooperation with foreign countries.

Threats:

- Currently, Vietnam's economy is still unstable, so the prices of services such as electricity and
transportation fees also change erratically. That makes it difficult for Trung Nguyen to have options to
adjust prices and control the source of raw materials for production.

- Although, instant coffee products are an excellent choice to meet the needs of convenience and fast.
However, there are more choices for consumers now on the market and can replace instant coffee like
ready-to-drink coffee. Besides, beverage companies have also launched energy drink products that can
bring about the same effect of sobriety as coffee. That is a big challenge for Trung Nguyen as well as the
coffee market.

Doan, B. (2020). Marketing strategies of Trung Nguyen Coporation.

Nguyen, K. (2019). Vision and Mission of Trung Nguyen Coporation.

Nhat, M. (2011). Trung Nguyen trains coffee farmer in Daklak.

Statista. Working age population in Vietnam from 2010 to 2020. [Online]. Available from:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/711237/vietnam-working-age-population/

Worldometer. Countries in the world by population (2021).[Online]. Available from:

https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/

Nguyen, N. (2018). The competitive of Vietnamese coffee into the EU market.

Hoang, L. (2019). SWOT Analysis of Trung Nguyen Coporation.

Vietnam Economic Times. (2017). When other use your name.

Bui, G. (2020). Top coffee producing countries.