Huge potential for Vietnamese coffee exports to North Africa market

Coffee is one of the nation’s agricultural commodities that has grown a presence in Africa in recent years, with a specific focus on North Africa, according to the latest statistics released by the Vietnamese trade office in Algeria.

Indeed, coffee is considered to be an essential product in Algeria, alongside other foods such as bread, cooking oil, sugar, and milk. The North African nation currently imports approximately 130,000 tonnes of coffee beans of all varieties each year, of which the country provides over 50% of production output.

Last year saw the nation export coffee to 13 African countries, raking in US$153 million in the process with the main importers being Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and South Africa.

However, the figure remains modest compared to the country’s total average export turnover for coffee of US$3.13 billion per year during the 2011-2018 period.

Moreover, in the North African market, Vietnamese raw coffee has to take on with coffee products from a variety of competitors, including Colombia, Brazil, Guatemala, Indonesia, India, the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and Uganda.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the export of canned and instant coffee from Vietnam to several North African territories remains limited due to the consumers' tastes and concerns regarding Halal standards.

The MoIT have therefore advised local businesses to strictly adhere to Halal standards as they export finished coffee products into these markets, especially when introducing these type of items to supermarket chains.

As a means of maximising orders in an effort to booost exports to the African market, the MoIT has actively organised trade promotion activities in potential markets such as North Africa, South Africa, and the Middle East in order to gradually increase export volume whilst developing brands for Vietnamese processed coffee.