Vietnam produces much coffee but drinks little of it

Although Vietnam is the world's second largest coffee exporter (after Brazil), the Vietnamese people rarely drink coffee. Domestic consumption is only 5 to 7 per cent of production. Major coffee firms in Vietnam are now seeking a domestic market and are upgrading the coffee sold locally. For more, see here. The irony of coffee producing countries drinking little coffee--and when they do, drinking bad coffee--is not unique to Vietnam. It often is most extreme for the actual coffee farmer who sells all the good beans and keeps only the poor ones that have no market value and make unappealing coffee. In the case of Vietnam, tea is the traditional beverage and coffee exotic.