Thuong Le “Starbucks Vietnam: Why the US chain cannot crack a coffee-loving nation
Published” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66167222
スターバックスがヴェトナムに進出して10年になる。しかし、（他の外資系カフェ・チェーンよりはましなものの）思うようにヴェトナム市場を攻略できないでいる。また、ヴェトナムでスターバックスに行く人の多くは、インスタ映えする雰囲気などを求めているのであって、珈琲を求めているのではない。珈琲好きはスタバに行かず、スタバに行く人は珈琲が好きではない。
さて、ヴェトナムは世界有数の珈琲生産国／消費国であり、生活に根差した珈琲文化を有する。
Ten years after the American chain arrived in Vietnam, the verdict is quite clear: Vietnamese people love coffee, but they don't really seem to like Starbucks. And the ones who do, like Tu Anh Le, are not really going for the coffee.Starbucks accounted for just 2% of Vietnam's $1.2bn (£934m) coffee-drinking market in 2022, according to Euromonitor International*1. And its footprint in the country isn't expanding rapidly. It has 92 stores, which works out to less than one for every million people. By comparison, Thailand and Indonesia have about seven and two respectively.
"Starbucks' presence remains limited due to [the] consumer preference for local coffee flavours," says Nathanael Lim, an analyst at Euromonitor International.
While Starbucks told the BBC it was committed to long-term investment in Vietnam, it did not say if it was profitable in the country.
But it has still fared better than other international competitors. Another US chain, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, only has 15 stores here after 15 years. The Chinese-owned Mellower Coffee recently announced it was closing its doors after four years, while Australia's Gloria Jean's left Vietnam in 2017.
何がスターバックスを阻んでいるのか。先ず、スタバは高いということ。また、ヴェトナム人はスタバのメニューが美味しくもないし、多様性もないと感じている；
珈琲豆の品種問題。スターバックスはアラビカ種を使用しているが、ヴェトナムで好まれているのはロブスタ種*2である；
For one thing, the menu is pricey for a competitive market like Vietnam - a busy street hosts at least 10 coffee shops, from roadside stalls to hip cafes. And drinking coffee is far from a luxury in a country where street coffee vendors pushing trolleys often serve the drink on cheap, tiny plastic tables. Some even offer customers newspapers as mats so that they can enjoy their coffee sitting on the ground.And two, the Java chip frappucinos and pumpkin spiced lattes that have won elsewhere just don't seem to cut it here.
"The Starbucks menu is not diverse," says Trang Do, a game artist living in the coastal city of Da Nang. She drinks at least three cups of coffee a day, but rarely drops into the local Starbucks.
She tried it when it first opened - but she found the cappuccino "bland and not very coffee-flavoured".
For her, traditional Vietnamese coffee wins hands-down. "It is stronger and more fragrant. The way Vietnamese coffee is made with the filter helps to extract more coffee. When the coffee is brewed… and the hot water is added to let it drip slowly… [it] is the best."
To make Vietnamese coffee, a tin filter called a "phin" is placed over a glass, and hot water is then poured on the coffee grounds. It takes about 10 minutes for the decoction to percolate into the glass below. The drink can be served hot or cold, and with or without condensed milk, a staple in Vietnamese coffee.
また、スターバックスはヴェトナム独自の珈琲文化（例えば「玉子珈琲」など）を無視している；
French colonisers introduced coffee to Vietnam in the 19th Century. But the first coffee plant was of the Arabica species and did not adapt well to the country's hot and humid climate and soil.Then, years later, the French brought Robusta plants which thrived. And that is the coffee popular in Vietnam today - Robusta has more caffeine, and a stronger flavour that is also more bitter.
Starbucks, however, uses 100% Arabica beans. The company told the BBC this was done to achieve "a flavour that can be subtle but also complex".
But 97% of the coffee Vietnam consumes every year - about 200,000 tonnes, or 2kg per person - is of the Robusta variety.
It might explain why even coffee drinkers who do go to Starbucks don't seem to love what's available. Marketer Tri Dang likes taking customers to Starbucks, especially older ones because of the cafe's "youthful" vibe.
But he says he rarely drinks coffee at Starbucks because it has "a lighter smell, not bitter and does not suit my coffee taste".
And the menu has none of the local favourites. While the most popular accompaniment is condensed milk, there are more adventurous options too. There is egg coffee, born in Hanoi in the 1940s. Amid an acute milk shortage, an inventive bartender at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel, Nguyen Van Giang, whisked in egg as a substitute.Today, some local Vietnamese brands mix traditional Robusta coffee with egg yolk, yogurt and even fruit to woo new customers. A popular local chain Cong Coffee says its most loved brew is an indulgent cuppa coconut coffee, which blends coconut cream, condensed milk and ice.
*1:https://www.euromonitor.com/
*2:See eg. World Coffee Research “History of Robusta” https://varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org/robusta-2/history-of-robusta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffea_canephora https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AD%E3%83%96%E3%82%B9%E3%82%BF%E3%82%B3%E3%83%BC%E3%83%92%E3%83%BC%E3%83%8E%E3%82%AD
