Rome (VNA). The premium Ham Rong coffee line made from 100% Fine Robusta sourced from Vietnam’s Gia Lai province has recently been officially launched at Lavazza’s 1895 factory in Turin, northern Italy.
The launch went beyond a commercial event and marked a turning point in the international recognition of Vietnamese Fine Robusta.
The Turin launch followed sustained diplomatic efforts to build connections. The process began with the 2024 Coffee Forum in Turin, organised by the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy together with the Vietnam Coffee-Cocoa Association (VICOFA). After the forum, leading Vietnamese coffee exporters visited the Lavazza 1895 factory.
During the visit, the Vietnamese Embassy proposed that leading Lavazza experts work with Vietnamese partners to develop an authentic single-origin specialty coffee line under a Vietnamese brand. After several rounds of sample submissions and testing against strict international standards, post-harvest processed Robusta from the Ham Rong growing area in Gia Lai passed the taste tests and became the brand’s official choice.
Duong Phuong Thao, Commercial Counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy, said Lavazza’s inclusion of Ham Rong Fine Robusta in its premium 1895 range confirmed the effectiveness of economic diplomacy and showed a new approach by Vietnamese businesses seeking the world’s most demanding markets.
The fact that a prestigious Italian brand put a Vietnamese place name and producer on packaging distributed across Europe strengthens the position of Vietnamese agricultural products and helps other quality products from the country enter the Italian and EU markets more deeply.
Alongside the single-origin launch, trade promotion activities in Italy produced tangible results. Several Vietnamese coffee companies secured direct export orders from major buyers and distributors in the Italian market.
Within Lavazza’s premium 1895 Coffee Designers range, Ham Rong became the first product for which the Italian roaster used the name of a specific farm owned by Vinh Hiep Co., Ltd. in Gia Lai as its official product name.
For the first time, a Vietnamese brand and growing region received a separate identity in the premium specialty coffee segment of a major Western group. Marco Barbieri, Lavazza’s Marketing Director in Italy, said that through Ham Rong the company wants to tell the story of a new expression of Fine Robusta, beginning with the land, the producer’s work, the careful selection of raw materials and the distinctive taste in each cup.
According to VICOFA, Vietnam’s coffee industry set new records in the 2025–2026 crop year, with export revenue reaching an estimated 8.5 billion USD on shipments of about 1.8 million tonnes. This figure far exceeded the annual export target of 6 billion USD originally set for 2030.
Output is estimated at nearly 1.9 million tonnes, up 6–10% from the previous crop year. Deep-processed coffee exports generated 1.5 billion USD, a 14% increase in value.
The industry has standardised traceability systems to fully meet the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), strengthening its position in demanding markets such as Germany, Italy and Japan.
Sources: VietnamPlus / Vietnam News Agency
