World's Second Largest Coffee Company Enters Vietnam

Mondelez International Opens Farmer Training Center in Vietnam

Mondelez International, the world's second-largest coffee company, has opened its first farmer training center in Vietnam, a move designed to help local coffee growers refine their cultivation practices and lift both yields and bean quality.

According to Vietnamese media reports filed on August 8, the center—operating under the name "Coffee Makes Happy"—plans to offer free training courses to 1,500 Vietnamese coffee growers in its first phase, with the goal of improving crop yields and the overall quality of the green coffee they produce.

Mondelez International has committed to investing at least $200 million in the "Coffee Makes Happy" sustainability program by 2020, an initiative intended to reach 1 million coffee growers and coffee enterprises in Vietnam.

Hubert Weber, chairman of Mondelez International, said the program will concentrate on helping Vietnamese farmers become more successful entrepreneurs by strengthening their coffee production techniques and business skills through collaboration with local partners.

Currently the world's largest buyer of Vietnamese coffee, Mondelez International was formed after its spin-off from Kraft Foods. With the new center established in Vietnam, the company expects Vietnamese coffee to fully cover its sales requirements through 2015.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Stories like this one are a reminder of how much depends on the quality of the green beans themselves. If you are just starting out with single-origin coffee, FrontStreet recommends two approachable options from its entry-level lineup:

FrontStreet Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon — sourced from Brazil's well-known Cerrado growing region, a classic "great coffee, fair price" daily brew. Expect typical notes of cream, peanut, and cocoa in the cup, with a soft bean character, gentle acidity, and a smooth, balanced body that works well both black and with milk.

FrontStreet Empress Estate (Queen's Estate) Yellow Bourbon — grown at a higher elevation from the rare Yellow Bourbon variety. Alongside the nutty complexity typical of Brazilian coffee (butter, melon seeds, macadamia, almond), it carries a sugarcane-like sweetness and a thick, silky mouthfeel—delicious brewed on its own or paired with milk.