First step in Mr. Dang Le Nguyen Vu’s plan to make 1 trillion USD: Opening 1,000 Trung Nguyen Legend stores in China and expanding into a global chain.

Last year, Mr. Dang Le Nguyen Vu made a comeback in front of the media in an interview that was considered to contain a lot of “mysterious” information. Still with the familiar address “Qua – my brother” as he did many years ago, Mr. Dang Le Nguyen Vu shared his thoughts on awakening coffee, a fleet of 500 supercars, running the company while sitting in a cave, and his ambitious plan to bring 1 trillion dollars to Vietnam.

Chairman Dang Le Nguyen Vu said: “As for Qua, money is never lacking. In the future, Qua will bring back at least 1 trillion dollars for Vietnam. 1 trillion dollars, each year!”

When questioned about the doubted figure of 1 trillion dollars, whether this was just a fantasy, Mr. Vu confidently replied: “Well, Qua wouldn’t say that without reason. 1 trillion dollars divided by 210 countries. So each country Qua will earn 5 billion dollars. Therefore, 1 trillion is the minimum, there’s nothing difficult about it!”

How will Mr. Dang Le Nguyen Vu make 1 trillion dollars?

Setting aside the large number of 1 trillion dollars when the scale of Vietnam’s economy according to the current price is projected to reach 430 billion USD by the end of 2023, the first question is how does Mr. Vu plan to bring money to his homeland?

For Mr. Dang Le Nguyen Vu, it is undeniable that Trung Nguyen Legend has succeeded in exporting the G7 instant coffee brand to countries around the world, especially China. According to the company’s announced figures, Trung Nguyen Legend’s total export revenue in 2022 exceeded 100 million USD (equivalent to over 2,300 billion VND).

Despite this, no matter how much Trung Nguyen Legend’s instant and raw coffee exports grow, 1 trillion USD is still an unimaginable figure. To make it easier to imagine, considering the entire year of 2022, Vietnam’s total export turnover reached 371.3 billion USD. In 2023, this number is expected to be even lower, with the estimated export turnover reaching 355.5 billion USD, a 4.4% decrease compared to the previous year.

Earning billions of dollars by opening a chain of Trung Nguyen Legend coffee shops worldwide?

In September 2022, Trung Nguyen Legend embarked on an “expedition” in China by opening its first store on Nanjing Road in Shanghai.

“On September 21, 2022, in the cool breeze, people flocked to the Trung Nguyen Legend coffee shop in the Taiguhui shopping center on Nanjing Road in Shanghai. Over 10 baristas in white T-shirts, dark blue jeans, and busy at the coffee machines.”, an article on the Chinese Entrepreneurial Media website recounted the opening event of the first Trung Nguyen Legend Cafe World shop in Shanghai.

Trung Nguyen Legend does not hesitate to disclose that, according to the plan, through investment cooperation (franchise), they will expand and develop 1,000 stores in various provinces and cities in China. This is quite an ambitious goal in a market that is both full of potential and fierce like China.

As of now, Trung Nguyen Legend has 3 coffee shops in Shanghai and plans to develop nearly 130 locations throughout China by 2024. Based on the current progress, Trung Nguyen Legend needs to open an average of nearly 13 new stores per month in the remaining 10 months of 2024 to fulfill its new store opening KPI for this year.

If successfully achieved the plan in 2024 and maintaining the same pace, Trung Nguyen Legend will need more than 6 years to realize Mr. Dang Le Nguyen Vu’s goal of 1,000 stores in China.

Whether it is a coincidence or Chairman Trung Nguyen Legend has a special fondness for the number 1,000, from 1 trillion USD to 1,000 stores in China? But in terms of difficulty, these two goals are equally challenging.

Nevertheless, behind the controversial statements, when looking at the Trung Nguyen Legend coffee shop model on Nanjing Road, Shanghai, two points can be seen.

The first is that Mr. Dang Le Nguyen Vu has chosen the best things to implement this flagship store in a standard way.

Talking about the location, if Shanghai is the embodiment of China’s economic dream, then Nanjing Road is the busiest street in this city with over 1 million tourists per day. The most famous brands in the world are almost present on this street, including the largest experiential store of Starbucks.

Although a considerable rental cost is required, this location also brings great benefits to Trung Nguyen in terms of brand recognition, while affirming the “upscale” level of the brand.

Talking about size and design, layout, besides aesthetics, the most important thing is to convey the cultural and philosophical values that Mr. Dang Le Nguyen Vu summarized, built, and conceptualized, which are the 3 civilizations of coffee: Italian, Ottoman – Roman, and Zen.

In addition, the menu and service of the store have also received many positive comments and reviews on Chinese social media. Sharing with us, Mr. Ngo Ba Chau, a Vietnamese entrepreneur, said: In early December 2023, when he traveled to Shanghai for work, he visited Trung Nguyen Legend on Nanjing Road and was very impressed with the decoration, scientific arrangement, professional service, and overall store which fully preserves the brand’s identity.

The second point is that within just over a year, Trung Nguyen Legend has been both profitable (making a profit) and has started to build an F&B brand in a foreign country by successfully franchising the first store.

Specifically, in an interview in June 2023, Mr. Dang Le Nguyen Vu revealed that the Trung Nguyen coffee shop in Shanghai (the first store on Nanjing Road) “has made a profit, despite the large investment.”

Then, in the last days of 2023, Trung Nguyen Legend successfully opened its first franchised store at 107-109, Building 14, Libo Center, Alley 379, Nam Hong Street.

In addition to 1,000 stores in China, Mr. Dang Le Nguyen Vu also revealed that Trung Nguyen is preparing to open stores in the US, Korea, Dubai, and other Southeast Asian countries.

In late March last year, Trung Nguyen Legend officially opened a representative office in Gangnam, Seoul, South Korea. On September 29, 2023, Mr. Dang Le Nguyen Vu’s 1 trillion USD dream took another step forward when the first coffee shop space in the US was officially unveiled.

According to Mr. Dang Le Nguyen Vu, Trung Nguyen will become a global chain, and he shared in mid-last year: “Currently, in China, Trung Nguyen is designing its training program and defining its vision. That requires a lot of effort. Because standardizing technically is easy, but standardizing philosophically is difficult.”