The Birth of a New Coffee Experience: “Every Half – ‘Gu'” by The Coffee House Founders. A Lifestyle Brew with an Edge: Now with 8 Trendy Outlets in Saigon’s Heart, Serving 70% Specialty Coffee from Africa & the Americas.

The popular coffee chain, Every Half Coffee Roasters, has recently secured an investment from Openspace Ventures, with the participation of DSG Consumer Partners. While the financial details of the deal remain undisclosed per the agreement between the parties.

Founded in 2021 by Tran Le Minh Truc and Vo Duy Phu, Every Half began as a coffee roastery and later expanded into a retail chain. Minh Truc, a 31-year-old native of Buon Ma Thuot, brings a decade of coffee industry experience to the table. He also honed his craft as a coffee roaster at The Coffee House.

Interestingly, Every Half is currently operated by the founding team of The Coffee House. According to the business registration information of Every Half Bean JSC, the legal representative is Mr. Vo Duy Phu. Phu is known to be the co-founder and former vice president of Vietnam Trade and Services JSC, the company that owns and operates The Coffee House chain.

Moreover, Mr. Nguyen Hai Ninh, the founder of The Coffee House and a renowned figure in the industry, currently serves as an advisor to Every Half. This collaboration is further strengthened by the fact that some Every Half outlets are located within M Village, a chain of serviced apartment complexes founded by Hai Ninh, reflecting the close relationship and synergy between the two entities in terms of their target customer base.

In the past, Hai Ninh, along with his associates, including Phu, built The Coffee House from scratch, growing it into the second-largest coffee chain in the market at one point, second only to Highlands Coffee. However, in February 2021, he bid farewell to his brainchild, concluding a six-year journey with The Coffee House. This departure came just months after Seedcom fund officially acquired a majority stake of over 51% in The Coffee House in June 2020.

Hai Ninh’s final signature project, The Coffee House Signature at Ho Con Rua, featuring a minimalist design and specializing in specialty coffee at double the usual price, closed its doors after the Covid-19 pandemic. A new outlet has since opened in District 7, but it has shifted its focus from coffee connoisseurs to a wider audience, offering a diverse menu of drinks and food options.

One of the Every Half coffee shops, featuring a minimalist design and a focus on specialty coffee.

Today, Every Half, a new chapter in Hai Ninh’s coffee journey, embraces a similar minimalist aesthetic with a predominantly white color palette and a lifestyle focus. Notably, Every Half prioritizes specialty coffee, offering a curated selection of domestic and international coffee beans. Compared to the thousands of coffee shops in the market, very few brands sell international specialty coffee beans, and they are typically positioned in the premium price segment.

A representative from Every Half shared that as Vietnamese coffee gains recognition for its quality both domestically and internationally, Every Half has been diligently sourcing and collecting a diverse range of coffee beans from various countries worldwide.

At Every Half, approximately 30% of the coffee beans used are sourced from domestic regions such as Dalat and Ninh Thuan, while the remaining 70% are imported from Africa and the Americas. The company also features a “beans of the month” program, and for August 2024, they are showcasing the Typica coffee variety from the renowned Altieri farm in Panama, a country known for producing some of the most valuable coffee beans in the world.

“Our future goal is to increase the proportion of Vietnamese products that we are linked to, aiming for them to account for 40-50% of Every Half’s usage in the coming years, and to export high-quality Vietnamese coffee products to the global market,” shared Minh Truc.

Currently, Every Half boasts eight branches in Ho Chi Minh City, strategically located in prime districts such as District 3, District 2, and District 1. Despite offering specialty coffee, Every Half maintains competitive pricing, with finished drinks averaging between 50,000 and 75,000 VND per cup. The company also sells coffee beans and paper-filtered coffee packages ranging from 100,000 to 400,000 VND per product.

Every Half’s menu offers a range of specialty coffee options at competitive prices.

Additionally, Every Half is committed to sustainable practices and has partnered with farming households to cultivate and develop climate-resilient coffee varieties such as Starmaya, Marsellesa, and Centroamericano H1 in Dien Bien, as well as Liberica in Pleiku and Dak Lak.