Recently, the Phu Yen Provincial Police initiated legal proceedings against Ms. Dang Thi Hoa Hiep, owner of the Dai Chung Private Enterprise, a well-known coffee brand called Da Thao, for producing and trading counterfeit food products. In just four months (from December 2024 to April 2025), her company manufactured over 21 tons of counterfeit coffee powder, with nearly 18 tons sold, raking in approximately VND 1.3 billion. Testing revealed that the product quality was below 70% of the declared level, meeting the criteria for counterfeit goods.
This news has sparked public concern as authorities tighten control over food safety and counterfeit goods nationwide.
At a seminar hosted by Thanh Nien Newspaper, titled “Eradicating Counterfeit and Substandard Goods: Protecting Consumers and Businesses,” Mr. Phan Minh Thong, Chairman of Phuc Sinh Joint Stock Company, shared his insights on the prevalence of counterfeit and blended products in the food industry, especially coffee, from a business perspective.
Mr. Thong stated that the issue of counterfeit goods is not new. During his over two decades of living and working in Ho Chi Minh City, he witnessed this problem across various industries. A common topic of discussion among his friends and partners is fake beer, but what troubles him is how society has come to accept it as normal.
Regarding the coffee industry, in which Phuc Sinh exports to over 112 countries, Mr. Thong shared a paradox: Vietnam is a significant coffee exporter globally, yet pure coffee is hard to find in the domestic market.
“We travel the world, and people joke with us that Vietnam is the second-largest coffee exporter, but we don’t have coffee to drink,” he shared.
Initially dismissed as jokes, these comments became a sad reality when echoed by people from various places. As a result, Phuc Sinh decided to invest in the domestic market, aiming to bring pure coffee to Vietnamese consumers.
However, developing this product line faced challenges. According to Mr. Thong, pure coffee products currently account for only about 2% of Phuc Sinh’s business. Most consumers are accustomed to the taste of blended coffee, which includes corn, soybeans, roasted corn, and flavorings or chemicals. These flavors are considered the “norm,” making pure coffee seem unpalatable in comparison.
Mr. Thong also provided evidence of the use of chemicals to create aromas in coffee roasting factories. “Nowadays, there are daily news articles about ‘9 parts chemicals to 1 part coffee,’ or even just coffee husks. If you visit a coffee roasting factory, you can smell the fragrance from 3 kilometers away. That’s not coffee; it’s chemicals,” he said.
He emphasized that these are not regular food flavorings but aroma-creating chemicals. This situation misleads consumers into believing that a strong fragrance indicates high-quality coffee, whereas authentic coffee does not have such an overpowering aroma.
Mr. Thong expressed support for the authorities’ new policies to tighten standards and quality control, including the regulation that deems products with quality below 70% of the declared level as counterfeit. He believes this is a positive step, providing honest manufacturing companies with a fair competitive environment.
Also, at the seminar, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nam, Deputy Director of the Department of Domestic Market Management (Ministry of Industry and Trade), stated that businesses must take the initiative to protect their products and brands from counterfeit and substandard goods. In addition to adhering to production standards, businesses should enforce intellectual property rights through registration and establish a monitoring unit to supervise the circulation of goods in the market. When abnormalities are detected, timely coordination with authorities is crucial.
Mr. Nam also recommended that businesses periodically change their packaging designs and use anti-counterfeit measures such as holograms to enhance communication effectiveness and reduce the risk of counterfeiting.
“Businesses must protect themselves because no one else will. Then come the consumers and the authorities,” he asserted.
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