Why do many Vietnamese prefer fake coffee products over real coffee?

A company was caught making fake coffee powder with only 10% real coffee. Inspectors tested over 100 kg of coffee powder sold in grocery stores and found caffeine levels between 0.41% and 0.46%, far below the claimed rate of over 1%.

Records from one store showed that in the first 11 months of 2024, it had produced and sold seven different substandard coffee products, totaling 344 tons and worth about VND20 billion (US$784,325). But despite these findings, I still see people sipping their VND12,000 ($0.47) cups of thick, jet-black coffee.

"I like my coffee dark, like soy sauce. That fancy machine-brewed brown stuff? No thanks," a friend once told me.

In my hometown, street vendors say customers prefer this kind of coffee, and a visiting friend once joked, "This coffee looks like used motor oil."

A glass of Vietnamese black coffee served with a cup of iced tea. Illustration photo by Pexels

Why does this happen? A coffee expert explained that before 1990, when coffee beans were scarce, people roasted them with corn, rice wine, butter, and even fish sauce. Over time, this blend became the norm, giving manufacturers an excuse to maximize profits with cheap ingredients. Today, some instant coffee products contain no real coffee at all—just chemicals.

As a result, many Vietnamese have grown accustomed to coffee filled with additives. Even though some of these products contain little or no real coffee, they are still marketed as robusta or arabica beans. This preference for mixed coffee is much like how some people get hooked on salty, spicy instant noodles and find light broths bland, or how others prefer bitter iced tea over pure green tea. Once a taste becomes familiar, it is hard to change.

In coffee-loving countries like Italy and France, coffee is not about being thick, pitch black, or foamy—it is about aroma and balance. Yet in Vietnam, many still judge coffee by its darkness, thickness, and foam, qualities that can easily be faked with soybean powder, corn starch, and foaming agents.

Can people's tastes change? Maybe, but not easily. As long as fake coffee stays cheaper than real coffee and people expect their cups to be thick and burnt-bitter from charred soybeans, pure coffee products will struggle to compete.

Before tastes can change, people's idea of what makes a good cup of coffee must change first. And while drinking habits can evolve, it will not happen as long as people still believe strong coffee must be thick, black, and dense, no matter how little real coffee is present.