HANOI – Leaving a lucrative career in finance, Vu Dinh Tu decided to open a coffee shop without his parents’ knowledge.
He is now among the younger generation of Vietnamese who opened a cafe to challenge their family’s career expectations.
Traditionally served as condensed coffee, sometimes mixed with condensed milk and even eggs, it has long been a part of Vietnamese culture.
However, starting a cafe business is not a top choice for most middle-class parents for their children.
“At first, my family didn’t know about it,” said Tu, 32 years old. “Finally they know, and are not very supportive,” he said.
His parents repeatedly persuaded him to continue working in the banking sector in the investment field that pays a good salary, but Tu insisted on his dream.
He has now managed to open four Refined branches in Hanoi within four years.
The branch is filled with customers from morning to night, enjoying Vietnamese robusta coffee beans in a more exclusive atmosphere, almost resembling a cocktail bar.
His parents “saw how difficult it was to run a business — from financial management to employees, and they didn’t want me to be burdened,” Tu said.
Vietnam, once poor until the early 2000s, is rising with a manufacturing industry, but many parents still want their children to choose stable and profitable careers such as medicine and law.
Instead, coffee is now a symbol of creativity and self-expression.
LIKE AN ‘ARTIST’
In Vietnam, cafes are not just places to drink coffee. It is now a gathering place for young people who want to escape from family pressure to succeed in academics, get a degree and a stable career, according to Associate Professor from California State University, Sarah Grant.
“It is also a space for the creative community, such as graphic designers and musicians, to gather and share ideas,” he said.
Coffee was first introduced in Vietnam in the 1850s during the French colonial period.
In the 1990s, the shift to mass production of robusta beans made Vietnam a major force in the world coffee market and the world’s second largest exporter.
The passion for the coffee business is often linked to that history.
Coffee entrepreneurs like Tu are proud that Vietnam is the world’s leading coffee producer.
In a small alley in the center of the capital city of Hanoi, 29-year-old Nguyen Thi Hue opened her small concept coffee shop Slow Bar.
“When making coffee, it’s like being an artist,” he said, recalling the first time he tasted coffee prepared by his neighbor.
Coffee is also now a trend, with cafe businesses that can attract younger generations of customers generating handsome profits.
“No one comes to the cafe dressed sloppily,” says Hue, who looks stylish with blue glasses and matching accessories. – AFP
