It goes without saying that the coffee industry is one of the most valuable among others such as gasoline, gold, silver, and the list goes on.

In only 5 years, Trung Nguyen Legend, from a small workshop in Buon Ma Thuot, turns into the most popular coffee brand in Vietnam that has its branches in 60 countries.

During its journey, Trung Nguyen Legend is known to be the leader of the market. This has been proved due to the success of the instant coffee G7 with other products that draw massive attention to overseas partners at international conventions. Therefore, Trung Nguyen Legend’s goal is not simply “The number one brand in Vietnam.”

Franchise Business Model

Acknowledging the domestic coffee industry mainly follows the retail format, insignificant, and did not have a true coffee brand, Dang Le Nguyen Vu, the founder of Trung Nguyen Legend, decided to develop the brand before diving into the market.

“Trung Nguyen does not really invest capital in opening a shop, but we lend the brand, shop owners take our products and recipes for business. We guarantee the quality of our products is as good as any others in the country. This strategy has been applied by many foreign firms before and create success, but it is still new in Vietnam.” – Vu shared. “The toughest step would be finding the right partner to do business.”

Trung Nguyen Legend opened some stores in an effort to attract investors. The positive result came just only from 4 to 5 months later. Entrepreneurs from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi were thrilled at the potential of this small brand at that time.

Expanding the distribution system through franchising is Trung Nguyen Legend's business strategy. The orientation is to “cover” all 60 provinces and cities, meaning being the market leader. Trung Nguyen Legend has signed a franchise contract in Japan, Singapore, Korea, the United States, Taiwan, etc

How Franchise Business Works

Franchising is a form of business that allows a brand to grow faster. Although franchising is still new in Vietnam, it is a trend among businesses, taking Domino’s Pizza and McDonald’s as examples.

Regarding the concept, there have been many different explanations and guidance to businesses in carrying out franchising effectively. However, due to differences in culture, economic, regulations, political aspects, and social environments between countries, these concepts are often different from each other.

Basically, the concepts are similar in these 3 following points:

1. It is essentially a contractual relationship between two independent parties (the franchisor and the franchisee)

2. Each party has specific rights and obligations. The franchisee can trade and distribute products and services under the trademarks and business methods developed and owned by the franchisor. In return, the franchisee must pay a fee and accept some restrictions set forth by the franchisor.

3. The franchisor plays the developing role in the brand system, standardizing regulations, supporting training, advertising, delivering necessities, and making sure that the franchisee would do their best to benefit both parties. The franchisee is directly responsible for implementing and operating the business with its own capital under the regular support of the franchisor.

Trung Nguyen Legend E-Coffee

As the market leader, Trung Nguyen Legend officially launched Trung Nguyen E-Coffee in August 2019 with a franchise fee policy of 0 VND. The goal is to reach 3,000 stores in 63 provinces by 2020. Trung Nguyen E-Coffee quickly attracts the attention of entrepreneurs, especially young partners and people who want to startup. Trung Nguyen E-Coffee has become the choice of more than 1,000 partners domestically from North to South.

Trung Nguyen E-Coffee still maintains a strong growth rate despite facing challenges due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Hundreds of Trung Nguyen E-Coffee stores are present in 63 provinces and cities nationwide. Trung Nguyen E-Coffee has also promoted the opening of new stores in cooperation with a chain of convenience stores as well.

“While reading an online newspaper, I happened to know Trung Nguyen E-Coffee - the new franchise model of Trung Nguyen Legend Group. I decided to cooperate after spending some time researching this model. Trung Nguyen E-Coffee has enthusiastically supported from operation to training and business.” – Mr. Ho Minh Trien – one of the Trung Nguyen E-Coffee’s partners.

“The average number of drinks per day of the store reached from 150 -300 glasses, and the sales grew very well by 20-30% per week after more than 1 month of cooperation. I am currently planning to open a new store in District 12 if the business continues to grow.”