Taking Hue salted coffee far and wide

A trade promotion officer learned about the product

Finding a new path

After graduating in Biotechnology from Hue University of Sciences in 2018, Pham Ngoc Anh Phuong followed his brother to Ho Chi Minh City to start his career. Within just six months of joining Saite Power Source Co., Ltd., a battery manufacturing company, Phuong was appointed Head of the IQC Laboratory, and later Deputy Head of Quality. Despite a promising career path that seemed destined to keep the young engineer in the city, Phuong surprised his friends by deciding to return to Hue after three years.

According to Phuong, every time he called home and heard his mother ask: “When will you come home?”, it made him reflect deeply. “There are three brothers in my family, and we all used to work in Ho Chi Minh City. The worry of not being there by my parents when they fall ill kept troubling me,” shared Phuong. With his brother's encouragement, Phuong left his stable income in Ho Chi Minh City to return to Hue and seek a new direction.

Returning with a whirlwind of ideas, Phuong first thought of lotus and chose lotus tea as a starting point. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, shipments to Ho Chi Minh City were disrupted. The 300 million VND he had saved and borrowed to invest in machinery was completely lost.

Following this failure, Phuong shifted to drying fruits, pomelo peels, and ginger, etc., but struggled with market output. He then moved on to a household beekeeping model, partnering with locals in A Luoi to develop natural forest beekeeping. After two years of investment, the business collaborated with 16 households, expanding to 400 bee colonies, reaching a production volume of over one ton of honey in 2025. Every batch produced was sold out through partner support. Alongside the household beekeeping model, Phuong also nurtured his own projects; and instant salted coffee being one of them.

Telling the story of Hue salted coffee

Phuong’s connection with “made in Hue” instant salted coffee began when Phuong took friends from Ho Chi Minh City to visit Hue. While enjoying a cup of salted coffee on Dang Thai Than Street, a friend remarked: “I have had salted coffee many times, but only now do I realize it originated in Hue, the flavor here is truly distinct.” From that moment, he harbored the intention of bringing “authentic Hue” salted coffee to Ho Chi Minh City. However, he struggled with how to transport it while preserving the original flavor. The question “Why does not Hue have instant salted coffee?” drove Phuong to research a formula that could retain the authentic flavor of Hue salted coffee for friends far away.

The biggest challenge with salted coffee is balancing the saltiness of the salt and the richness of the cream without masking the coffee’s aroma. After many nights of failing with dozens of formulas because the salt did not meet the requirements, fate led Phuong to Phuoc Tich ancient village, where he found a roasted salt facility. After more than a dozen additional trials, the instant salted coffee formula finally achieved the desired taste. To reduce the pressure of investing in machinery during the initial phase, Phuong partnered with a third-party manufacturer to produce the instant salted coffee based on his formula.

After four months of testing, the instant salted coffee product took shape. Phuong continuously tested the market, starting by inviting relatives and acquaintances to try it and provide feedback to refine the formula and packaging. In April 2025, Alufa instant salted coffee officially launched at Aeon Mall Hue shopping center.

While the product was ready, Phuong had “zero” market experience, which became a significant barrier to trade promotion. At that time, Phuong and his team went door to door to specialty shops, markets, and small supermarkets, and only to be met with rejections. Retailers were worried that the product was too new, lacked market acceptance, and would take up shelf space or create debt without generating cash flow. Understanding this psychology, Phuong shifted his strategy from selling to offering goods on consignment. He offered flexible sales policies and invited customers to taste the product to create market interest. He frequently visited and supported retailers, gradually building trust and persuading them to accept the product and place it on their shelves.

“That was the time I most wanted to give up because the market challenge was nothing like laboratory research. Every rejection made me doubt myself. Fortunately, I had the companionship of FoodMap, a tech company connecting farmers with consumers, and the support of many people in e-commerce and marketing. Nearly a month after the launch, orders began pouring in through e-commerce platforms, with a very high re-order rate. The stores that had previously only accepted consignment started placing orders,” shared Phuong.

In the southern region, FoodMap has implemented distribution channels quite effectively. Therefore, Phuong only needs to focus on the markets in Hue, Da Nang, and the Northern provinces and cities. Market surveys show that consumers in the northern region are very fond of instant coffee; with Hanoi, Hai Phong, and Quang Ninh are becoming the key markets targeted for distribution expansion. After a period of persistence, Alufa’s instant salted coffee has partnered with 5 major distributors in the North; FoodMap holds exclusive distribution rights in the South, and over 120 stores in Hue and Da Nang now serve as retail agents for the product. Additionally, Alufa has joined the Imperial Capital Specialties (Đặc sản Kinh Đô) ecosystem with the ambition of taking its instant salted coffee product even further.

“Even now, many people still do not know that salted coffee was created by (a) Hue resident. That is why in our packaging design, we pay special attention to Hue iconic images and culture. When customers hold it in their hands, they can immediately recognize this as a “made in Hue” product. And one day, Hue's instant salted coffee will be available in coffee shops across every province and city nationwide and exported abroad. So, wherever customers are, they can always taste a little bit of Hue in a cup of instant salted coffee,” Phuong said with a gentle smile.