Vietnam police seize tonnes of fake coffee products made from soya beans
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Vietnam exported 1.6 million tonnes of coffee valued at $11.3 billion in 2025.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: UNSPLASH
HANOI – The police in Vietnam have launched a criminal investigation into a warehouse accused of producing fake coffee made from soya beans following a raid earlier this week, Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security said on Jan 29.
The police seized 4.1 tonnes of fake coffee products and 3 tonnes of raw materials during the raid, which took place in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, the ministry said in a statement.
Vietnam is the world’s largest producer of Robusta coffee, which has a bitter taste and is used mainly in instant coffee. The Central Highlands is the country’s key coffee-growing area.
Mr Luong Viet Kiem, the owner of the warehouse, admitted to the police that his firm mixed soya beans and flavourings with coffee beans to produce ground coffee for the local market, according to the statement.
Reuters could not immediately reach Mr Kiem for comment.
The police said the warehouse raid came following a search on Jan 27 of a truck, which was carrying 1,056 bags of ground coffee weighing 528kg and had no accompanying documentation.
Further investigations are under way, they said.
“Fake coffee products are not rare, and they can be made from soya bean or corn, or even both,” said coffee trader Nguyen Quang Tho, who is based in the neighbouring province of Dak Lak.
“Soya beans and corn are edible and a lot cheaper than real coffee beans, but who knows if it is safe for the health to drink these fake coffee products.”
Farmers in the Central Highlands are selling coffee beans at 100,100 dong (S$5) to 100,500 dong per kilogram, which is around three times higher than the price of soya beans.
In 2018, the police in the Central Highlands arrested five people who were suspected of using battery chemicals to dye waste coffee beans and sell the mixture as black pepper.
Vietnam exported 1.6 million tonnes of coffee valued at US$8.9 billion (S$11.3 billion) in 2025, up 18.3 per cent in volume and 58.8 per cent in value, according to the government’s Customs data. REUTERS
