In 1996, as Vietnam’s economy opened to the world, Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ and Lê Hoàng Diệp Thảo started Trung Nguyên in Buôn Ma Thuột, the coffee capital of Đắk Lắk province. Instead of exporting cheap green beans for foreign roasters to brand, they set out to roast and sell a finished product at home. Their first shop opened in Ho Chi Minh City in October 1998, and by 2000 they reached Hanoi and 100 outlets, on the way to more than a thousand, with farming later certified under EurepGAP and UTZ.

In 2003 they launched G7 instant coffee at Saigon’s Reunification Palace with a blind taste test against a major global rival, and 89 percent chose G7. The brand led the three in one market by 2012 and took the top domestic spot in 2016, while exports reached more than 60 countries by 2010. For luxury buyers they offered two answers to the endangered civet: Legendee, made with synthetic enzymes that mimic the civet’s gut, and Weasel, from free range civets, at about $3,000 per kilogram. After the founders’ public separation, Thảo founded Trung Nguyen International in Singapore in 2016 and built King Coffee.

• Vũ received the Red Star Enterprise Prize in 2001, and the company won the Golden Star of the Vietnamese Land in 2003.
• Trung Nguyên coffee was served at the 2006 APEC summit, the same year outlets opened in Germany and New York City.
• Civet enzymes break down the proteins that cause bitterness, which is why the beans taste smooth once washed and roasted.
• Weasel launched in August 2010 and yields only 40 to 50 kilograms a year, about six times the price of Indonesian kopi luwak.
• King Coffee now exports to more than 120 countries.