Selling cakes together with coffee proves to be the best way for pastry chains to exist and develop in Vietnam. McDonald’s and nydc, which have been famous as fast food servers, have also put coffee into their menus. Dunkin’ Donuts has turned up in Vietnam as bakery-café chain.
The market has become scorching hot after Starbucks officially set foot in Vietnam. The existing café chains like Trung Nguyen, Highlands Coffee, Gloria Jean’s Coffees, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf have to spend big money to renew their images, upgrade their services and change shops’ decorations to attract customers.
Starbucks itself, after a period of operation, is also making some changes to get adapted to the new market.
Though the competition in the market has become more cutthroat, experts believe that Vietnam is still large enough for more café chains.
Andrew Nguyen, who brought The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to Vietnam, commented that the market shows great potentials, because the majority of Vietnamese like drinking coffee.
This explains why more café chains have been set up in Vietnam, while existing baked goods chains have also poured money into coffee, developing the cake-and-coffee shops.
The representative from Paris Baguette, when opening the first shop in HCM City, affirmed that the model of cake-and-coffee shops has been a favorite in many countries in the world and it is especially suitable to Vietnam.
Therefore, the French chain in Vietnam, while still following its motto of providing take-away French cakes, has been positioned as “Paris Baguette café”, i.e. the shop for those who order cakes and coffee.
All the Paris Baguette shops have air conditioned rooms, tables and space for customers to enjoy coffee and cakes on the spot. There is also wi-fi service like at any other real cafés.
The manager of a Paris Baguette shop revealed that the number of customers coming to enjoy cakes and coffee at the shops is equal to the number of customers buying cakes and taking away.
The cake-and-coffee model has been operating so effectively that Paris Baguette decided to open three shops in HCM City just within one year.
Present in Vietnam very early and appearing before the public as a pastry chain, Tous les Jours has changed its business model after it realized that the cake-and-coffee would allow it to optimize profits.
Givral, which in the minds of Vietnamese , is a cake brand–has recently opened six Givral Cafes nationwide, while planning to open four more in Hanoi and HCM City in the time to come.
Nydc, a fast food chain, has also begun serving coffee. Especially, its shops have been designed to be looked like cafes.
McDonald’s, which is preparing to open its first shop after Tet, has also stated that coffee would be served once the fast food shop’s operation becomes stable.
This explains why the first McDonald’s shop in HCM City would be located in a place covering an area of 1,300 square meters, large enough to contain 350 customers, with parking lots and the separated space for entertainment and dining activities.
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