Deng Li Yuanyu, King of Coffee Industry in Vietnam

At 07:50 on a warm morning in Hanoi, the "king of philosophy" of Vietnam's powerful coffee industry was enjoying the first cigar of the day, with only the last two inches left. General manager Dang Le Nguyen Vu, who dresses casually and wears a Panamanian straw hat, is said to prefer Cuban-made Cohiba cigars, but this one is Davidoff, "German brand," he told me through an interpreter. He also asked me to have one, but it seems too early to smoke at this point.

In addition to plotting at the headquarters of Central Plains Coffee (Trung Nguyen Corp.) in Ho Chi Minh City, you can occasionally see him on the vast coffee plantations in the central highlands. On his estate, there are as many as 120 horses in the stables alone.

Westerners doing business in Vietnam estimate Deng Li's personal wealth at more than $100m, an incredible figure in a country with a per capita income of just $1300.

On this day, Deng Li Yuan Yu, known as Chairman Yu (Chairman Vu), came to the Vietnamese capital to meet with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture to discuss coffee policy. So he chose a Central Plains coffee shop closest to the center of power for morning coffee and cigars, in fact, in the heart of Hanoi, so much so that it was demolished a few weeks later-making room for the Vietnamese parliament building.

Like many of his compatriots, Deng Li Yuanyu also collects a bust of Ho Chi Minh (the Vietnamese like to call him "Uncle Hu")-Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum is not far from the coffee shop. But what would he think of the 41-year-old capitalist as a communist revolutionary?

If Ho Chi Minh knew anything under the spring, he might appreciate Deng Li Yuanyu's so-called "caffeism." He points out that Vietnam, like most other coffee-growing countries, is a poor tropical country, usually receiving only $1 for every $20 created by the global coffee industry, while most of the profits are grabbed by multinationals such as Nestl and Starbucks. "Why should we obey this order?" He asked. Deng Li Yuanyu pointed out that Central Plains coffee products have now been exported to 60 countries and have been further expanded in China and the United States, and Vietnam is expected to continue to upgrade in the multibillion-dollar global coffee industry chain.

Dang Xuan Minh, a member of the Vietnamese Communist Party and founder of AVM, a mergers and acquisitions consultancy, says Uncle Hu wants Vietnam to prosper. He also pointed out that October 13 has been designated as Vietnamese Entrepreneur Day because Ho Chi Minh sent a letter to Vietnamese businessmen on October 13, 1954, thanking them for their financial support in the anti-French struggle.

Vietnam has emerged a group of capitalists, their spirit of daring to take risks in this ever-changing society is exciting, and Deng Li Yuanyu is one of the best. Zhongyuan Coffee has not yet gone public, so there are few financial data disclosed, but its spokesman said revenue reached $151 million in 2011 and is expected to grow by 78 per cent this year.

Like Vietnam, although China has a long tea culture, coffee has great potential for development, and the instant coffee products of Central Plains Coffee are constantly expanding the market in China. Deng Li Yuanyu has made no secret of the company's plans for aggressive expansion. Zhongyuan Coffee plans to go public within two years and will bypass Vietnam's smaller capital market and enter an international exchange. Within the company, Deng Li Yuanyu is also pushing ambitious strategic plans, involving $800 million in factories and other investments over the next decade.

Mr Deng acknowledges that such plans may be hampered by long-standing tensions between China and Vietnam, but he thinks like many western managers. In the words of a spokesman for the company, "We want every Chinese to spend $1 a year on our coffee products."

Vietnam's economic liberalization is often criticized for the proliferation of crony capitalism, and Deng Li Yuanyu was born humble, which is one of the reasons why he is respected. Nguyen Viet Khoi, a professor at Vietnam University of Economics and Trade, pointed out that he was "self-made".

(responsible Editor: Leo)

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