The Ê Đê Café Company Story
Y Pôt Niê is a young business person from the Ê Đê ethnic group in Vietnam. He started his own coffee brand called Ê Đê Café in the Central Highlands. He loves coffee and wants to help other farmers, so he made a really good, natural coffee. People like it a lot, and it got four stars from the One Commune, One Product (OCOP) program.
Changing Jobs: From a Doctor to a Barista
Y Pôt Niê is from a place in Vietnam known for its coffee trees. Even as a kid, he was surrounded by the smell of coffee roasted by his mom and the taste of traditional coffee from his community.
Even though his family were coffee farmers, Y Pôt Niê chose a different path and became a medical worker. He studied at a college in Đà Nẵng and worked at a hospital in the city. Despite his job, he always loved coffee and often shared his mom’s roasted coffee with his friends.
People liked his coffee, and he got orders from coffee lovers. This inspired him to start his own coffee business. In 2019, he left his medical job, went back to his hometown, and started Ê Đê Café Joint Stock Company. His goal was to enhance the value of locally produced coffee beans.
He learned the traditional coffee roasting and grinding methods of his community and started selling his products on social media. To his surprise, many people loved his coffee, and this motivated him to continue his coffee business.
Creating a unique brand by standing out
Y Pôt Niê thinks that the way you roast coffee affects its taste. He uses a roasting method passed down from his ancestors, keeping the fire steady and low to keep the natural flavor of the coffee. He believes that the combination of smoke and coffee smells creates a unique taste.
His coffee is organic, meaning it’s grown without using chemicals. Y Pôt Niê works with local farmers to make sure they have good-quality and plenty of coffee beans, helping them switch to organic farming. He wants to sell his coffee around the world to increase its value and support people’s incomes. He’s always ready to help farmers replant coffee to make the products better.
Starting with just two coffee products, his company now has eight lines, including powdered and instant coffee. His products are sold in various places like the Netherlands, Singapore, Malaysia, and Mongolia, and they’ve reached 56 out of 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam. In 2022, his Robusta coffee got four stars under the OCOP program, which promotes rural economic development and local specialties.
Overcoming challenges and looking forward
Y Pôt Niê faced a lot of problems when he started his business, and even his family didn’t support him at first. They wanted him to continue working in health instead of starting a risky business. But he didn’t give up on his dream. He got help from local authorities, the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance, and the Vietnam Farmers’ Union. He took part in training to learn more about coffee production and business.
Now, he’s proud of what he’s achieved, and he’s thankful for the support of his customers and partners. He plans to make his business bigger, offer more products, and build his brand. He wants Ê Đê Café to be known and trusted by coffee lovers, representing the culture and identity of the Ê Đê people.
