Vietnam becomes fifth largest supplier of coffee to Austria

Along with taking advantage of the various opportunities from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), Vietnamese coffee is anticipated to make further inroads into the demanding market moving forward.

Statistics released by the International Trade Center indicate that Austria increased imports from the country throughout the 2016 to 2020 period with an average annual growth rate of 15.54% in volume and 14.57% per year in value.

During the first quarter of the year, Austria imported 13,240 tonnes of coffee worth US$101.38 million, a decline of 26% in volume and 3.0% in value compared to the same period from last year.

The average coffee import price in the Austrian market surged by 31% to reach US$7,657 per tonne compared to last year’s corresponding period.

Austria typically imports coffee from the intra-EU bloc, while Vietnam, Brazil, and Indonesia make up the major foreign suppliers of coffee to the Central European nation.

The first quarter saw Austria import 510 tonnes of coffee from the Vietnamese market worth US$965,000, a fall of 9.9% in volume and 6.9% in value against the same period from last year.

Despite this, the country’s coffee market share as part of Austrian coffee imports soared from 3.17% in the first quarter of last year to 3.85% in the first quarter of the year.

According to the Vietnamese trade office in Austria, the Central European nation imports roasted coffee mainly from the German, Dutch, and Italian markets, with a market share making up over 80%, while importing unroasted Arabica coffee beans from Brazil and Robusta coffee beans from Vietnam.

Additionally, local businesses have been advised to capture consumer trends and seize upon the opportunities from the EVFTA as a way of helping Vietnamese coffee and other farm produce to achieve greater Austrian market penetration.