Our respondent profile for the month is Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, a Business Administration student from Hanoi. Now in her 3rd year of University, Thuy is keenly aware of the slowdown of the national economy ‘I am not clear about the future, the economy is not growing as fast as we need and I worry about my job prospects when I finish my degree’. Her views on the economy are perhaps a bit pessimistic as the economy grew 5% for the first quarter of 2014, but none the less it is a valid view as it reflects the slowdown in the economy. She says ‘the economy is not good, it is in stagnation and many people are looking for job but there aren’t enough jobs to meet the demand’.
Thuy comes from Phu Xuyen, from what used to be known as Ha Tay Province, now part of the Hanoi Municipality. Her mother works making handicrafts, but Thuy doesn’t need her help. She does some shift work at a KFC restaurant for 6-7 hours each time and earns enough to live while she studies. As she looks forward to her future she wonders if she will work in an area related to her Major, ‘I have taken part in many workshops, but things are not great so I might have to work in the food or entertainment industry for a bit longer’.
Similar to many young people her age, she dreams of travelling and seeing the world, but she would like to see her own country first, ‘I would like to travel with my friends to the mountain areas of Vietnam and experience life in a different way’. She also enjoys coffee with friends, but that’s something she can only afford a couple of times a week. Her favorite place is the local coffee shop at her school; it caters for students and to her taste, ‘is the place I like and I can afford’.

Local businesses are at the heart of the Vietnamese economy and their importance cannot be underestimated. It is small and medium size companies that drive growth and at the moment they employ about 75% of the workforce. Vietnam enjoys one of the world’s lowest national unemployment of about 2%, though it is closer to 4% in the main urban areas. At glance this is a remarkably enviable figure, but there are some concerns especially in the areas of youth unemployment and informal employment. A recent report from the International Labor Organization mentions that unemployment rate of young Vietnamese under the age of 25 years is up to three times higher than the national rate at 5.95% and in urban areas this figure increases to 11% rate.

Despite all these concerns, young consumers remain positive about their employment prospects. Only about 6% of respondents think that current business conditions are bad and about 37% think that there are plenty of jobs available at the moment.

Quite rightly we are often reminded that coffee was introduced to Vietnam by the French during the colonial era, but to say that local coffee is French is incorrect. Very naturally local coffee has evolved into its own; it is roasted dark and brewed using a metal filter (phin) which results in a bittersweet smoky taste and it is served hot or cold with or without condensed milk. The local coffee production has soared and Vietnam has become one of the world’s largest coffee bean exporters, but this is often seen as a high-volume, rather than high-quality. Some observers point to a need to reverse that perception as the local market has developed sufficiently and now many locals aspire to a more trendy style of coffee drinking inspired by internationally well known coffee places like Starbucks,

In this month’s spotlight question we asked about the coffee habits of young consumers, mainly about the shops they visit and why.