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Vietnam Challenger Starbucks NASDAQ:SBUX

Trung Nguyen Group Corp., Vietnam’s biggest Coffee retailer, wants to buy roasters in the US and open shops in Seattle, New York and Boston this year, just after Starbucks Corp. debuted in Ho Chi Minh City.

The company plans to fund US acquisitions by selling a stake of as much as 15%, Dang Le Nguyen Vu, founder, processor and retailer, said in an interview.

Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee-shop chain, opened its first Vietnam store on 1 February.

Trung Nguyen’s plan to enter the US follows the company’s climb to become the biggest roaster and packaged-Coffee retailer in a country with a brewing tradition dating from 19th century plantations by French colonists.

The chain’s 60 shops across the country serve Vietnamese-style individually brewed cups, along with varieties including Italian Espresso and Turkish-style coffees, a mix Vu expects to sell in the US.

“US customers should be able to enjoy cups of authentic Coffee,” said Vu, a farmer’s son who founded the company in Y 1996 and is its sole owner. “Their level of Coffee appreciation is probably not high yet, but we will work on that.”

Vu’s focus on specialty Coffee beans and roasting includes a variety called “Legendee” created to mimic the flavor of Coffee brewed from beans recovered from the feces of Civets, a weasel-like rodent. Civet Coffee is considered a delicacy.

Vu discovered enzymes that mimic Civet digestion and developed a process to give the Coffee the same “magical flavor,” according to the company’s website. http://www.trungnguyen.com.vn/

Trung Nguyen sales rose 32% in Y 2012 to $200-M and will likely double this year on rising demand for packaged Coffee in China and Southeast Asia, Vu said. Sales are forecast at $1-B by the end of Y 2016, he said.

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