How to avoid coffee export scams when sourcing from Vietnam coffee suppliers

Vietnam coffee suppliers dominate the Robusta market as the country is the largest exporter of Robusta coffee—making up 95–97% of local output. Arabica? Still niche. Grown in small patches up in the mountains by a handful of dedicated farmers. You’ll find other premium varieties too, but real stock is limited. Most of it gets locked in by big brands months ahead—leaving the market flooded with knockoffs and complicating sourcing for new buyers.

What regions of Vietnam are the top destinations for global coffee sourcing?

Over 90% of Vietnam’s coffee comes out of the Central Highlands. Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Kon Tum, Gia Lai—this is Robusta country. High-yield, high-volume, and the engine behind Vietnam’s global coffee export game. Arabica? Just a sliver. Barely 4–5% of the total crop. High-altitude farms in Lam Dong’s Da Lat, Son La, and Lao Cai produced nearly 1 million bags of Arabica in 2024.

When coffee samples don’t match your order

On paper, Vietnam’s coffee export stats cover the numbers, the costs, and the “organic Arabica” claim. Unfortunately, the paper trails very rarely reflect the actual genesis points of those beans. When buyers bypass the field-level traceability portion and take warehouse declaration statements at face value, they roll the dice on a plethora of mislabeled beans, recycled stamp grades, and pesticide residues that fail to be accepted on imports to Japan or the EU. The only way to know if what is packed as ungraded beans originated from an unapproved organic farm is to verify the certificates at the source—not in a broker's office. Despite improvements in regulations, there are still unscrupulous Vietnamese coffee suppliers who abuse the trust of customers, therefore you need to make third-party verification a non-negotiable step when sourcing coffee from Vietnam.

We asked the supplier if he had the specific coffee we were looking for. He said yes. We asked him to send a sample, and once we received it, the sample was not what we were looking for. Some coffee companies in Vietnam use this to test you. This tactic is used to identify buyers who skip verification. When you’re exporting coffee from Vietnam, supplier trust isn’t enough. You'll end up with wrong goods and wrong papers, which damages your company’s reputation. Unfortunately, sourcing issues occur not only with coffee but also when working with Vietnamese seafood, rice, chili, and coconut suppliers in Vietnam. Here’s what many coffee exporters in Vietnam won’t tell you and how to spot red flags that protect your coffee supply chain.

Sold as 100% Arabica but delivered as mud water

Undeclared Robusta in Arabica shipments is one of the most common scams we encounter when working with new exporters in Vietnam. You paid for Arabica. You got Robusta filler. Your brand’s reputation diluted—just like your blend. If your Arabica coffee fails lab tests on import, your entire supply chain takes a hit. That’s why Vietnamia inspects every lot before it hits the container, especially FOB coffee shipments.

"Single origin"

When origin fraud slips past customs, your brand pays the price. Labels say "Lam Dong" or "Dak Lak"—but beans are blended from multiple provinces to cut cost, breaking traceability. In Vietnam’s coffee trade, location labeling is often used as bait for specialty importers. Unless you verify at origin, you’re selling blended bulk disguised as premium. Vietnamia verifies every coffee lot at the farm and exporter level. We don’t believe in mystery origins. Verified farm-to-export sourcing is the foundation of Vietnamia’s sourcing model.

Fake export grades

We’ve seen Grade 1 paperwork used to move warehouse-floor leftovers. Grade 1 claims on paper—but what ships is dusty, insect-damaged Grade 3. Most importers won’t know until cupping fails. Importers in the USA and UAE are routinely scammed by exporters who rely on buyer distance and vague specs to pass off inferior beans. Without a trusted sourcing agent, you’re relying on paperwork to represent your entire coffee shipment. Even experienced coffee buyers get fooled by false grading when they skip pre-shipment inspections. Vietnamia prevents this by grading every lot before it leaves the exporter. We work only with verified Vietnam suppliers and inspect every container before it moves.

By the time your coffee reaches you, five strangers have profited off it.

Want to know why your origin story keeps changing? Because your beans pass through more middlemen than customs. You’re not sourcing coffee. You’re playing telephone with your margins. The more hands involved, the further you are from the truth. Vietnamia verifies coffee exports and protects your margins.

Pesticide limits are local. Your risk? Global.

Local clearance isn’t global compliance. Pesticide screening in Vietnam is patchy. Coffee exporters in Vietnam often meet domestic thresholds but fail in the EU or Japan due to pesticide traces. Now you risk your container being stuck at the port, and your client is asking questions. That’s why pesticide testing is so important when exporting coffee from Vietnam. Your coffee container becomes a legal liability without verified compliance. Vietnamese coffee exporters rarely include pesticide analysis in their standard documents. If you don’t insist, it won’t be provided.

Moisture manipulation: the invisible way unethical Vietnamese coffee suppliers steal margin.

Moisture fraud is one of the oldest scams we've seen in the Vietnam coffee supply chain. When exporting coffee FOB from Vietnam, moisture manipulation is a hidden cost. Vietnamese coffee suppliers know moisture is hard to verify remotely. Unethical suppliers inflate container weight by increasing moisture content. Overhydrated beans mean you’re paying for weight that rots. And destroy your beans before they even land. That’s what happens when you don’t test moisture at origin.

When sourcing coffee from Vietnam, moisture testing at origin is your only defense against weight fraud and spoilage. It's really important to verify moisture content and quality at origin. You pay per kilo—but water isn’t coffee. Even experienced importers sometimes miss this trick when FOB shipments skip lab testing. Vietnamia moisture-tests every lot before shipping to the final destination, so no coffee company in Vietnam gets away with margin theft.

Forged certifications

In the absence of in-person verification, UTZ or Organic labels on Vietnamese coffee are just stickers. Without audit trail, it’s just ink—easy to print, hard to verify. Cupping Sample Bait-and-Switch Pre-shipment sample tastes great—because it's handpicked. The bulk lot? Mechanically harvested, under-fermented, or aged. Unless you're on the ground inspecting, you're buying a fantasy. Some Vietnamese coffee suppliers hand-pick the cupping sample—then substitute bulk lots from different farms or provinces.

Clear path to source coffee from Vietnamese suppliers

Coffee sourcing in Vietnam is a maze. One mislabeled shipment can break a contract. Your premium coffee pricing model collapses without grading inspections by a trustworthy third-party sourcing agent like Vietnamia. We believe trust is earned through inspection, not assumption. Ethical coffee sourcing from Vietnam is almost impossible without on-site inspections and trusted third-party checks. Vietnamia brings global coffee export standards to every Vietnamese coffee supplier in our sourcing network—ensuring traceable, lab-tested, export-ready coffee. Want consistent quality and supplier transparency? Get started with Vietnamia’s sourcing support services.