With more than a century of development, Dak Lak coffee has evolved beyond a purely agricultural commodity, now positioned as a “living heritage”.

From “raw commodity” to “indigenous knowledge system”

From a cultivation area of only about 2,000 hectares during the French colonial period, after more than a century, Dak Lak now has over 214,000 hectares of coffee.

Since 1986, the sector has entered a phase of rapid growth. The province has become Vietnam’s key coffee production hub, accounting for approximately 30 - 35% of national output and playing a central role in the global Robusta value chain. Dak Lak coffee is exported to around 80 markets worldwide. Notably, Buon Ma Thuot Coffee geographical indication has been protected in 32 countries as well as territories.

Dak Lak coffee being viewed as a comprehensive ecosystem.

Dak Lak coffee has been central to Vietnam maintaining its position as the world’s second-largest coffee producer and exporter, along with the leading producer and exporter of Robusta for more than two decades.

In particular, coffee cultivation has become an indispensable part of local ethnic communities’ cultural life in Dak Lak. The “knowledge of coffee cultivation and processing in Dak Lak” was officially inscribed on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2025.

With more than 200 processing facilities alongside hundreds of thousands of farming households, Dak Lak coffee ecosystem is transitioning from commodity-scale production to heritage-based value.

In Vietnam, especially in Dak Lak, coffee is closely associated with indigenous knowledge systems covering cultivation, care, harvesting, processing, consumption, cultural practices, and community organisation. These converge to form the values of a “living heritage” that must be preserved, safeguarded, as well as continuously revitalised in contemporary life.

The aspiration to shape a global coffee civilisation

According to Mr. Trinh Duc Minh, Chairman of the Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Association, recognising coffee from perspective of intangible heritage first requires identifying the entire body of living knowledge accumulated, tested, adapted, and transmitted across generations of people connected to coffee cultivation in this land. Within this whole, the Buon Ma Thuot Coffee geographical indication plays a particularly important role as an identity layer. Simultaneously, the community’s living knowledge forms the foundation for quality, enabling a shift from “product reputation” to “living heritage”.

Miss Tourism Ambassador of Vietnam Dinh Thi Hoa and Miss Universe H’Hen Nie promoting the image of Dak Lak’s coffee-growing landscape during the flowering season.

Mr. Nguyen Nguyen, a representative of Trung Nguyen Legend Group, stated that building Buon Ma Thuot into a “World Coffee City” represents an effort to integrate Vietnamese coffee culture and knowledge into the broader flow of human civilisation, creating sustainable value rather than merely selling raw labour.

Amid global challenges around social connectivity along with sustainable development, positioning Vietnamese coffee, including Dak Lak, as a “living heritage” can help elevate it into shared cultural language, fostering coexistence, mutual respect and collective growth.

Ms. Pauline Tamesis, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, emphasised that the combination of indigenous knowledge together with sustainable development standards will ensure Dak Lak farmers are not left behind. When coffee becomes a “living heritage”, it will safeguard livelihoods of more than 600,000 people dependent on this crop amid global market fluctuations.

Translated by KHUONG THAO