Vietnam’s 2024/25 Harvest: What’s Happening This Season?

As the 2024/25 harvest gets underway in Vietnam, and with 2025 right around the corner, we reached out to the following team of experts in our Vietnam offices — Thuy Mai, Supply Chain Manager; Hung Ngo, Project Manager; Nhu Le (Mr.), Senior Sustainability Coordinator; and Thien Le, Research Leader — to share insights about the harvest’s current status, production expectations and what’s ahead for Vietnamese coffee. Here are some key points to keep in mind:  

• The Robusta harvest is in its early stages, with early picking just starting. Current estimates put the overall harvest at 1% lower than in 2023/24. 
• The Arabica harvest is about 78-85% complete in Northern Vietnam and 15-20% in the Lam Dong province.  The harvest in the North is expected to finish early.  
• Total production estimates (RO & AR) for 2024/25 are approximately 27.2 million bags, which is 2% lower than the previous year. 

Robusta and Arabica Harvest Status 

The 2024/25 harvest is in its early stages. Comparing the ongoing harvest to the 2023/24 crop, on the Arabica side, the harvest began earlier this year. However, the main Robusta harvest has been delayed by a few weeks due to drier-than-normal weather conditions, which impacted cherry development.  

Our Vietnam team reports that harvesting began to get underway relatively late in most Robusta regions. “This year, the Robusta harvest started in the second week of October, and the peak was in November, which will go into the first half of January,” Thien Le reported. The current Robusta harvest is expected to be slightly lower than in 2023/24. “The estimated harvest is expected to be around 1% less in 2024/25,” they noted, with an expected production of 26.35 million bags, compared to 26.69 bags in 2023/24.   

On the Arabica side, the harvest is at 75-85%+ in the northern regions of Vietnam, such as Son La, Dien Bien and Quang Tri, and about 15-20% in the Lam Dong province in southern Vietnam. The harvest began in September and will end around mid-December in the Northern regions and around mid-January in Southern Vietnam. The estimated Arabica production is to be around 21% lower than the last crop, which is 890k bags for the crop 2024/25, due to off cycle. 

 The Market and Concerns of Farmers 

In contrast to the 23/24 harvest, which saw farmers very motivated by high prices and thus anxious to harvest and sell early, the 24/25 crop started with even higher prices but has seen farmers slow to harvest/sell as they are expecting prices to increase further during the season. 

Regarding coffee quality, early concerns about forecasted heavy rains and a La Niña event have dissipated, as most of the typhoon weather went north and did not hit the key coffee-growing areas. The team also reported noticeable smaller beans on the new crop. However, it is still early to say if there could be any major concerns about crop size as the harvest is in its early stages.  

Ongoing Sustainability Efforts in Vietnam 

This year, our Vietnam team has focused on strengthening relationships with our suppliers and with our IMPACT supply chain in the country. They also continue to focus on compiling data and conducting analysis related to EUDR to meet all the requirements needed for this new regulation and to maintain our current certifications. 

In addition to this, some of the ongoing initiatives we are currently working on are focused on training farmers on regenerative agriculture, as well as other carbon capture projects that seek to assess the best methods for reducing and capturing carbon, including agroforestry, more effective irrigation and use of inputs, and monitoring carbon. Watch this space for updates! 

If you are interested in learning more about our Vietnam supply chain or booking coffee from this origin, contact your trader and learn about our offerings.