Viet-coffee’s response to Coronavirus

Viet-coffee is open for business.

Your safety is our major concern.

We are working together with our couriers to maintain contactless deliveries.

Our children are in Isolation – not because we have to be but we are working under the presumption we want to prevent transmission where ever possible and the best way to do this is to pretend you have the virus and don’t want to pass it on to others.

Currently nobody except family is allowed into our warehouse. We do not have a shop front so all customer contact is over the phone or via internet and wholesale deliveries are via courier or maintaining social distance and contact-less delivery.

We have hand wash by the front door and handwashing occurs prior to packing your order.

Western Australia will have travel restrictions by economic zone however freight is still allowed in and out of WA and Australia.

Hugh is a government employee and currently is not allowed to work from home at this time, however is working hard to observe social distancing and engages in frequent hand washing. He does not work on a front counter and most of his client contact is over the phone.

Below is the Australia Post and Fastway comments as to how they are working in this new environment.

Any Questions? Please ask and please stay safe.

Hugh and Van

Viet-Coffee.com.au    Mob Hugh 0409642770 Van 0416640940

Australia Post

Coronavirus: Domestic updates

We’re still delivering but there may be service impacts.

Post Office closures

27 March 2020

Post Office closures 

For updated trading hours, please check with your local Post Office. The below Post Offices have been temporarily closed until further notice.

NSW

• Brooklyn LPO
  All letters and parcels will be available for collection over the counter at the Berowra Post Office.
• Freshwater LPO
  All letters and parcels will be available for collection over the counter at the Manly Post Shop.
• Pilliga LPO
  All letters, parcels and PO Box mail will be available for collections over the counter at the Wee Waa Post Office.

QLD

• Mount Sheridan LPO
  All PO Box mail will be available from the post office hatch 8am-12pm. For all other mail, please check the "Sorry we missed you" card for pick-up locations.
• Mackay Caneland Post Shop
  All letters and parcels will be available for collection over the counter at the Mackay Post Office.

SA

• Kingston SE LPO
  Customers can continue to access PO Box mail.
• Paskeville CPA
  Customers can continue accessing PO Box mail, and will be directed to collect all over-sized and registered mail at the Kadina Post Office.

Domestic air freight handling

19 March 2020

Australia Post has a significant partnership with Qantas to move mail by air. Qantas has advised their freighter network is not affected following this morning’s announcement.

We are confident with this advice, there will be no impact on our delivery network, and we continue to operate as business as usual for our products.

This partnership gives Australia Post access to the largest dedicated freighter network in Australia.

Along with Qantas, we are very aware of the essential service Australia Post provides in supporting the communities in which we operate during this difficult time, and we are committed to continuing this.

Signatures no longer required

16 March 2020

To minimise the risk of contracting or spreading coronavirus, all parcels - be it at a Post Office or at a residence - will no longer require a signature for delivery or collection. Someone will need to be present at the residence for this to occur otherwise standard delivery procedures apply.

In all cases, whether a driver or postie delivers to the door or a customer goes in to their local Post Office to collect a parcel, an Australia Post staff member will ask and record the customer’s name and acknowledge delivery in our system.

The customer will still need to be present for this to occur, but contact will be minimised by either leaving the parcel at the door until the driver or postie has left the premises or left for the customer to pick up on the counter.

Australia Post is committed to continuing delivery throughout our network and as any disruptions resulting from Coronavirus occur, we will keep customers updated.

Safety is our priority

15 March 2020

At Australia Post our priority is always the safety of our customers and staff.

We continue to monitor the developing situation around the spread of coronavirus COVID19, and in addition to measures already implemented, will now be taking further action to help protect customers and staff.

For our Post Office network

We are asking customers if they are showing symptoms not to visit our Post Offices, and for all other customers to keep a distance of at least one metre from people, and continue to practice good hygiene. This includes washing your hands often with soap and water, using a tissue and covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze, and avoiding close contact with others, such as touching.

For our delivery network

To help protect our posties, drivers and customers, in addition to measures already introduced around signature for delivery, again – we are asking for the practice of good social isolation techniques. If you are showing symptoms, please let your postie or driver know. If you are not, please, we again ask customers to keep a distance of at least one metre from people, and continue to practice good hygiene.

We are committed to continuing delivery throughout our network and if we experience any disruptions resulting from Coronavirus, we will keep customers updated here.

Using Parcel Lockers

We also remind our customers that in addition to picking up deliveries at a Post Office, they are also able to select delivery to occur to one of our over 400 parcel locker locations across the country. View more information on how to sign up to a free MyPost account and to use parcel lockers.

We are acting to ensure that we can minimise transmission now as much as possible, protecting our customers and staff, while still continuing to deliver for Australians.

Staff are continually directed to stay at home if they are feeling unwell.

If our customers are feeling unwell, please take care of yourself and those around you. Should this be the case, and you prefer not to visit us at one of our Post Offices, please call 13 POST for assistance.

Fastway / Aramex

Update - 27/03/2020 9:40am

Aramex / Fastway continues to deliver

To our valued customers,
 

Aramex / Fastway continues to remain open for business and delivering for you. During this time of government regulations in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, courier service is essential.

You can be confident we’ll continue to deliver your packages. For your health and safety, we have implemented a new system to enable no-contact deliveries.

If you need to send packages, we're ready to assist. If you’re not yet signed up at myfastway.com.au, please take this opportunity to open an account. It’s quick and easy to use our self-service online customer portal.

We also have a network of more than 850 Parcel Connect outlets nationally providing a convenient drop-off and collection point for parcels.

Service Update

Our Courier Franchisees are working hard to keep parcels moving and at this stage there has been no significant impact on local service times. In some regions, there may be slight delays of up to 1 day.

For parcels coming from overseas and delivering in to Australia, there may be delays. We are working closely with our partner airlines to move items as quickly as possible.

As a number of Australian states (SA, WA, NT, QLD) have effectively closed their borders to interstate visitors, please be assured there is no issue moving freight within our national network.

How to contact us

As a result of the current situation, we are experiencing higher than normal enquiries. We are scaling up our support staff by redeploying resources wherever possible, however the coronavirus situation is placing unprecedented demand on our Regional Franchise network. Please be patient as we do our best to respond quickly.

 A number of simple changes have been made to the Fastway website this week to enable you to navigate quickly and easily to lodge an online enquiry. The best way to reach a Customer Service representative is to lodge a Zendesk enquiry via our website at fastway.com.au.

For updates on our response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, and for updated service announcements please go to fastway.com.au.
 

We’re all in this together.
 

Thank you, the Aramex / Fastway team

Update - 27/03/2020 9:30am
 

Conditions of Carriage update

Please note, clause 26.2 has been added to our Conditions of Carriage.

You can see view them here.

Update - 16/03/2020 10:00am

With the Coronavirus situation continuing to deteriorate, we wanted to update you on the steps we are taking around risk mitigation and maintaining business as usual to support our customers.

What we're doing

At Aramex, our top priority is the health of our people, our customers and their families.

In line with advise from the Federal Health Department, we are taking the following steps:

Helping with prevention

• Scanners are being thoroughly cleaned with sanitizer throughout the day and we have implemented a policy of checking the temperature of all couriers, drivers and employees on arrival at the depot each day.
• We have advised that anyone who has symptoms of the virus must not come to the depot or office, and must seek the advice of a GP immediately.
• We have also introduced steps in our depots to help minimise the risk of infection including additional daily cleaning, as well as providing courier franchisees, drivers and employees with additional hygiene products, support and advice.
• Our workforce has adopted the practice of working in separated, individual spaces as much as is practical.

Flexibility for customers

• We have temporarily updated our delivery protocol to respect the choice of receivers who do not want to sign for packages by touching scanners. In these instances, the package will be processed as an Authority to Leave delivery, and a photo will be taken of the item at the door.

Reliable service

• A pandemic is a time of uncertainty, but at Aramex we are focussed on delivering a reliable service to your customers. Every measure within our control is being taken to ensure there is no impact on service levels or package delivery. If this changes, we will update you as soon as possible.

We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to be guided by information and directives from the World Health Organisation, the Federal Health Department and state health authorities.

If you have any questions or concerns about Fastway shipping, please contact your local Regional Franchise.

At last!

Metrang MC1, MC2 and MC3  are back in stock

The blend is made from specially selected premium Arabica and Robusta beans for that full flavour punch and typically great for a pick me up in the morning.

The MC1 has the lowest Caffeine content at between 1.0 1.1% Then the MC2 is 1.1 to 1.2% and the MC3 at between 1.2 to 1.3% and as the numbers go up they indicate improved quality smoothness and strength of flavour

Van and I both love the flavour of all as being typically Vietnamese with high quality arabica and robusta beans for a mellow rich flavoured cup

I love the description on the pack "With all the love, indulgence and zeal , Me Trang was studying to create a product line at MC super clean filter coffee incessantly. Produced in a closed assembly line, clean material area completely. MC coffee's a associate between production and scientists for keeping purely coffee flavour of MC coffee. The effect at MC coffee on reduction cholesterol in blood, stimulate process of metabolism, lessen the danger of cancer.. and bring to you a cheery spirit for a new day."

How can you resist!

We have visited the factory and they are right they are really focussed on giving you super clean coffee with floors you could eat off, masks and hats and special closed off airtight rooms for packaging product.

They have modern clean equipment and close supervision of staff and processes to ensure a quality product all the time with a number of awards to attest to their attention to detail

Me Trang Company Ltd. started from a small factory called The Hung in the 1990s. In 2007, Me Trang Coffee Joint Stock company was established and become 1 of the top 100 famous brands in Vietnam. at this moment. Metrang coffee brand - MC is sold internationally in Russian, USA, Europe, Korean, Japan, and ASEAN countries including Australia.

Me Trang Coffee Joint Stock Company has invested around 15 million USD for the production chains to maximize product quality

Metrang Coffee shops are popping up all over Vietnam but you can get your coffe from us today without going to Vietnam

Want something from Trugn Nguyen? We have already managed to sell 60 Kg of the Chin Phuc S since it came into the ware house

World famous blend of Arabica, Robusta, Chari (Excelsa) and Catimor beans.

As with many traditional Vietnamese coffee's the roasting style and flavour balance as a result of using these beans is exceptional, Trung Nguyen have created another trademark “every occasion” rich coffee with broad flavour, buttery mouthfeel and with excellent aftertaste.

Coffee grown on the Rich basaltic soils in the Buon Ma Thout region is special selected and then roasted by the master roasters of Trung Nguyen have produced an exceptionally well priced every day coffee suitable for Phin brewing but may be made with a french press or dripolator.

Great for Caphe Su da.

Or perhaps the low caffeine Viet-coffee own brand is for you

The blend is made from specially selected beans that are low in caffeine and full of flavour and then specially roasted to ensure that a low caffeine roast is produced.

Van and I both love the flavour as being typically Vietnamese and smooth and mellow and this is manafactured in a factory that complies with Japanese food standard and in a silver 250g Mylar bag for $5.95

Here is the link https://www.viet-coffee.com.au/xcart/product.php?productid=360&cat=5&page=1

Coffee On

Hugh and Van

What do Betty Crocker cakes, Ikea Furniture and Vietnamese Coffee have in Common?

Let’s tell a story, it’s a bit of a beat up really and starts in the 1950’s when US food company General Mills wanted to create a point of difference about their cake mix. Ernest Dichter, who is attributed as being the 'father of motivational research’, suggested that having women add eggs to the recipe and build on the cake with icing and other treatments to make for an emotional investment in the cake creation was a significant buying impetus. The theory was that the additional work involved in making the cake made women feel much more satisfied with the end product.  

Dichter’s psychological insights into consumer behaviour and making the product sexy was also exemplified when he worked with Plymouth car manufacturer Chrysler, stating a convertible needed to be part of the line up even if it only accounted for 2% of the sales.  Dichter said to Chrysler that beefing up convertible’s advertising and their presence in the showroom would improve sales. Based on the premise that men related to them emotionally as sports cars and mistresses, whilst the sedan was associated with the wife.  The man walked into to show room to look at the convertible but brought his wife back to buy the sedan.  

This however is a digression; the point is around the making of things more laborious to get consumers to value their creation, more than if it was easy. This is acknowledged as the Ikea effect and reported a 2011 paper by Norton, Mochon and Ariely in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.

In a study assembling Ikea boxes, origami and Lego  it was demonstrated the participants valued their product over that created by another, there were limitations that if it was too hard or they failed to complete the task they valued the product less. However they definitely valued their successful creation more.

To answer the Question with regards to similarity - it's better to make your own, and as it's soon Mothers Day,  even better to give than to receive. To celebrate this fact Viet-coffee has a special offer, for a limited time special Pricing on our Vietnamese coffee in a box. 

We want you to make your own Vietnamese coffee, the personal effort is worth it.

Are we in time for r Mothers day? Buy Taste of Vietnam 1 for $29.99 until Mothers Day

For Caphe su da (Iced coffee) you add ice and we have online instructions – just watch ou corporate video to learn how.

Sorry we can’t make it for you but the effort and the wait is worth it. Special Mothers Day pricing lasts until Sunday 12^th May

Things to do in Saigon for Viet-coffee

Viet Coffee having caphe su da, green tea and coconut drink at 05 Thich Minh Nguyet P.2 Q.TB HCM - coffee strong and refreshing - allow some time to attack the coconut and or go across the road for chicken rice. Real street cafe life but if you can avoid the lunch rush it will be a little quieter. Or perhaps go round the corner for a hair cut, ( hot toc ) massage and ear clean  

Above fresh  coconut drink and a meal - remember to ask for spoon to eat coconut flesh

Above Street view of Cafe to get Chicken and rice 

Cafe for fresh coconut with customer (my brother Paul) eating cocount

Not finished orders will be

Deleted after 48 hours

Email 

info@viet-coffee.com.au

for further info

Dear Hugh, Because of your support, teens like 16-year-old “Toan” know that when they reach Blue Dragon with nothing, not even enough money to pay for a bus fare, some- one will be there to help. A year ago, things weren’t look- ing good for Toan. His parents had been locked away in prison, and with no one to look out for him he decided to leave his hometown and travel the 300 km to Hanoi to find a job. When he arrived he quickly found work at a street-food restaurant, but Toan didn’t last more than a week as he was so small and couldn’t lift the heavy items he was required to. After he lost his job, he was all alone on the streets with no money. A few days later he was taken to a government child protection centre. While there, he met a boy who told him about Blue Dragon, and as soon as he was released he jumped straight back on a bus to the Blue Dragon drop-in centre. Toan didn’t know what the next step was, but he knew that when he arrived at Blue Dragon some- one would help him figure it out. Toan is now back in Grade 10, and his dream is to become a doctor so that he can help others. A year ago Toan would have never dreamed that going to medical school would be possible. He knows that the journey won’t be easy, but with a helping hand it makes a huge difference! Your donations change lives for youth like Toan. Your continued support ensures life-long success for children who have had a rough start in life. You’re giving kids the chance in life that they deserve. Thank you. Sincerely, Michael Brosowski Founder and CEO Help us get to know you! To make sure we’re hitting the mark and sharing the right stories and news with you, we’ve prepared a short survey. Please take 5 minutes to  share your thoughts with us. What’s been happening? In rural communities at high risk of child labour trafficking, Blue Dragon has been teaching families about the deceitful practices of traffickers and the importance of staying in school. Parents and teachers are happy to learn how to keep their children safe! With a helping hand from Blue Dragon a group of young people with disabilities and their parents established a community garden in their village. They are all so proud of their very first harvest! Teens who have been living on the streets often struggle to imagine what their future will bring. But after an informal discussion and Q&A with a s uccessful businessman, 20 teens left inspired to find their internal motivations, and identify their own goals for the future. Blue Dragon is working alongside authorities to ensure victims of human trafficking and child abuse will have the automatic right to legal representation throughout the investigation and court process in Vietnam.  Read more Blue Dragon champions Thanks to Turtle Lake Brewing Company, over 50 children got to enjoy a traditional Christmas meal together on Christmas Day! Staff from I Can Read English Centre visited Blue Dragon to donate clothes, toys, stationery, and over $600 to help children in need. The International School Ho Chi Minh City (ISHCMC) raised over $2,500 at their end of year Festive Bazaar to support survivors of sex trafficking. On a visit to HSBC Vietnam, 11 deaf youth learnt how basic banking services can be accessible to them, and what career opportunities are available in banking. You can support children in crisis with a sip of a coffee! The Pure Collective has just opened a third Sydney cafe on No.1 Martin Place  where 100% of the profits go to charity - including Blue Dragon. They have two sister cafes in Surry Hills and North Sydney  where you can also grab a bite to eat knowing that your money is helping others. Save the date!

London Diplomacy Ball The UK March 8, 2019

Drink for H2H Charity Vietnam March 28, 2019   Rally Indochina Vietnam May 5 - 13, 2019 Get Involved     Blue Dragon  mailing address is: PO Box 297, International Post Office, Hanoi, Vietnam This Blue Dragon Email is sent you you as a Viet-Coffee News subscriber

50% more King coffee at no extra charge - mention promotion in your order details - finishes midnight WST March 1

Some Shipping delays still expected due to train derailment in South Australia - Normal service expected to resume this coming Monday 

On website This article  best read in full page view

from all news link at bottom of article

Warm wishes,

Michael Brosowski
Founder and CEO

*Or purchase a donation from Viet-coffee to the Blue Dragon Red stocking appeal on our direct donation page and we will double your donation up to a maximum Viet-coffee spend of $1000 - total funds available from Viet-coffee is $1000 - donation must be accompanied by Viet-coffee product purchase and Viet-coffee donation per purchase  will not exceed the total value of your product purchase which does not incllude donation pruchase

October 2018 Dragon Tales Dear Hugh, Your support to Blue Dragon makes a difference in the lives of children in crisis around Vietnam, every day. Because of you, Blue Dragon is rescuing victims of trafficking, giving a helping hand to children living on the streets, and supporting young people with physical and intellectual disabilities. Your support means the world to people like ‘Tung’. Tung was born deaf. And as a person living with a disability in Vietnam, life has had its challenges. Aside from having issues with everyday communication, Tung has experienced marginalisation, especially when it comes to employment opportunities. Blue Dragon has been a part of Tung’s life for 10 years, watching him grow from a boy into a capable young man with dreams and passions of his own. Now at the age of 22, Tung has finally found a stable job doing something he loves: repairing bicycles. As a technical person with a love of drawing and fixing things, the mechanic role suits him perfectly! After previously struggling to find his passion, Tung is overjoyed to find a job that combines both his interests and his talents. And to accommodate Tung’s hearing impairment, the people he works with have learnt some basic sign language so they can communicate. They welcome a sign language translator for important meetings, and have offered a job to one of Tung’s friends, who also has a hearing impairment. Seeing the smile on Tung’s face says it all. He feels empowered that he has finally found his place in life, and he has a stable job he can rely on. When faced with a crisis, we all should have someone there to help us through. And thanks to you, Blue Dragon is always there for those in need: whatever their life story. New beginnings in Ha Giang province Blue Dragon is excited to announce that in partnership with the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, we are expanding our fight against human trafficking into Ha Giang province, an area bordering China in northern Vietnam. Ha Giang is an impoverished region, highly prone to human trafficking. To combat this, Blue Dragon will work together with Ha Giang Women’s Union, the Youth Union, schools, police, the community, Legal Aid and the Department of Labour & Social Affairs to build community resilience against trafficking and exploitation. As we have done in other parts of the country, we will work to improve livelihood opportunities, keep kids in school, educate communities about the risks of trafficking, and increase the number of rescues and prosecutions, in order to stop this terrible crime. Every statistic tells a story 43%, 96%, 216%... they’re all just numbers. But each number tells a story. Another child who has been rescued from sex trafficking, a teen who has a safe place to rest, or a child who can stay in school to complete their education. Your continued support has contributed to these huge successes. You can read the summary of accomplishments over the past year here. What’s been happening? Nine Blue Dragon teens had the opportunity to perform in front of an international audience at the recent CultuRama show in Singapore. Thanks to UWCSEA East Campus for the amazing opportunity for Blue Dragon teens to grow as leaders, learn more about other cultures and celebrate diversity. Best of luck to ‘May’, a 19-year-old student who has started her four-year training to become a nurse at Hanoi Medical University, one of the most prestigious universities in Vietnam. Blue Dragon has been supporting May’s education for the past eight years, but this achievement is due to her drive and determination to succeed. ‘May’ is one of eighty-seven students that Blue Dragon supporters around the world currently assist to pursue a higher education at university or college. To learn how you can get involved, head here. Thanks to funding from HSBC Vietnam, two families in central Vietnam have new homes and six more houses are being constructed right now. The families, whose homes were destroyed in a typhoon last year, are overjoyed to have a safe place they can call home before the rainy season arrives. Students from Concordia International School Hanoi spent a week with Blue Dragon at a school in central Vietnam turning an empty field into a badminton court. They worked alongside building professionals to bring the much needed facility to life, so now the local kids have a safe space to play! Blue Dragon champions When Russell Calley ran his latest first aid course in Australia he donated half of the course cost to Blue Dragon! The Beela Blue Sky Fund is on its way to reaching the $30,000 goal to support human trafficking survivors. When you donate to the fund your contribution will be matched by Beela at the end of each month – doubling your impact! A huge thanks to the Taiwan Fund for Children & Families for providing assistance to children with disabilities in Dien Bien province (northwest Vietnam) to improve their health and promote success in school. To support street children at Blue Dragon, Kiehl’s Vietnam recently ran a campaign called 'Touch Your Dream' where they held many activities and hosted a fundraising concert. The campaign was a huge success, raising over $5,500 to give a helping hand to kids living on the streets. Save the date!

Camera Fair Hanoi Oct 27 - 28 Pub Quiz London November 1   Rally Indochina Vietnam May 5-13, 2019

Different types of coffee drinks

Van in the past has always had an aversion to egg coffee – I have tried it in Hanoi in winter and found it to be a warm comforting coffee for the cold weather.

If you were asked do you want your coffee with egg most would say 'No!' unless they already know the secret and have tried and enjoyed the silky creamy blend.

I hadn’t had it for a long time until last weekend. I really preferred Café su da in Saigon where we spend most of our time in Vietnam. Iced coffee suiting the hot climate and making for an energising and refreshing breakfast cup. At home I have a double espresso to start my day as I don’t make time in the morning for a sit down cup of Vietnamese coffee and I like the hot espresso in the cooler months.

Van was making all sorts of faces at me as I was preparing this and I was thinking of what I had read about the varying purported origins of this drink.

One story is the Viet Q wanted to emulate eggnog from Thanksgiving in USA and have it with coffee from their homeland– certainly plausible. Another is there was a shortage of milk and that a chef Nguyen Van Giang invented the drink at Hanoi’s Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel.

A shortage of milk in Vietnam in the 1940’s was the driver of its creation. Wanting to create a creamy coffee with no milk was a challenge but there was easy access to eggs and Longevity milk.

Nguyen Van Dao now runs the Giang Café and the trip down the alley is well worth the experience. There are photos on the wall of the family and orginal café and the dingy alley opens up to a two story building with courtyard.

The invented drink was so popular that Giang was able to set up his own Café Giang, now  hidden off Nguyen Huan, Hoan Kiem in Hanoi. The menu has expanded to include chocolate, green bean, rum and chocolate and Matcha. The mix also includes butter and cheese and is a closely guarded secret.

Its available in hot and cold form just as with traditional Vietnamese coffee’s – here’s a little visual of café Giang and their egg coffee (cut and paste link to your browser)

https://youtu.be/xScT46xIVhc

I made our own recipe of this nutritious coffee drink and it gets the flavour tick of approval from Van.

I use the Avanti Café glasses to avoid the need for extra container, so if you want a set of 4 for $25 they are available on special order – we will ship for free with your BX1 or bulk pack order contact us for arrangements (its not available off the site you will need to request a link)

Vietnamese Egg Coffee (Ca phe trung) al la Hugh

A delicious rich Vietnamese coffee topped with a coffee cream fluff made with whipped egg whites and combined with sweetened condensed milk egg yolk and an infusion of coffee.

Ingredients for four

150 ml Vietnamese coffee brewed through a phin or 5 shots expresso

2 whole eggs (separated)

4 tbs Longevity milk

1 teaspoon sugar preferably icing sugar or regular ok

Optional ingredient - Choccochino coffee powder

Special equipment

Chef's whisk and SS mixing bowl

Measuring jug 2 cup or larger

Small spatula

Avanti Café Twin Wall Glass 250 ml x 4

Espresso machine or Vietnamese coffee preparation equipment

Preparation

Either start making 150 ml Vietnamese coffee or wake up coffee machine for 5 shots

Separate eggs

Whisk egg whites with tsp sugar to make glossy meringue style mix

Fold in egg yolks and 4 table spoons longevity milk (due to thick gloopy texture of the milk I just get the spoon full and let most of it drip into mix then go again and only scrape mix of at last spoon  - you use about 1/2 to 1/3  of the tin.

Mix in one shot of expresso or 30 ml Vietnamese coffee to the egg mix

Put one shot of Espresso in 4 glasses

Float egg coffee cream mix if not really stiff with spatula if you want better separation or as a variation just run the coffee through the egg mix in the glass and the coffee picks up on the creamy flavours and its not eggy at all – more like a tiramisu.

Optional

Dust on a Shake of Choccochino mix

This makes a great dessert style drink, it gets Van’s Flavour tick and looks great in the twin wall glass.

Previous offers no longer available

Interesting confluence of events in the coffee world

CEPEA reports that the hot weather in the Northern hemisphere, that is the largest market for Brazilian coffee, is thought to be responsible for the decreased demand this last season. The incentive for stockpiling has been reduced with projected harvests for the 2018/19 season being a surplus. Together they appear to have created A further downward pressure on prices.

Robusta prices are down as the international price for Robusta and Arabica are lower internationally by nearly 30% over the last 12 months,  an unfortunate turn of events for Growers as input costs are increasing and Robusta production is reputed to be at an increase of 500% with the break of the recent drought in Brazil. (figures from P&A Marketing Coffidential September report)

USDA foreign Agricultural service points to good weather conditions leading to improved production yields and Arabica production being on the on year. The on year is a phenomenon that means every second year the crop is better than the off year so this points to greater production this year.

Vietnam needs to watch out as Colniza Brazil’s region that produces more than 50% of Brazil’s coffee is aiming to double output over the next 5 years as it recovers from drought. Figures of 10 000 hectares are being proposed.

On an entirely different note Mikel Coffee Community  has massive expansion plans for Australia. Their fist Australian store in Sydney is based on Australian’s historical introduction to coffee with Greek and Italian café’s and  our expectation that coffee is accompanied by food.

Mikel Coffe’s Vasileios Varnas says their Freddo cappuccino is a great hit even though its winter! Its an iced coffee with espresso poured over ice and topped with aphrogala (Iced milk foam).  Note Viet-coffee’s Saigon Espresso is ideal for this type of coffee with lots of espresso grunt to cut through the iced milk.

The iced milk foam is created with the use of a milkshake blender. For those that want to experiment you can have an upside down Freddo with Longevity milk and ice - i don’t think you will be able to get the Longevity Milk to foam even when I tried to float the ice longevity milk mix it sank! Probably not enough Ice!

This Weeks special is the King Coffee Gourmet Blend the BX box has an extra 2 x 250g packs remember to ask for it with your order

Retail - a brutal and ugly turning point as reported on Gruen Transfer

Viet-Coffee never had plans for a bricks and mortar store – there are a number of reasons for this not the least of which being the flexibility afforded by an internet store open 24/7 and the 3 school aged children that require support to get the best out of their schooling. And the perennial problem of who looks after them when they are not well.

It is fair to say shoppers are now bypassing traditional bricks & mortar retail – many of the big retail outlets from Coles and Woolworths to Myer and David Jones who are traditionally brick and mortar entities are now into the internet and online stores

Consumers are getting more savvy and with the lack of growth in wages are forced to forgo the traditional mad retail rush prior to Christmas to engage in the fray of the post Christmas sales. Consumer confidence is not at an all-time high and now many people give money for people to make their own choice of gift – what better way to get value for money than wait for after Christmas.

I work in Perth some days of the week and in my travels I see lots of empty offices and shops. Some are due to acquisitions by overseas companies that buy the business and then relocate or business that have closed down because of the down turn in mining and exploration in Western Australia. An internet search today show 1304 tenancies in Central Perth for lease and premium office space offered for $150 a week.

Long established family business that have bricks mortar and don’t have an internet back room are going under – our local bike shop that had been there for as long as l can remember (I’ve lived in the same place for 30 years) has folded up. People are now using the brick and mortar business to gather information and then having used the stores presale support then go online to save a bit and this particular business did not have an internet store to catch the growing online market

Internet based stores have the advantage that display of product range doesn’t require meters and meters of floor space and sales staff. Its all there for you to see when you want to from the comfort of your own chair.

An internet store can be anywhere and doesn’t have to provide lots of parking and be accessible to lots of customers to survive. It audience and potential customer pool is anybody with an internet connection.

Sure you can try to grow your business in a monster shopping centre but beware the tenancy agreements here are not about your business making money they are about the big companies  that run, them riding on your back so that the better you are the more you pay.

The trend is now for those customers brave enough to engage in the retail experience to do the touching and feeling as a day out with some food or coffee for the outing but once the research is done to then buy online and have it delivered.

Department stores are declining and the age of the internet search is here.  Viet-Coffee feels lucky that we came into business just at the start of this trend.

As our special gift to you this week every order over 500g will receive 10 sachets of G7 Plain black Rememer to ask for it in your order details (limited stock limited time)

Dear Customers

There has been a rail accident that has taken out the freight link between Perth and the Eastern States. The derailment is at Coonana

The offical government line is as follows - The ATSB is investgating the derailment of train 7MP7 at Coonana, Western Australia on 19 August 2018.

At about 1045 (WST), train 7MP7, travelling from Melbourne to Perth, derailed while passing over the eastern points at Coonana. Two locomotives and three wagons were derailed (including crew van). There was significant track and rolling stock damage. There were no reported injuries.

As part of the investigation, the ATSB will interview the crew, examine data inlcuding train logs, signalling logs and voice recordings, as well as examine operational procedures, and gather additional information.

A final report will be released at the end of the investigation. Should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify those affected and seek safety action to address the issue.

Fastway Say this -

Service Delays for Interstate Freight

Dear Valued Customer,

We have been advised there was a train derailment east of Kalgoorlie over the weekend.

Due to the train derailment, no freight will be coming in and going out from our depot until at least next Monday, 27 August.  

Please note this does not affect any of our local pick ups and deliveries.

Once we receive the freight, there will be a delay to get parcels delivered as there will be a backlog of freight for our couriers to get through.  We will work through the freight as quickly and methodically as we can.

If we have any further updates, we will communicate this to you as soon as we can.  We sincerely apologise for the delays and inconvenience caused to both you and your customers.

Thank you for your continued valued support and understanding.

Kind regards,

Fastway Couriers (Perth)

We say now is a good to get a larger order from the bulk pack or 5kg sections of the store as we are offering better discounts for these size orders whilst the derailment is sorted out - sorry this will have affected those orders sent by Fastway on MONDAY 20/08/18.

We will not be using Fastway until the deliveries get back to normal in an estimated 2 weeks

Sorry but this matter is entirely out of our hands and we shipped your product in good faith - you will have tracking details with Fastway shipment so you can check on the progress of your shipment at this link here with your parcel id https://www.fastway.com.au/tools/track

We will not be able to offer our smaller orders shipping with Fastway and have temporarily disabled Fastway shipping on the store

The derailment is near Coonana a place created to serve teh Trans line

Coonana, Western Australia - Wikipedia

Coonana is a small Indigenous Australian community in Western Australia located 775 kilometres (482 mi) east of Perth between Kalgoorlie and Laverton in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.

New Me Trang Cafe in Phuoc Long

Me Trang opened a new Café on 21/07/2018 at Lot 01, Lot 4, Phuoc Long new urban area, Nha Trang. Another Me Trang coffee shop being spacious for Vietnam , airy, and just in the right spot to watch the world pass you by as you sip on your Vietnamese coffee.

With a large menu, customers have the opportunity to enjoy many of the Me Trang coffee products. Especially, the MC fresh coffee. Famous for its three criteria: No pesticide residue , no impurities, no preservatives. Me Trang is proud to have been awarded the gold food brand by Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien for its clean green coffee.

Above- Traditonal Dragon Dance to bring luck and properity to the new shop.

Me Trang Café - Shop is a chain of Me Trang coffee shops, which also serve coffee and other drinks and refreshments. Me Trang is looking for Investors to participate in their expansion.

Above- Me Trang cafe employees pose for lucky photo

Viet-Coffee has expanded their Me Trang MC range and now carry the 1, 2 and 3. This distinctive brand is the flagship of Me Trang ground coffee range and as the numbers go up so does the quality of the blend and the strength of caffeine content.

Check out MC range here

Container is on the way

New stocks of Gourmet blend

New stocks of House blend

If you have been missing your favourite coffee its in its way

Container loaded and sealed and on the ship

We are expanding our range of Coffee’s from Metrang – More to follow on that

We are getting fresh supplies of Mugs and we are getting larger stainless steel Phin for when you want to make a lot of coffee at once

Container expected mid June and give us a few days to unpack – Bearing in mind that the timing of this is not really in our control!

Coffee On!! Its way

Dollar Down - price of coffee up

Carrying on from our previous article about the cup of coffee not getting cheaper even when the wholesale price of robusta is down here are some new things to consider. China’s appetite for coffee consumption is voracious. The new Vietnamese Coffee enterprise King Coffee has in a few years gone from zero sales to tens of millions with a targeted billion $ in sales by 2020.

China’s appetitite for food is such that Kenya is backing away from its signature Arabica blends in order to meet China's appetite for macadamias. Vietnam  is expecting a roughly 9 percent increase in exports this year, due partly to rising production and partly to a decline from other players.

Other players aside from Kenya like Indonesia are expecting lower production due to weather affecting crops.  Columbia expects a fall of 3% and this is an off year for production of coffee in Brazil.

But its not just about production whats in the coffee bank?  How is the coffee stockpile? The stocks of coffee ready for manufacture are at their highest level for some time and Brazil’s production next year is anticipated to increase. Talk about ups and downs. It’s just plain bad for us with the AUD going down making the price of product out of Vietnam go up.

Don’t know whether to frown or smile we found something to put a smile on your face if you have a sweet tooth

How about a Vietnamese Iced coffee Pavlova – the recipe is from SBS’s Georgia Mc Dermott

Ingredients

• 6 egg whites, at room temperature
• ¾ cup caster sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 395 g tin of condensed milk
• 3 tbsp (or 1 shot) freshly brewed Vietnamese or regular espresso
• 4 tbsp caster sugar 

Cook's notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Instructions

Resting time: 2 hours

Preheat the oven to 160°C.

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Gradually add in the sugar while beating, tablespoon by tablespoon, until it is completely dissolved, and the meringue is glossy and stiff. Mix in the vanilla bean paste.

Line two large baking trays, and, using a spatula, divide the meringue into two even circles of meringue. They should be about the size and height of a cake.

Place the pavlovas in the oven, and set the timer for 20 minutes. The pavlovas should be browned, but still slightly soft to the touch.

Turn the oven down to 120°C, and continue to cook the meringue for an additional hour, checking to ensure it doesn’t become overly browned. Once the meringue has cooked, turn the oven off, and allow it to sit in the cooling oven for 2 hours, or overnight.

To make the coffee syrup, combine the coffee and the 4 remaining tablespoons of caster sugar in a small saucepan on a medium heat. Allow to bubble and thicken, until a viscous syrup has formed, and then remove from the heat.

To assemble, place the first pavlova on your serving platter, and drizzle it with half the coffee syrup, and your desired amount of condensed milk. Layer the second pavlova on top, pressing down very gently, and repeat with the remaining syrup. You may have some syrup and condensed milk left over, depending on your taste. Serve and consume immediately. 

Check out our clearance section of the store –its ideal for coffee to cook with.

Robusta coffee prices down but cost of processed coffee going up. If Coffee prices are down how come the cost of a cup of coffee or manufactured coffee doesn’t go down.

It’s a simple question that requires a complex answer.

We’ll start at the beginning. Coffee is a cherry and it’s the seed inside the cherry that ends up being used to make the coffee that we recognise in our cup.

To grow coffee “trees” have to be grown that produce an annual harvest. Water, fertilizer, farm husbandry have to be applied to get from the seed to the tree to the cherry. Then once harvested it can either be processed on farm usually by sun drying for Robusta or for Arabica a wet process is used to separate the cherry from the bean. Good quality local production can add value to the coffee, it is however labour intensive to grow and get coffee to the green bean stage.

Depending on the geographical location only certain types of coffee can be grown. The cost of land and its distance from either processing plants or wholesalers can have an impact on its cost or return to growers.

Vietnam grows a lot of Robusta and many years ago had problems maintaining quality of its beans but the Vietnamese Government implemented a long term approach to improve coffee varieties and production by providing education and support for farmers to improve the quality for production using such methods as better technology for growing coffee by appropriate application of water, improved use of fertilizer and access to better varieties of coffee plants.

This improved productivity and farming efficiencies at the same time gives better quality coffee and a better return to the farmer.

Drying Coffee Cherries

The next step in the chain is usually the processing green bean wholesaler who will value add by such processes as cleaning by screening for sticks, stones and broken beans, polishing and sorting by size. Economies of scale are important here as a large producer makes quick work of processing tonnes and tonnes of coffee on a daily basis. Improved technology and economies of scale have reduced processing costs but improving standards of living and wages expectations have been factors to push prices up. Some producers have their own processing plant varying from small producer drying Robusta on their concrete veranda to coffee cooperatives with farmers as members with large warehouse and expensive plant or the myriad of coffee manufacturers in the coffee world.
Green Beans
The next step is coffee in the form of green beans goes to roasters to create the differing styles of roast and variety of subsequent styles of bean and ground coffee. And not to forget that a lot of coffee still gets turned into instant coffee often straight from green beans to instant coffee.

Most of the previous processes are dealt with in economies of scale that have relatively low labour charges but when it gets closer to its end market economies are quickly washed away. As an example of how this can impact on the price of coffee Viet-Coffee’s shipping charges from Vietnam to Australia have historically been less than the charges from Fremantle Port to our warehouse. Here the tyranny of distance is quickly overcome by the high cost of Australia’s standard of living.

Coffee distribution in first world countries (ie Australia) carries a significant impost due to the higher cost of food standards, labour charges and greater attention to OSH matters which aggregates to be a greater percentage of the cost of the coffee compared to what is returned at the farm gate.

In many western countries the Barrista will be earning 100 times what a farmer is earning and the café owner will have expenses that are 100’s of times more for rent, electricity, insurance than will any of the coffee farmers.

So in ,many instances the largest percentage of the coffee cost occurs in the country of sale to the consumer. Where coffee cost per pound may go up or down in the country of origin the processing and supply chain costs usually will increase as a result of improving standards of living in producing countries and the higher costs in the country of sale. As the coffee progresses down the supply chain closer to its end market the cost is also averaged or leveraged to meet end consumer expectations.

An example of this is Trung Nguyen usually has a price rise every quarter. As Viet- coffee has to remain competitive in the market we will either be looking for efficiencies or have to pass on increases.

Viet-Coffee by sourcing its product in Vietnam and working with the producer/manafacturers we are as close as we can reasonably get to the farm gate. Some of our producers have major programs to educate farmers to get best practice agronomy, others are growers in their own right and may have a commitment to charitable works, and the Vietnam government is committed to programs that improve efficiency and value adding to coffee product to allow farmers to get a better price for their product.

In a nutshell the return to farmers is a small percentage of the total cost when compared to the costs imposed further down the supply chain. The cost we pay for a cup of Coffee is more likely to go down where there is an oversupply with poor demand and reduced wages at the country of sale than if there is a price change in the country of origin.

However here’s an example of the price of coffee going down – King Coffee is a new player in the Vietnamese coffee market. They are styled after Trung Nguyen with their Gourmet Blend bearing an uncanny resemblance to Trung Nguyen Gourmet Blend. Try it now - Available single pack, Bx1 and Bulk pack