Vietnam's cheap coffee may lose its edge as the EU tightens sustainability rules, Nestlé Vietnam's chair warns | Fortune

Nestlé Vietnam chairman Binu Jacob warned that Vietnam’s low-cost coffee advantage is at risk as the EU tightens sustainability rules, speaking at the Fortune Southeast Asia 500 Summit on Nov. 3. The EU’s deforestation regulation requires importers to prove coffee was not grown on land cleared after 2020, adding compliance costs for Vietnamese robusta suppliers. Vietnam is the world’s largest robusta producer, and its cheap beans underpin global instant-coffee supply chains, so tighter traceability could raise costs and shift sourcing toward compliant origins. Watch for EU enforcement timelines and whether Vietnamese exporters can document farm-level traceability before the next harvest.