In the heart of the Central Annamites mountains, a woman-led business is not only changing how coffee is grown, but also how it is valued.
Rewriting Vietnam’s Coffee Story
“We don’t just want to produce more coffee – we want to produce better coffee,” says award-winning coffee producer Mrs. Luong Thi Ngoc Tram, referring to her ambitions for coffee production in Vietnam. “Coffee that is grown with care for the people and the planet.”
Vietnam is the second-largest coffee producer after Brazil. Despite the impressive volumes, it is less well-known mainly because most of the coffee grown has been low-grade robusta destined for mass markets. For decades, this model has left coffee farmers with slim profits, and contributed to deforestation as land is cleared for coffee farming. Mrs. Luong Thi Ngoc Tram, founder of Pun Coffee, believes it’s time for a new narrative.
Based in Huong Phung commune, in Quang Tri province, in Central Vietnam, Pun Coffee was established in 2019 with a bold ambition: to produce world-class specialty arabica while conserving forests and empowering ethnic minority communities, particularly the Van Kieu people.
Agroforestry: Where Coffee Meets Conservation
Mrs. Tram’s approach starts from the soil up. Rather than relying on chemical inputs and monocultures, Pun Coffee follows a regenerative agroforestry model that interplants arabica bushes with native tree species, fruit trees, and medicinal plants. This growing system not only boosts the coffee’s sugar content—a key factor in flavor and quality—but also restores ecosystem health.
“The trees provide shade, improve soil fertility, and protect against pests naturally,” Mrs. Tram explains. “We’re bringing back biodiversity and rebuilding the forest through coffee.”
Today, Pun Coffee manages 4 hectares of its own agroforestry coffee gardens and works withover 165 Van Kieu households who collectively farm an additional 160 hectares. The company supplies farmers with organic compost made from coffee husks, high-quality seedlings from its nursery, and training in sustainable practices.
From Local Roots to International Standards
Pun Coffee’s commitment to quality has not gone unnoticed. Its beans have received top marks from experts certified by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), with their coffee winning the first prize for arabica in 2021, 2023 and 2024 at Vietnam Specialty Coffee Competitions. Internationally, they received a silver award at the 2022 International Roasted Coffee Competition in Paris, and ranked 5th globally at the 2023 CQI competition. These international accolades highlight Pun Coffee’s dedication to excellence and its growing reputation on the global specialty coffee stage. It was also the first business in Quang Tri to apply SCA standards to processing, helping to raise the bar for Vietnamese coffee as a whole.
“We want Pun Coffee to be recognized globally – not just for taste, but for how it’s grown,” says Mrs. Tram.
A Woman’s Vision for Inclusive Growth
As a woman entrepreneur in a male-dominated sector, Mrs. Tram is used to forging her own path. But she sees her role not only as a business leader, but as a catalyst for broader change.
Pun Coffee is a member of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) and provides jobs and training specifically for women from the Van Kieu community. Through the company’s growth, Mrs. Tram is creating economic opportunities that are often unavailable to ethnic minority women in remote areas.
“Our mission is to build livelihoods that are dignified, equitable, and sustainable,” she says. “Women are a vital part of that.”
Partnerships That Grow with Purpose
Bringing this vision to life has taken more than hard work. Pun Coffee’s success has also been nurtured by strong partnerships—particularly with the Landscape Resilience Fund (LRF) and WWF Viet Nam.
“Thanks to the LRF and WWF, we didn’t have to walk this path alone,” Mrs. Tram reflects. “They believed in what we were building, and that gave us the strength to keep going.”
With LRF’s support, Pun received green business training and a follow-up business development consultancy, and won a prize for their sustainable business model at the LRF multi-stakeholder platform meeting in 2023. They spent the prize money on planting native tree species and providing seedlings to local coffee farmers. With further financial support from the WWF-IKEA partnership, they developed their tree nursery and supported local coffee farmers in applying agroforestry coffee models. Pun Coffee has already supplied 300,000 native seedlings to support forest restoration in four communes. The collaboration has helped the company to balance its commercial goals with its deep commitment to social and environmental impact.
“I am very inspired by Mrs. Tram. She is deeply rooted in coffee production and has extensive knowledge of coffee cultivation. Her social commitment is truly exemplary. She is a changemaker. The LRF is happy to contribute to this transformative business in a key landscape for conservation and climate adaptation,” says Simone Stammbach, LRF Vice President.
“Small enterprises like Pun Coffee are powerful changemakers for resilient landscapes. By restoring forests and supporting local coffee farmers, they are proving that businesses can grow by giving back—to people and to nature. We are proud to walk alongside them,” notes Khanh Ton, the LRF project manager for WWF Viet Nam.
A Vision Rooted in the Future
For Pun Coffee, the journey is about more than beans and trees – it’s about planting hope. The company’s long-term goal is to help regenerate 700 hectares of forested landscape, not just as a carbon sink or a yield booster, but as a living, breathing ecosystem where people and nature thrive together.
“We imagine a future where forested hills are alive with the sound of birds, the laughter of children, and the rustle of coffee trees in the wind,” says Mrs. Tram. “Where farming supports the earth instead of exhausting it, and where communities grow strong by working with nature—not against it.”
This vision is already taking root in the shaded coffee gardens of Huong Phung, where each seedling planted is a quiet act of resistance against climate change, poverty, and environmental degradation. And each cup of Pun Coffee is a reminder that better choices – ethical, sustainable, and deeply human – are possible.
“Everything we do is about connection,” Mrs. Tram says. “Connecting the farmer to the forest, the consumer to the land, and the present to a future we can be proud of.”
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Cover photo: Mrs. Luong Thi Ngoc Tram (on the right) and her team at the Pun Coffee nursery. Photo credit: © WWF-Việt Nam