Nguyen Coffee Supply Turns 3! A Birthday Letter From Our Founder

Today, we turn 3! Some of you may remember the poppin’ Launch Party we had in 2018 where we changed the face of Vietnamese coffee in America forever. Similarly to the pattern of Asian American identities being boxed in (still) within reductive stereotypes, Vietnamese coffee was conflated with “cheap” or “condensed milk.” To break through, we’re uplifting the Vietnamese coffee bean in all its potential and expand its existence to be everything one could imagine in a daily brew – versatile, multifaceted, and unique in its own way.

I started Nguyen Coffee Supply by myself in my apartment, literally playing every role from accountant to designer to photographer to importer to Head Roaster. I used my life’s savings and racked up a personal credit card to $20K for start up costs like inventory, packaging, marketing materials, storage, and rental fees to roast on the Probat. I didn’t pay myself for the first 2 years– still working freelance media gigs to pay rent, eat, and re-invest into Nguyen Coffee Supply. I’m not saying this was the best way to do it, but it was my path and fortunately, I have a very high risk tolerance. That mixed with vision, conviction, and execution makes the future of Vietnamese coffee look bright. 

Last year, we were still a team of 2 with 1-2 additional part-time employees. Today, we’re a team of 13 employees (full-time and part-time), and we’re proudly a majority women-of-color team. It’s absolutely wild to think about all of the growth, milestones, and public recognition Nguyen Coffee Supply has achieved in 3 short years. The ability to create new opportunities, expand our team, and deepen our impact globally is a result of growth – thanks to YOU. 

Growth doesn’t happen on its own. We would not be here without the support of our community – this includes customers, writers, editors, small business owners, and every single person who has championed our brand & mission. We often talk about our work as building the Vietnamese coffee movement for a diverse & inclusive sustainable coffee future. Movements are made up of people and our efforts combined. Together, we are shaping the future of coffee culture. 

Looking forward, we have some incredible things in the pipeline as we continue to change the coffee game. I hope you’ll continue to cheer us on and be part of every new rollout. For now, help us celebrate our birthday by forwarding this email to a friend, sharing our anniversary reel on Instagram and shopping our site for holiday gifts. The best thing you can do to support small businesses (especially those hit hard by global supply chain issues like us) is to shop & amplify! Thank you for being part of the Vietnamese coffee movement.

Cheers,
Sahra Nguyen
Founder

A SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY DROP!!
STACKABLE VIETNAMESE CERAMIC MUGS

To celebrate our 3 Year Anniversary, we're releasing new Stackable Vietnamese Coffee Mugs! Over a year in the making– we worked closely with a small team of female artisans in the village of Bát Tràng to create 250 sets* of four mugs.

Designed in Brooklyn and made in Vietnam, these mugs feature our Nguyening Trio and classic floral pattern to bridge cultures. We were very intentional about this collaboration, choosing to work with a smaller scale team based in Vietnam even though that meant more logistical challenges.

To us, this is what social, cultural and economic empowerment looks like– working with as many local and diverse business owners as possible. We hope you enjoy these sets for years to come as much as we enjoyed creating them.

SHOP EARLY & GET 15% OFF*

We're running two special promos this week:

• Our entire site is 15% off this whole month with the code 15OFF
• 20% off a Coffee Gift Subscription using code GIVECOFFEE20

We highly recommend getting your holiday gifts early as shipping delays, hazardous weather, and other supply chain issues are completely unpredictable. Take advantage of our deals and secure your gifts!