Highlands Coffee
Corporate brand
UnclaimedA Vietnamese coffeehouse and packaged-coffee brand combining local phin coffee traditions with modern café formats.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
Highlands Coffee is a Vietnamese coffeehouse chain, coffee producer, and distributor established by Vietnamese American entrepreneur David Thai. The business began in Hanoi in the late 1990s, at a time when Vietnam was opening more space for private enterprise and when the domestic café sector was still relatively fragmented. Thai had grown up in Seattle and observed the development of Starbucks, an experience that influenced his ambition to build a scalable Vietnamese coffee company rather than operate only a single independent café. The company’s initial registration was notable because it was described as the first private company in Vietnam registered by an overseas Vietnamese person. In 2000, it was reorganized as a joint-stock company, another step that reflected the changing legal and commercial environment for private businesses in the country. Highlands initially focused on packaged coffee sold through supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, and cafés. Its retail café expansion followed in 2002, when the first Highlands Coffee shop opened opposite Notre-Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City. The brand subsequently developed a network in major Vietnamese urban and tourist markets, including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Vung Tau, and Dong Nai. By 2009, it reportedly operated 80 cafés in six cities and provinces, and by 2018 the network had grown to approximately 230 outlets across Vietnam. The brand’s offer is built around Vietnamese coffee culture, especially dark-roasted coffee prepared with a phin filter, while also incorporating espresso-based beverages, blended drinks, iced drinks, tea, and light food. Its menu and packaged portfolio have historically included traditional and blended roast coffees, whole-bean and ground formats, espresso products, decaffeinated coffee, ready-to-drink canned iced coffee, and the Vietnamese specialty cà phê sữa đá. This combination gives Highlands a middle-market, highly accessible position: it presents coffee as a familiar everyday Vietnamese product while offering the service environment, menu breadth, and standardized operations associated with an international café chain. Highlands is a registered brand of Viet Thai International Joint Stock Company. Viet Thai has also been associated with franchising and operating other international brands in Vietnam, but Highlands remains its principal consumer-facing coffee brand. In 2011, the business expanded beyond coffee by acquiring Phở 24, a Vietnamese pho restaurant chain founded by Lý Quí Trung. In 2012, Jollibee Worldwide, part of Philippine food group Jollibee Foods Corporation, acquired a 50 percent stake in the business for a reported US$25 million. The transaction connected Highlands with a large regional restaurant operator and supported further experimentation with overseas operations and joint ventures. The company’s international development has been selective. A Philippine franchise arrangement with IP Ventures began in 2011, and in March 2012 a combined Highlands Coffee and Netopia internet café opened in the Philippines under a partnership with Digital Paradise. In 2013, Highlands and The Doughnut People, the operator associated with Go Nuts Donuts, announced a cross-brand arrangement involving Vietnamese coffee and blended beverages in doughnut stores and doughnut products in Highlands outlets. The core business, however, has remained concentrated in Vietnam, where the brand’s scale, recognizable store format, and use of local coffee traditions have made it one of the country’s best-known organized café chains. In 2019, Jollibee publicly discussed a joint venture structure involving Highlands Coffee and related brands under Superfoods Group. The reported arrangement gave Jollibee 60 percent of the joint venture and Highlands’ side 40 percent, with a possible plan to list the venture in Vietnam. In December 2022, reports said Jollibee was seeking to sell a 10–15 percent stake in Highlands to an undisclosed investor, although the identity of the investor and completion of any transaction are not established in the supplied reference material. Highlands therefore remains an active Vietnamese coffee brand whose identity rests on the integration of domestic coffee heritage, standardized chain retailing, packaged products, and selected regional partnerships.
History
Highlands Coffee was established by Vietnamese American entrepreneur David Thai, who had grown up in Seattle and saw the development of Starbucks as an example of how a local coffee business could become a large chain. The company began operating in Hanoi in the late 1990s and was formally established in 1999. Its registration was described as the first occasion on which an overseas Vietnamese person registered a private company in Vietnam. In 2000, the company became a joint-stock company, an early example of overseas Vietnamese participation in Vietnam’s emerging private business sector. The original business did not begin as a café chain. Highlands concentrated first on producing packaged coffee for distribution through supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, and cafés. The company opened its first branded coffee shop in 2002, opposite Notre-Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City. The store model provided a modern, repeatable setting for Vietnamese coffee while retaining local preparation methods and flavor preferences. Growth continued across major cities and provinces. By 2009, Highlands reportedly had 80 shops in six Vietnamese locations, and by 2018 it operated approximately 230 coffee shops nationwide. The product range expanded alongside the stores. Historical offerings included several blended roast-and-ground or whole-bean coffees, espresso products, a water-process decaffeinated espresso, espresso pods, and ready-to-drink iced coffee in cans. In cafés, the brand combined phin-filter coffee and milk coffee with espresso drinks, blended beverages, and light food. This product architecture allowed Highlands to serve both customers seeking traditional Vietnamese coffee and customers familiar with international café menus. Highlands broadened its restaurant interests in 2011 by acquiring Phở 24 from Lý Quí Trung. In 2012, it sold a 50 percent interest to Jollibee Worldwide for a reported US$25 million. The relationship enabled regional cooperation and overseas experimentation. IP Ventures received Philippine franchise rights in 2011, while a Highlands and Netopia hybrid internet café opened in the Philippines in March 2012 through a Digital Paradise partnership. In 2013, Highlands also entered a product and retail collaboration with The Doughnut People, associated with Go Nuts Donuts. The brand is registered under Viet Thai International Joint Stock Company, which has held the Highlands Coffee brand and operated or franchised other businesses in Vietnam. In 2019, Jollibee made public a joint-venture structure involving Superfoods, with reported ownership divided 60 percent to Jollibee and 40 percent to the Highlands side. In 2022, reports indicated that Jollibee was exploring the sale of a 10–15 percent stake to an undisclosed investor. The available reference does not confirm the outcome. Highlands remains primarily a Vietnam-focused coffeehouse and packaged-coffee business, with its brand equity based on local coffee culture, chain-standardized operations, and a broad café menu.
- 2022
Reported exploration of a minority stake sale
[1]Reports indicate that Jollibee was seeking an investor for a 10–15 percent stake in Highlands Coffee.
- 2019
Superfoods joint venture is publicized
[1]Jollibee publicly discusses a Superfoods joint venture involving Highlands Coffee and related brands.
- 2018
Network reaches approximately 230 Vietnamese cafés
[1]The company is reported to operate around 230 coffee shops across Vietnam.
- 2012
Jollibee takes a 50 percent stake
[1]Jollibee Worldwide acquires half of Highlands Coffee in a reported US$25 million transaction.
- 2011
Phở 24 is acquired
[1]Highlands Coffee acquires the Phở 24 restaurant chain from Lý Quí Trung.
- 2009
Vietnamese network reaches 80 locations
[1]The chain is reported to operate 80 coffee shops across six Vietnamese cities and provinces.
- 2002
First Highlands Coffee café opens
[1]The first branded Highlands Coffee shop opens opposite Notre-Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City.
- 2000
Business becomes a joint-stock company
[1]Highlands is registered as a joint-stock company, following its initial private-company registration.
- 1999
Highlands Coffee is established
[1]David Thai establishes the Highlands Coffee business in Vietnam, initially focusing on packaged coffee and distribution.
Products and positioning
An accessible, mid-market Vietnamese café chain that modernizes local phin-coffee traditions through standardized stores, packaged coffee, blended beverages, and light food.
Café beverage
Phin Coffee
Phin coffee is prepared using the Vietnamese metal filter associated with slow-drip brewing. It represents the clearest expression of Highlands Coffee’s connection to local coffee culture and is commonly served black or combined with sweetened condensed milk. The product gives the chain a distinctly Vietnamese anchor alongside its espresso and blended-drink menu.
Café beverage
Cà phê sữa đá
Vietnamese iced milk coffee combines strongly brewed coffee with sweetened condensed milk and ice. At Highlands Coffee, it functions as a core traditional offering and a recognizable expression of the brand’s positioning between local coffee heritage and modern chain service.
Packaged coffee
Packaged blended and single-format coffees
The historical packaged portfolio included roast-and-ground and whole-bean products such as Heritage Blend, Traditional Blend, Gourmet Blend, Moka Blend, and Culi Supreme. The range was designed for retail and food-service distribution through supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, and cafés.
Packaged coffee
Espresso coffee range
Historical espresso products included Full City Roast, Arabica Supreme, Cinnamon Roast, and a water-process decaffeinated espresso. The line was offered in ground and whole-bean forms, with espresso pods also reported as part of the wider portfolio.
Ready-to-drink beverage · 2009
Ready-to-drink Iced Coffee
Highlands introduced canned iced coffee in 2009 in milk and black versions. The product extended the brand beyond cafés into packaged convenience beverages and was reported to have reached distribution in Asian markets and the United States by 2010.
Café beverage
Blended and ice-blended beverages
Highlands cafés offer blended and ice-blended drinks as a sweeter, more contemporary complement to phin coffee and espresso. The format also supported the brand’s Philippine collaboration with The Doughnut People, which featured Highlands signature coffee and its Classic Freeze beverage.
Marketing campaigns
- 2013Highlands Coffee–Go Nuts Donuts collaboration
Philippines
Highlands Coffee and The Doughnut People, the company associated with Go Nuts Donuts, agreed to cross-stock products. Go Nuts Donuts stores would offer Highlands signature Vietnamese coffee and its Classic Freeze beverage, while Highlands outlets would carry selected doughnut products.
Outcome. The partnership expanded product exposure for both brands in Philippine retail locations.
Brand decisions
2019
Superfoods joint venture arrangementM&ABackground
Jollibee and Highlands-related interests sought to organize Highlands Coffee and associated brands under a broader joint-venture structure.
Action taken
The parties publicized Superfoods as a joint venture, with reported ownership of 60 percent for Jollibee and 40 percent for the Highlands side.
Aftermath
The parties also discussed a potential Vietnam stock-market listing, but the supplied reference does not establish that a listing occurred.
2012
Sale of a 50 percent stake to JollibeeM&ABackground
Highlands Coffee pursued regional scale and access to the resources of a major Philippine food-service group.
Action taken
Jollibee Worldwide acquired a 50 percent interest in Highlands Coffee.
Aftermath
The partnership supported Philippine initiatives and later joint-venture discussions involving Superfoods.
Reported investment value. US$25 million (2012)
2011
Acquisition of Phở 24M&ABackground
Highlands sought to broaden its restaurant portfolio beyond coffee.
Action taken
The company acquired the Phở 24 chain from Lý Quí Trung.
Aftermath
The transaction connected Highlands with a second Vietnamese food-service brand and later formed part of the broader Superfoods structure.
Reported transaction value. Approximately US$20 million (2011)
2002
Move from packaged coffee into branded cafésStrategyBackground
Highlands initially concentrated on packaged coffee distributed through retail and food-service channels.
Action taken
The company opened its first Highlands Coffee café in Ho Chi Minh City and began building a standardized retail network.
Aftermath
The café format became the central consumer-facing expression of the brand and supported expansion across major Vietnamese cities.
Sources2 sources
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