Overview
Highlands Coffee is one of Vietnam's most recognizable coffeehouse brands, serving traditional Vietnamese coffee, espresso beverages, tea, freeze drinks, pastries, and light café meals. Since its founding in 1999, the company has grown into one of the country's largest café chains while helping introduce Vietnamese coffee culture to customers across Asia and other international markets.
Today, Highlands Coffee forms part of the international portfolio of the Jollibee Group. Although ownership has evolved over the years, the brand remains strongly connected to Vietnam's rich coffee-growing heritage, offering beverages that celebrate locally grown coffee beans and traditional brewing methods alongside modern café favorites.
For many customers, Highlands Coffee represents more than a café. It reflects Vietnam's long-standing relationship with coffee, where cafés serve as everyday gathering places for conversation, business meetings, quiet reflection, and community life.
About the Brand
Highlands Coffee was founded in 1999 by Vietnamese-American entrepreneur David Thai. His vision was to create a modern coffee brand that celebrated Vietnam's identity as one of the world's leading coffee-producing countries while presenting Vietnamese coffee in a contemporary café environment.
The company opened its first cafés in Vietnam and quickly gained popularity by combining traditional Vietnamese coffee with modern café design, professional service, and high-quality ingredients. Customers appreciated the opportunity to enjoy familiar local flavors in comfortable spaces designed for both casual visits and longer gatherings.
As the brand expanded, Highlands Coffee became closely associated with Vietnam's growing urban café culture, opening locations in major cities, shopping centers, office districts, airports, and transportation hubs.
Joining the Jollibee Group
In 2011, Jollibee Foods Corporation acquired a majority ownership interest in Highlands Coffee through its purchase of SuperFoods Group. The investment strengthened Jollibee Group's international beverage portfolio while adding one of Vietnam's best-known coffee brands to its growing collection of restaurant and café businesses.
Since then, Highlands Coffee has continued expanding across Vietnam while introducing its café concept to selected international markets. The partnership allows the company to pursue long-term growth while maintaining its Vietnamese identity and commitment to coffee quality.
What Highlands Coffee Serves
Highlands Coffee offers a broad menu centered on Vietnamese coffee. Signature beverages include traditional Phin coffee, Vietnamese iced coffee, milk coffee, espresso drinks, cappuccinos, lattes, teas, freeze beverages, fruit drinks, and seasonal specialties.
The company is particularly known for preparing coffee using the traditional Vietnamese phin filter, a small metal brewing device that slowly extracts rich coffee directly into the cup. This brewing method produces the bold flavor that has become closely associated with Vietnamese coffee culture.
Alongside beverages, Highlands Coffee also serves pastries, cakes, sandwiches, snacks, and light café meals, allowing customers to enjoy breakfast, afternoon breaks, or informal meetings in a relaxed café setting.
Vietnam's Coffee Culture
Vietnam is one of the world's largest coffee-producing countries and has developed a coffee culture that is both distinctive and deeply rooted in everyday life. Cafés are common gathering places where friends meet, colleagues discuss business, students study, and families spend time together over freshly brewed coffee.
Unlike many Western coffee traditions that emphasize espresso-based drinks, Vietnamese coffee often features dark-roasted beans slowly brewed through a traditional phin filter. The resulting coffee is rich, bold, and commonly enjoyed with sweetened condensed milk, creating the familiar beverage known as Cà Phê Sữa Đá when served over ice.
Highlands Coffee embraces this heritage while presenting it in a modern café environment that appeals to both local customers and international visitors.
Signature Beverages
Among the brand's best-known drinks are Phin Sữa Đá, Phin Đen Đá, Freeze beverages, Vietnamese milk coffee, espresso-based drinks, cappuccinos, café lattes, teas, fruit teas, and seasonal specialties. While the menu continues evolving, traditional Vietnamese coffee remains central to the Highlands Coffee identity.
The company's Freeze beverages have also become customer favorites, offering blended coffee and tea drinks suited to Vietnam's tropical climate. These beverages complement the more traditional coffee selections while appealing to customers looking for refreshing alternatives.
Many cafés also serve cakes, pastries, sandwiches, and light meals, making Highlands Coffee suitable for breakfast, afternoon coffee breaks, informal business meetings, and casual social gatherings.
Growing Across Vietnam and Beyond
Since opening its first cafés, Highlands Coffee has expanded throughout Vietnam, becoming one of the country's largest coffeehouse chains. Restaurants can be found in major cities, shopping malls, office districts, airports, universities, and transportation centers, making the brand part of everyday urban life for many Vietnamese customers.
The company has also expanded into selected international markets, introducing Vietnamese coffee culture to customers outside Vietnam. These cafés provide an opportunity for travelers and local residents alike to experience beverages rooted in one of the world's leading coffee-producing nations.
As part of the Jollibee Group, Highlands Coffee continues strengthening its operations while preserving the qualities that have made it one of Vietnam's most respected coffee brands.
Who May Enjoy Highlands Coffee?
Highlands Coffee welcomes coffee enthusiasts, tea drinkers, students, professionals, travelers, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in experiencing Vietnamese café culture. Whether stopping in for a traditional phin coffee, an iced milk coffee, a Freeze beverage, or a quiet place to work or meet friends, customers can enjoy a café experience that blends local tradition with modern convenience.
For visitors exploring Vietnam, Highlands Coffee offers one of the most accessible introductions to the country's coffee heritage, providing an opportunity to experience authentic Vietnamese flavors in a contemporary café setting.
Contact Information
Brand: Highlands Coffee
Founded: 1999
Founder: David Thai
Origin: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Parent Company: SuperFoods Group (majority-owned by Jollibee Foods Corporation)
Industry: Coffeehouse and Café Chain
Specialties: Vietnamese Phin Coffee, Vietnamese Iced Coffee, Freeze beverages, espresso drinks, tea, pastries, sandwiches, and light café meals.
Official Website:
https://www.highlandscoffee.com.vn
Interesting Facts
- Highlands Coffee was founded in 1999 with the goal of bringing Vietnamese coffee culture into a modern café environment.
- Vietnam is one of the world's largest coffee-producing countries, and Highlands Coffee showcases locally grown coffee through many of its signature beverages.
- The traditional Vietnamese phin filter remains central to many of the brand's coffee preparations.
- In 2011, Jollibee Foods Corporation acquired a majority interest in Highlands Coffee through its purchase of SuperFoods Group.
- Freeze beverages have become one of the company's signature product lines alongside traditional Vietnamese coffee.
- Highlands Coffee has grown into one of Vietnam's largest café chains, with hundreds of locations throughout the country.
Final Thoughts
Highlands Coffee successfully blends Vietnam's rich coffee heritage with the convenience and atmosphere of a modern café. By celebrating locally grown coffee while embracing contemporary café culture, the company has created a brand that resonates with both Vietnamese customers and international visitors.
Today, as part of the Jollibee Group's international portfolio, Highlands Coffee continues introducing more people to Vietnamese coffee traditions while expanding its presence in new markets. Whether someone visits for a bold Phin Coffee, a refreshing Freeze beverage, or simply a comfortable place to meet friends, Highlands Coffee offers an experience that reflects the warmth, hospitality, and coffee culture of Vietnam.
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