Coffee husks turned into "cascara tea" generate four times the value of green beans
Phuc Sinh Group, one of Vietnam's largest coffee exporters, dried and processed the husks of coffee cherries that had been discarded at farms and turned them into a product as "cascara tea." This herbal tea born from a byproduct trades at four times the unit price of green beans and has recorded sales on the scale of tens of thousands of US dollars a year through exports to the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.
CEO Phan Minh Thong said, "Agriculture is a sustainable 'gold mine.' Rather than selling raw materials as-is, we should switch to deep processing," and built a production system at processing plants in Binh Duong and Son La provinces.
Vietnam's coffee exports reach a record high of US$8.92 billion
The success of cascara tea is in step with a structural transformation across Vietnam's coffee industry as a whole. Total coffee exports in 2025 reached a record high of US$8.92 billion (1.6 million tonnes). In particular, the export value of processed coffee reached US$1.78 billion, a sharp rise of 50.4% year on year.
By variety, Robusta expanded to US$6.59 billion (73.8% of the total, up 57.4% year on year) and Arabica to US$550 million (up 129.1%), both greatly expanded. Even in the single month of January 2026, it recorded US$1.09 billion (up 39.5% from the same month a year earlier), and the average export price per tonne rose to US$5,450.
| Indicator | Figure | Year on year |
|---|---|---|
| Total coffee exports (2025) | US$8.92 billion | Record high |
| Processed coffee export value | US$1.78 billion | +50.4% |
| Robusta export value | US$6.59 billion | +57.4% |
| Arabica export value | US$550 million | +129.1% |
| January 2026 export value | US$1.09 billion | +39.5% |
| Average export price (January 2026) | US$5,450/tonne | – |
| Cultivated area | 710,000 ha | – |
| 2025–26 crop forecast | 1.8 million tonnes | – |
The background to turning "discarded husks" into a product
Cascara is the dried pulp and skin of coffee cherries, and it becomes a raw material for herbal tea with a light sweetness and a flavor like dried fruit. Caffeine content is about 30 mg per cup, roughly a third of regular coffee (about 95 mg), and it is favored by health-conscious consumers in Europe and the US as an afternoon refreshment drink.
Conventionally, the cherry husks produced in the course of coffee processing were left on farms as industrial waste. According to an estimate by The Coffee Cherry Company, buying one truckload of cascara prevents about 127,000 kg of fruit waste and has an environmental effect equivalent to cutting about 101,000 kg of CO2 emissions.
In 2022 the EU approved cascara as a "novel food" limited to beverage use, so the barrier to market entry on the regulatory side is somewhat high; meanwhile, in the RTD (Ready-to-Drink) segment, emerging brands such as Alldae Superfruit Soda and Dianae have entered, and market expansion is expected over 2025–2026.
My Viet also rolls out processed coffee to 24 countries
Not only Phuc Sinh, which focuses on cascara tea, but My Viet International Group (CEO: Doan Huu Tue) exports processed coffee to 24 countries across Asia and Europe, riding the wave of higher value addition. What the two companies share is a clear management policy of "shifting from raw-material exports to processed-goods exports."
Vietnam's coffee-growing area reaches 710,000 ha, and the 2025–2026 crop is forecast at 1.8 million tonnes (about 29.5 million bags). Against this production scale, commercializing byproducts like cascara tea is a model applicable to other agricultural products as well, in that it can add revenue without requiring additional farmland.
Voices from the field: expectations and challenges for the processing shift
Phuc Sinh CEO Phan Minh Thong: "Agriculture is a sustainable gold mine. Switch to deep processing, and you can draw many times the value from the same raw material."
The Vietnam Coffee-Cocoa Association (VICOFA) points out that breaking through the US$10 billion export barrier requires a shift "from quantity to quality." Making use of byproducts is one concrete step toward that.
On the other hand, in the EU market, novel-food regulation limits cascara's use to beverages. In other production areas such as Ethiopia, the development of export categories lags, and there is a structure in which Vietnamese players lead with the speed of their regulatory response.
Lessons for the Japanese market and readers
In Japan's specialty coffee market too, cascara tea has begun to be handled by some roasters and cafes. Amid the third-wave trend, moves to focus on "the value of the whole coffee cherry" may accelerate going forward.
For food makers and OEM companies, Vietnamese cascara is competitive on raw-material sourcing cost. Even at four times the unit price of green beans, it has a price advantage over European and Ethiopian product, and inquiries for it as a raw material for RTD drinks and supplements are increasing.
Ripple effect on the industry: a model for adding high value to byproducts
The cascara tea case is one of the "byproduct commercialization" trends advancing across Vietnamese agriculture as a whole. It shares the same structure as the case of extracting collagen from the processing byproducts of pangasius (catfish) and raising the price 15–25 times (Related Articles).
If commercializing coffee husks succeeds, a similar approach could spread to the byproducts of agricultural products Vietnam produces in large volumes, such as cacao husk, rice bran and cashew nut shell. Toward achieving the US$10 billion export goal, a "zero-waste" deep-processing model holds the key.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Companies to watch | Phuc Sinh Group (Binh Duong, Son La), My Viet International Group |
| Product | Cascara tea (dried coffee-cherry husk) |
| Price level | About four times green beans |
| Main export destinations | Netherlands, Italy, Germany |
| EU regulation | 2022 novel-food approval (limited to beverage use) |
| Environmental effect | About 127,000 kg of waste cut per truckload |
Frequently asked questions
What is cascara tea?
It is an herbal tea made by drying the pulp and skin of coffee cherries, characterized by a light sweetness and a fruity flavor. Caffeine is about a third of regular coffee (about 30 mg per cup), and in Europe and the US its popularity is spreading among health-conscious consumers.
Why is Vietnamese cascara drawing attention?
As the world's second-largest coffee producer, Vietnam has an abundant supply of raw material, and companies like Phuc Sinh that have built out processing infrastructure have already addressed EU regulation. It is also price-competitive compared with other production areas, and inquiries from RTD drink makers are increasing.
Can cascara tea be obtained in Japan?
Some specialty coffee roasters and online shops have begun to carry it. However, under Japan's Food Sanitation Act it is often classified as "tea," so confirming the standards at the time of import is necessary.
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