FUELED BY IMPACT: EMPOWERING WOMEN FARMERS

Fueled by Impact: How this Coffee Company is Building the Brand of Vietnamese Coffee and Empowering Women Farmers  

The year is 2012, and a young female entrepreneur is running her own cafe on a bustling, tree-lined street in the western part of Hanoi. The shop is called Miriam’s Coffee, and her name is Ms. Ngoc Anh Dao.

Although in Vietnam, the world’s second largest producer of coffee, the cafe is using imported coffee beans from Germany — a country that, notably, does not grow them. This paradox highlights a tension that was as true then as it is now: coffee beans that are grown in Vietnam are often exported for blending, while beans from other countries, which are thought to taste better, are imported to premium coffee shops such as Miriam’s. As Ms. Ngoc Anh recalls, “I wanted to use Vietnam-origin coffee, but I couldn’t find the quality I wanted. I saw many broken problems in the supply chain.”

In 2018, she founded Detech Coffee, a processor, supplier and exporter of Vietnamese coffee; she now serves as chair of the company’s board of directors and president of Vietnam International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA Vietnam).

Her ambition for Detech was clear: to produce coffee differently and to elevate Vietnamese coffee as a recognized and coveted origin, focusing on ethical sourcing, sustainability and quality. She intended to turn her vision of social and environmental impact into a scalable reality, but she learned quickly that financing her start-up would require a kind of capital that went beyond traditional financing.

In Ms. Ngoc Anh’s words, “coffee isn’t just a product; it’s a financial product.” Navigating the extreme volatility of coffee prices while staying committed to being a purpose-driven company revealed the limitations of conventional funding.

Enter Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), a Singapore-based firm with the mission to “connect the Back Streets of underserved communities to the Wall Streets of the world.” Jonathan Abeywickrema, who leads the investment banking team at IIX, helped Detech Coffee raise capital from fellow mission-aligned investors who seek market rate returns alongside positive impact, by sourcing and preparing the company “to become impact investor-ready.” He describes IIX’s mission as driving “impact capital to the grassroots level” of social enterprises, particularly those based in Asia and Africa that are women-led or women-focused.

For Detech, IIX was a valuable support system. “IIX introduced us to many impact investors; it really widened our horizon for what it means to interact with impact investors, to prepare for and understand working with them,” Ms. Ngoc Anh explains. The team demystified the complex world of foreign investment, a crucial service for family businesses in Vietnam that can be unaccustomed to external capital structures. IIX helped Detech prepare for due diligence, structure the deal, find legal partners and ultimately manage investor relationships. This kind of support has been shown to deliver stronger impact results, particularly in agriculture, per research conducted by the GIIN in 2023.

She needed partners who understood that the return on investing in Detech Coffee wouldn’t be solely financial, but also measured through positive outcomes like creating jobs with dignity, empowering marginalized communities and stewarding nature and biodiversity.

Through IIX, Detech Coffee partnered with Incofin Investment Management, an impact investment fund headquartered in Antwerp. The investment came in as working capital loans. The first loan of $500,000 was granted in 2023, and the second, $2 million USD, was granted in 2024. Incofin also provided a grant of $100,000 to support Detech’s core impact initiatives, specifically sustainable certifications including Rainforest Alliance and 4C, ensuring that the investment’s social objectives were directly addressed. This blended finance structure effectively lowered the overall cost of capital, offering a competitive rate for Detech compared to commercial rates — demonstrating that impact capital can have more flexible and aligned terms than traditional financing. Abeywickrema from IIX says that this kind of blended finance deal is key to unlocking scale: “Innovative structures like guarantees, revenue-based financing and SVPs are all effective in bridging the risk-return gap for impact investors.”

Abeywickrema also highlights his firm’s meticulous “last mile verification” process, which involves surveying farmers and the entire value chain to confirm the impact generated through a given investment. This commitment is further underscored by IIX’s “Orange Seal,” a certification awarded to businesses like Detech that are women-led or women-focused and demonstrate significant social impact. The Orange Seal is part of the Orange Movement, which draws its color association from Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality.

With this infusion of capital, Detech Coffee was able to accelerate its mission, directly improving livelihoods and landscapes. The company has achieved remarkable growth both financially and in terms of sustainability: between 2023 and 2024, Detech’s revenue grew by 286% and net profit by 221%. The company also tripled the number of certified farmers, nearly tripled the certified volume produced and increased certified coffee revenue sixfold. The results resonate most powerfully in the stories of the coffee farmers themselves, many of whom are women from ethnic minority communities in the mountainous regions in the Northwest of Vietnam.

“I visited a [woman] from our supply chain recently,” Ms. Ngoc Anh says, “and I visit her quite often, but the last time she surprised me in a way that [was very touching]. I always thought that I have the responsibility to empower the [Vietnamese coffee] origin and to empower females…  But I recently learned that I also can learn [positivity and resilience] from her. She works from very early in the morning to the evening, and she always smiles, and she’s always thankful and her spirit is always positive.” 

According to Ms. Ngoc Anh, Detech is actively “changing the narrative of Vietnamese coffee through the lens of a woman and through working and engagement with women.” She observes that while women are ever-present in the fields, their representation diminishes rapidly in leadership roles. Detech is a powerful counter-narrative, striving for “equal opportunity, equal choices” for women at every level of the coffee value chain. This focus on women is not just a social good; it’s a strategic strength, leveraging the resilience and dedication of the female workforce. Ms. Ngoc Anh sees this as a deeply personal mission: “I came to the realization that that’s why I want to do this: because people can learn from each other. And so our relationship is…this wonderful mutual journey that both can benefit from.”

Looking ahead, Ms. Ngoc Anh plans to deepen Detech’s commitment to sustainability with more certifications, further embedding environmental stewardship into every bean. A significant focus will be on promoting specialty coffee in Vietnam, moving beyond the commodity market to highlight the unique quality and taste profiles that Vietnamese origins can offer. The diversified revenue from macadamias and the potential for carbon credits are exciting pathways for long-term farmer resilience and profitability. Ms. Ngoc Anh also champions the idea of simplifying access to carbon credit funding for coffee farmers, envisioning a future where small producers can see a direct financial benefit from their sustainable practices.

For Ms. Ngoc Anh, the path of an entrepreneur, particularly as a woman, has not been without its challenges. “It’s not easy to be taken seriously,” she says. On her advice for aspiring young women: “Get prepared, work on how to present your idea and be persistent.” Her own journey of raising capital, growing a team and learning to hedge against price volatility is proof that growth and adaptation can lead to great results. 

Detech Coffee’s story is a powerful testament to how impact investing can power real, positive change in people’s lives and communities. The company is proof that gender-forward, climate-smart investing can shape more resilient and inclusive agricultural economies worldwide. It’s a narrative of empowerment, sustainability and the quiet revolution brewing in the coffee fields of Vietnam, led by visionary women who are not just selling coffee, but cultivating a more equitable and inclusive future.

At a glance:

Deal structure:

Investors: Incofin Investment Management

Background: Incofin is a partner of Impact Investing Exchange (IIX); IIX was the transaction advisor for Detech for the first round of investment.  

Investment thesis: Investment in Detech Coffee reflects a strategic convergence of Incofin and IIX’s impact priorities: gender empowerment, climate resilience, sustainable agriculture and scalable business models. 

Deal structure with Detech Coffee: Seed investment was led by IIX for the initial round of debt financing from Incofin for $500,000, followed by a $100,000 grant. Detech led the second round investment of $2 million USD, followed by a $118,000 grant. 

Impact: 

Economic Empowerment: The investment from Incofin has empowered Detech to implement programs that directly uplift farmer incomes. At the end of 2024, Detech purchased coffee from approximately 2,000 – 2,500 farmers for both certified and non-certified coffee. The number of farmers will reach 7,500 by 2025, given stable and fair prices. IIX’s rigorous impact measurement confirms a tangible improvement in these farmers’ livelihoods. Detech is pushing for more certifications which will secure premium prices and greater market access for these farmers.

Sustainable & Innovative Farming: Detech is committed to sustainability across their supply chain. Through collaboration with partners in Germany, Detech has introduced new, climate-resilient coffee varieties that allow for agroforestry, optimizing water usage and saving valuable picking time for farmers due to optimally structured branching. Looking to the future, Detech is diversifying its revenue streams through intercropping macadamia trees. From 2027 onwards, these trees will not only provide an additional source of income but also contribute to carbon sequestration, offering Detech and farmers potential access to carbon credit markets.

Funder acknowledgement: 

This publication has been funded by the Australian Government through the Investing in Women initiative. The views expressed in this publication are the author’s alone and are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government.