Nguyen Coffee Supply

Innovation within ready-to-drink coffee has been hit-or-miss in recent years, though not for lack of trying to dazzle consumers with wacky flavors, added functional ingredients or plant-based milks of seemingly every kind. Since launching in 2018, Sahra Nguyen and her Brooklyn-born company, Nguyen Coffee Supply, have followed a deeper, more personal strategy for disrupting the stagnant category; this year, the buzz has been palpable.

Led by their inspirational eponymous entrepreneur, Nguyen Coffee Supply has emerged as a torch-bearer for robusta beans, specifically those grown in prodigious quantities on the gentle slopes of Vietnam, the world’s second-largest coffee producer. With robusta advocacy at its core, the brand has elegantly highlighted Vietnamese styles (its take on the traditional *cà phê sữa đá*) in its RTDs -- think condensed milk and coconut flavors -- that pack more caffeine than their 100% arabica counterparts. This year saw Nguyen make inroads with mainstream shoppers in Target, Sprouts and gopuff, yet fast growth has been tempered by a sharp focus on efficiency and sustainable gains, efforts that have helped maintain healthy COGs and reasonable price points.

Standing at the crossroads of modernity and tradition, Nguyen is forging a new path through the middle, taking inspiration from both Vietnam’s centuries-old coffee culture and Brooklyn’s in-the-moment hustle vibes.