Correctly made from the sugarcane juice of Vietnam, especially from Tay Ninh, has charmed Europeans. They are willing to pay around 5 USD, which is about 130,000 Vietnamese dong, about 10 times for a glass of sugarcane juice in Vietnam, to enjoy sugarcane juice like the Vietnamese. The question is, how did such a simple drink conquer a picky market like Europe? Before delving into the story of Vietnamese sugarcane juice, we need to understand why sugarcane juice is so special, and why it comes from Vietnam.
Sugarcane juice is not just a drink, but a memory for many Vietnamese from urban to rural areas, from north to south. Everywhere, people see sugarcane juice on the sidewalk with fresh sugarcane, the press machine screaming out a glass of pale-yellow sugarcane juice, sweet, adding a bit of kumquat or lemon. On hot days, all you need is a cool cup of sugarcane juice to dispel fatigue. According to Eastern medicine, sugarcane juice not only refreshes but also helps detoxify heat, quickly replenishes energy, and does not cause fat like refined sugar.
With prices ranging from 10,000 to over 10,000 dong per cup, sugarcane juice is a national drink loved by everyone, students and all other classes. But interestingly, sugarcane juice is not only loved in Vietnam; it has crossed the ocean and reached Europe, where people are willing to pay tens of times more to enjoy sugarcane juice. In Europe, it is cold, and do you know that sugarcane can be grown in Europe? The short answer is that sugarcane can be grown in Europe, but it is very difficult and unpopular. Sugarcane is a tropical plant that thrives in hot and humid climates, with temperatures similar to those in Vietnam, and requires a lot of water, sunlight, and nutrient-rich soil.
In Vietnam, sugarcane grows very well due to the tropical monsoon, sunny and rainy. Cuba is the same. But in Europe, it is different. Europe is in temperate regions with cold winters, temperatures can drop below 0 °C, and summers are short. It is not hot enough, not warm enough for sugarcane to grow well. According to information from sources they found, only in some areas in Southern Europe, such as southern Spain, southern Portugal, or the island of Madeira with a warmer climate, have people planted and cultivated sugarcane.
In fact, in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Portuguese and Spaniards cultivated sugarcane on the island of Madeira and the Canary Islands. If the name Madeira Island sounds familiar to you, it is the hometown of Cristiano Ronaldo. However, sugarcane was only grown here on a very small scale. Therefore, instead of growing sugarcane, Europeans imported sugarcane or sugar from tropical countries, including Vietnam. And since sugarcane was not widely grown in Europe, it was not popular, so Europeans often only knew about sugarcane through its end products.
For example, refined sugar or alcohol, not familiar with the image of fresh trees. So now in Europe, especially in big cities, if you have a cane about 2 meters long on the street, many might be curious to ask, what kind of tree is this? It is clear that Vietnam has the first advantage in Europe, which is strange. And everything also attracts many people. And to understand why this strange thing has become a specialty in Europe, we must meet a special character, Mr. Christophe Lajer, who brought Vietnamese sugarcane juice to the world.
The story began in 2012 when Christophe Lajer, a Dutch-Frenchman, came to Vietnam on a trip. Initially, he was a construction engineer, unrelated to the food or beverage industry, nor a blogger. But one day, while wandering in Tay Ninh, he stumbled upon a sugarcane juice machine on the sidewalk. He just tried a sip of fresh sugarcane juice, very sweet, very cool, adding a bit of sour and tangy, so he felt very happy. Mr. Lajer said he was immediately captivated by the unmistakable unique aroma of Vietnamese sugarcane juice. He just thought it was good, but why not bring it to Paris, it would be very expensive.
Thus, from the love at first sip, Mr. Lajer decided to do what no one expected, bringing Vietnamese sugarcane juice to Europe. But for this, he had to overcome countless problems to select sugarcane that was imported and developed to European standards. And let's see how he did it.
First is to choose the right ingredients. Not all types of sugarcane are chosen by Mr. Lajer. He traveled everywhere to try sugarcane from Africa, Costa Rica, Egypt, but none were satisfactory. African sugarcane is too large. Egyptian sugarcane is also from Africa, but in North Africa, it is too small. Costa Rican sugarcane does not give the characteristic light yellow color. Finally, he discovered that only the sugarcane from where he tried the sugarcane juice, Tay Ninh sugarcane, is ideal. Moderate size, sweet and transparent, gives the juice a beautiful light yellow color. Mr. Lajer also pays great attention to quality. He requires that the sugarcane be grown completely without chemicals, ensuring natural sweetness and safety for consumers. And this is the strength that helps Vietnamese sugarcane juice conquer Europeans, who are very strict about food standards.
After selecting the sugarcane, fresh sugarcane needed to be transported. This was a huge problem. Fresh sugarcane, if transported from Vietnam to France, will ferment in about a week. If you have ever bought sugarcane and left it in a corner of your house, you probably know. But once it ferments, how can it be used further? Initially, the cost of importing fresh sugarcane was too high, but this undeterred person did not give up. He came up with a way to peel the skin, cut the sugarcane into half-meter pieces, pack it into 15-kilogram bags, and then freeze it before transport. Thanks to this, the sugarcane retains its freshness until it reaches Europe, although it is not as fresh as freshly cut sugarcane. Since 2012, Mr. Lajer has started importing tons of sugarcane from Tay Ninh. The peak was at the beginning of 2020 when three containers of sugarcane and bottled sugarcane juice were sold. Then there were many more containers, including the press container.
These containers brought Vietnamese flavors to France, Belgium, Switzerland, and even the United Arab Emirates. Thus, he found sugarcane, has imported sugarcane, now must create sugarcane juice. So it was necessary to move to the press. The sugarcane juice machine in Vietnam is legendary, but the legend in Vietnam does not meet European safety standards. Europe has different standards. Mr. Lajer, with his experience as a construction engineer, collaborated with Vietnamese craftsmen to develop a new sugarcane juice machine. This machine is compact, safe, operates very smoothly, but still preserves the quality of fresh sugarcane juice, just like the sidewalk machine in Vietnam. To get a license in Europe, he had to undergo strict testing, and he had to have a 30-page technical report, taking 8 months and 12,000 USD to make his sugarcane juice machine meet European standards. But this effort paid off. Hundreds of presses were exported to France, Belgium, Switzerland, and many other countries, bringing the image of modern and creative Vietnam. So sugarcane juice. Vietnamese sugarcane juice flows in Europe.
Why is the special Vietnamese sugarcane juice from Tay Ninh so popular among Europeans?
Because sugarcane juice has a sweet but not too strong taste, combined with a little lemon or kumquat, which in the South is called "kắc," it makes the perfect drink for quenching thirst. In Europe, people are often familiar with fruit juices like orange and apple, so sugarcane juice brings new sensations. In the West, people pay great attention to natural and non-chemical products. Vietnamese sugarcane juice is produced from sugarcane juice without the use of chemicals, which also meets these ideal standards. Or in Europe, sugarcane juice is not only drunk fresh; Mr. Lajer also produces bottled sugarcane juice in Vietnam and exports it to France for sale to wineries that produce Room, the famous sugarcane wine.
Moreover, Europeans are also very creative. They use sugarcane juice to add to cups or ginger, and then mix it with many other items. Since in Vietnam, it seems familiar with fresh sugarcane juice, we do not have such formulas. Sugarcane juice in Vietnam is also sold as an esoteric product from the Eastern person with Vietnamese cultural identity. The story of Mr. Lajer, a man who loves sugarcane juice to the extent of transporting both sugarcane and pressing it to Europe, has created a special attraction. In Paris, Vietnamese eateries use sugarcane juice as a way to introduce home culture, attracting both Vietnamese far from home and locals curious to try. Although in Vietnam, sugarcane juice exceeds tens of thousands of cups, in Europe, such a cup would cost a dozen times.
The high price is not only due to transportation and production costs, but sugarcane juice is also positioned as a special drink. Compared to other types of juice in Europe, this price is still considered quite reasonable, making sugarcane juice a favorite choice for many people. If you still remember the story about the golden star you used, you will see an interesting thing. Both Golden Star and Cane Sau are accessible products from Vietnam, but they have conquered the international market thanks to a combination of cultural quality and intellectual warfare. Golden Star is a story from a high box that costs a few thousand dong to become legendary in Russia, the Soviet Union, sold on Amazon Japan, 50 times more expensive than universal use, unique aroma, and nostalgic story.
And the sugarcane juice from the glass of side water comes to life, true life is introduced into restaurants that Europeans love due to its natural sweetness, and the story with Mr. Lajer brings Vietnamese culture to the world. Both of these stories, these two products show that things that seem very simple in Vietnam from Cao Xo to the United States can become cultural ambassadors if they are sold properly and connected with an appealing story. They do not sell products; they sell stories.