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Witness History: East Germany's coffee from Vietnam

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East Germany's Coffee from Vietnam

07/05/2024 GMT

East Germany's coffee from Vietnam

BBC World Service - Witness History, East Germany's coffee from Vietnam

A thirst for caffeine led to an unusual global collaboration in the 1980s

A thirst for caffeine led to an unusual global collaboration between East Germany and Vietnam in the 1980s with the creation of a mass coffee plantations.

In the 1980s, a thirst for caffeine caused an unusual global collaboration.

Coffee-loving East Germans were left without after a crop failure in the world’s biggest exporter of the drink, Brazil.

So the East Germans hatched a scheme, linking up with fellow communist state Vietnam to create a mass of coffee plantations.

The man behind the plan, Siegfried Kaulfuß, tells Michael Rossi about the scale and success of the endeavour.

(Photo: Siegfried Kaulfuß with Vietnamese coffee farmers. Credit: Siegfried Kaulfuß)

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