If you’ve followed us for a while, you’ve probably heard of Mr. Toi and his Future Coffee Farm. One of our longest-standing and beloved partners in Vietnam. His coffees didn’t just impress us. They captured our hearts and the palates of many roasters across Europe.

When we imported our first Fine Robusta lots in 2021, Robusta was still largely dismissed in Europe as a low-grade blend component—good for crema and body, but little else.

Back then, cumpa consisted solely of Lukas and Daniel. Paul was still living in Vietnam at the time, where Daniel met him during his visit. That same year, we brought in our very first Robusta import. So much has changed since then…!

What followed was a transformative journey that deeply connected us with Mr. Toi and has brought us back to Vietnam every single year, each time with a new purpose.

In 2021, Paul came to see Mr. Toi after Marian from Zanya Coffee recommended him as a source of quality Robusta. Shortly after, in March 2021, Paul made his way up to Bảo Lộc and met him at the Future Coffee Farm for the first time. Together, they went on a road trip to visit several farms that Mr. Toi had partnered with for years. By paying an equally high price for Robusta cherry, he consistently secured perfectly picked ripe cherries year after year. It’s important to note that, back then, prices for Robusta cherry were dramatically lower.

Right by the nearby waterfall, Mr. Toi shared his dream of welcoming international guests to learn about Vietnamese coffee and inviting them to drink coffee together right there on his land. It was truly inspiring, as Paul had already been roasting Vietnamese beans with his Saigon-based brand for about two years, with the vision of telling the stories of coffee producers and improving transparency in coffee. Paul sent his photo material to Daniel and Lukas and shared what he had learned about Mr. Toi. Shortly after, a purchasing contract was prepared and Cumpa was getting started on their Canephora journey.

Returning in December 2022, it was like meeting an old friend. Meanwhile, Paul had already relocated back to Germany after 6 years in Vietnam to work with cumpa. We were invited to stay in Mr. Toi’s home, eat with his family, and get a better understanding of his production.

We learned more about his secret processing techniques, which you may know as the “Winey Natural” and “Winey Honey”. These lots had reached iconic status among roasters in Germany and beyond by then. Paul brought back gifts from Germany and handed over Mr. Toi’s first Cumpa T-shirt. We had just received our second, significantly larger shipment of Mr. Toi’s finest coffees in Germany and were excited to keep the Robusta train rolling.

In 2023, we returned together with the first customers who couldn’t wait to meet the producer of their first and beloved 100% Robusta Espresso in person.

Mr. Toi proved to be a wonderful host once again. He took us out for delicious meals, showed us around his coffee farm in full bloom, and gave us a small roasting workshop focused on fine Robusta.

On this visit, we met another family that worked closely with Mr. Toi, delivering handpicked ripe cherries reliably year after year. Their friendship was beautiful to witness and a great example of how well-practiced trade relationships, built on a win-win principle, can grow over time.

We had the honor of personally handing over the first Canephorum T-shirt to Mr. Toi during our visit in 2024, after hosting the first edition of the event in Frankfurt. A milestone for cumpa and the Canephora movement.

Mr. Toi’s coffees had laid the foundation for our curiosity and love for Canephora, so it was clear he had to receive both the spoon and the T-shirt.

For the first time, we visited Mr. Toi’s new Organic Farm Project in Đắk Nông to plant trees together and document the initiative, which we have since introduced to our customers. Many have become supporters. To this day, we’ve planted nearly 200 trees on this farm together – an achievement that makes us very proud and we invite you to become part of it.

Our most recent visit was an origin trip for coffee roasters that brought eight coffee professionals on an eight-day journey through Vietnam.

Mr. Toi welcomed us with open arms. A dream came to fruition. Together, we planted coffee trees, exchanged gifts, shared delicious cups of fine Robusta on the farm, and had a genuinely wonderful time over many activities and meals. Mr. Toi surprised us with a gift of honor: he named a road on his organic farm after cumpa.

Wow!

It was an emotional goodbye, though, knowing that we are looking forward to many more years of friendship and trade relationship ahead.