How Allianz Trade helped one coffee producer grow with confidence

Vietnam Coffee Co.* is a growing producer and roaster based in Buon Ma Thuot, in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. It supplies specialty coffee to high-end retailers and cafes in major Vietnamese cities and has built a reputation for quality.

The leadership team wants to expand into Western Europe, where buyers value quality, traceability and sustainability stories. To support that ambition, the company develops Central Highlands Reserve, a blend created specifically for export, with upgraded sourcing, refined roasting profiles, and packaging suited to international distribution.

This is a common challenge for exporters. Export readiness takes investment long before export payments arrive. Cash is tied up in sourcing beans, product testing, packaging upgrades, certifications, and production planning. For a small business, that can put pressure on day-to-day cash flow and limit how fast it can move.

How trade credit insurance helps: by protecting receivables from existing customers, it reduces uncertainty around incoming payments. That stability supports planning and can help free up working capital to invest in product development and export readiness.

Before the new blend can succeed abroad, it needs momentum at home. The launch strengthens Vietnam Coffee Co.’s standing in the specialty market and attracts interest from cafes, boutique hotels, and premium retailers. Demand increases. Order sizes grow. More buyers enter the mix.

With growth comes the payment terms question. Existing customers push for longer terms. New buyers expect flexibility. Those terms can be essential to win business, but they also increase exposure and keep cash tied up for longer. When a company becomes more reliant on a handful of larger buyers, the impact of delayed payments can be immediate.

How trade credit insurance helps: credit insight and appropriate limits can support more disciplined growth. The business can make clearer decisions on which orders to accept, what terms to offer, and how much exposure to take on as volumes rise.

With a stronger base, Vietnam Coffee Co. starts engaging importers and distributors in Germany, France, and the UK. New routes to market create opportunities for larger orders and repeat demand.

But cross-border growth introduces new complexity. Payment practices vary, and open account terms are common in distribution relationships. That can mean longer payment cycles than the business is used to. At the same time, assessing buyer risk is harder without local visibility. You can do everything right on product and brand and still find that a single late payment creates strain across the operation.

For exporters, trade credit insurance provides a strong foundation for growth by helping you manage buyer risk as you expand across borders.

As export volumes increase, the stakes rise. More working capital is tied up in each shipment. One missed payment can disrupt production planning, put pressure on supplier relationships, and slow repeat orders at the point where consistency matters most.

How trade credit insurance helps: it can support more informed credit decisions on new buyers and appropriate terms for each relationship. And it protects receivables if a buyer becomes insolvent or defaults. That enables the business to pursue opportunities without taking on all-or-nothing risks.

As Central Highlands Reserve gains traction, external conditions shift. Logistics disruption and cost fluctuations put pressure on margins and cash needs across the supply chain. At the same time, one European distributor signals financial strain and asks for longer to pay.

This is where tough calls land fast. Do you tighten terms and risk losing the relationship or keep shipping and increase exposure? In volatile periods, uncertainty can be as damaging as a missed payment. Delayed decisions can erode the progress you have already made.

How trade credit insurance helps: ongoing monitoring can provide earlier signals as buyer risk changes, helping the business respond with more clarity. And if a buyer fails to pay, protection can help stabilise cash flow and reduce the risk that one disruption triggers a wider operational crunch.

With European routes established, Vietnam Coffee Co. enters a new phase. The blend is distributed through trusted partners and sold through cafe and retail channels in multiple markets. The brand has credibility beyond Vietnam, and the business starts planning what comes next: new products, deeper partnerships, and potentially new export markets.

Scaling, however, increases complexity. More buyers across more markets means exposure is more varied. Terms, behaviours, and macro conditions differ by country and can change over time. Sustainable growth needs predictable cash flow and disciplined risk management, not just ambition.

As your business evolves, our trade credit insurance evolves with you. As relationships strengthen, credit limits can be reviewed, and insight can support decisions as the business expands its customer base or enters new markets. The goal is not to slow growth but to make it more resilient.

The next time you pick up a coffee on the way to the office, you are seeing the result of global trade working well.

For exporters and growing businesses in any sector, protecting cash flow and managing buyer risk can be the difference between growth that stalls and growth that lasts.

Ready to discover how our trade credit insurance can support your export ambitions, no matter what stage of growth you’re at?

Learn more about our solutions here: Trade Credit Insurance

^{* Vietnam Coffee Co. is fictional and represents a hypothetical coffee producer.}