Vu named the chain after the area where he was born, the Central Highlands. The impoverished region is heavily populated by ethnic minorities but is also home to the country's coffee industry, which has suffered a global slump in prices.
Mountain of beans
Vietnam is the second-largest coffee exporter after Brazil and the world's biggest producer of robusta coffee beans.
Together with three university friends, Vu set up a coffee processing factory in 1996 in their hometown of Buon Ma Thuot, the capital of Dac Lac province, during the last year of his studies.
His companions drifted away to concentrate on their medical careers, but Vu, aware of the enormous potential to tap an abundant supply and Vietnam's coffee-drinking culture, set about spreading the Trung Nguyen name across the country through an ad hoc franchising system.
For a one-off charge and a pledge to buy coffee beans only from his distribution company, a franchisee was allowed to use the brown, yellow, red and cream coffee cup logo, gaining instant status and access to Vietnam's newly-rich.
He refuses to reveal any figures but Vu admits that Trung Nguyen is the leading coffee company in the country in terms of profit and turnover.
Vu says he is now trying to "professionalize" the branches and ensure unity of brand and service to consolidate Trung Nguyen's dominance of the local market, and set up a defensive position should overseas competitors come poaching.
Despite a heavy presence across Asia, neither Starbucks nor any other international coffee chains have set up shop in Vietnam, deterred in part by high tariffs for imported roasted coffee beans.
Should they do so, the mild-mannered Vu will be waiting.
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