Under Vietnam's Doi Moi policy, the Vietnamese government positioned coffee as a major agricultural export.
Robusta was selected for the cultivation plan.
Robusta is resistant to pests and diseases and is cultivated primarily in the central highlands of Dak Lak Province, where the climate and growing conditions are well suited.
Arabica and Robusta

As part of the Doi Moi policy, Vietnam enacted the Foreign Investment Law in 1987.
This allowed foreign companies to establish operations in Vietnam.
Since then, investment by foreign companies in Vietnam has become more active.

While the specialty coffee industry was developing from the 1980s onward, the commodity coffee industry experienced a dramatic rise driven by Vietnamese coffee.
The catalyst for this rise was the slogan of the policy “Đổi Mới,” adopted at the Communist Party Congress of Vietnam in December 1986.
“Đổi Mới,” meaning “renovation,” aimed at introducing a market economy while maintaining the socialist system — a fundamental economic reform.

Since 1996, the BOP, organized by the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP), has brought attention to the high quality of Panamanian coffee.
An article by Price Peterson in SCAP describes this situation in the 2000s.
Geisha coffee beans submitted by Price Peterson's Esmeralda farm were sold for a then-record high price of $21 per pound (about 450g).
This was about 10 times the price of the standard high-end coffee at the time.
The Peterson family separated lots into sections of their large farm and submitted the best-flavored ones to BOP.

With the cooperation of SCAA, SCAP successfully hosted the first BOP in 1996.
SCAA provided support in the following areas:
1. Official cupping form (evaluation of 10 criteria, including aroma, acidity, sweetness, clean cup, and balance)
=> *SCAA Score: Specialty Coffee Evaluation Criteria by SCAA 

2. Blind cupping method (compromising farm and lot names to ensure fairness)
3. Judging protocol (re-cupping at each temperature level and standardized scoring)
Training of local cuppers

After the founding of the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP), producers in the Boquete and Volcán regions of Panama, with the cooperation of the Specialty Coffee Association of the Americas (SCAA), began a movement to create a system for having their country's coffee evaluated using international cupping standards.

Then, with the cooperation of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Panama Tourism Board, the first Best of Panama (BOP) coffee quality competition was held in 1996.

Panama is a producer of coffee beans known today as Geisha, a premium specialty coffee.
Coffee production in this country also had deep ties to the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA).
In 1989, the ICO price agreement collapsed, causing coffee prices to fall in producing countries.
For example, in Panama, the price was US$1.20 per pound (approximately 450g), but after the price collapse, it is said to have fallen to US$0.74.

With the establishment of the SCAA in the United States, evaluation standards were established to define whether a coffee is specialty.

 1. Fragrance: The aroma of the coffee grounds and the liquid. 

2. Flavor: Evaluation upon sipping the liquid. 

3. Aftertaste: Lingering aftertaste after swallowing. 

4. Acidity: Pleasant brightness and juiciness. 

5. Body: Texture and weight on the tongue. 

6. Balance: Harmony of all elements.

As the number of specialty coffee businesses increased, the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) was founded in 1982.
Led by Donald Schoenholt of Gillies Coffee in Brooklyn, New York, and Ted Lingle of California roaster Lingle Bros, the association was founded by a core of members including Waldenhauffer of Coffee, Tea and Spice in San Francisco, Peter McLaughlin of Royal Coffee, and coffee importer John Randall.

Against this backdrop, a trend began where high-quality coffee was supported by a fan base that was particular about flavor.
The term Peetniks was even coined to refer to the core fans of Peet's Coffee in Berkeley, California.
Such coffee also focuses on the origin of the beans.
Because they are particular about the origin of the beans, they do not pursue quantity over quality like commodity coffee, but rather they are particular about beans imported from specific producing areas in order to pursue high-quality beans even if the production lot is small.