Published:  22:20 Thursday - January 03, 2013

The Seattle-based behemoth plans to try its luck in Ho Chi Minh City, already home to some of the world's best coffee

Starbucks will open a store in Ho Chi Minh City in February, part of an effort by the coffee chain to expand its Asia footprint.

Starbucks is hoping to shake up the coffee-drinking world of Vietnam, announcing plans to open its first store in the Southeast Asian nation next month, in Ho Chi Minh City.

Normally, a Starbucks expansion announcement wouldn't merit much excitement. After all, the Seattle-based behemoth already has more than 3,000 stores in Asia alone.

But this is Vietnam, a nation that serves up some of the globe's best coffee and is the world's second highest exporter of beans, behind Brazil.

So will Ho Chi Minh residents happily add the word "frappucino" to their vocabularies?

Starbucks says it's ready for the challenge.

An announcement from Starbucks regarding the Ho Chi Minh expansion noted that the coffee chain already purchases a notable amount of high quality arabica coffee from Vietnam, "and is committed to sourcing more arabica coffee from the Vietnam region over the long term." 

Starbucks also has yet to move into the tricky coffee market of Italy, despite that country representing, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine article, "the mountain [Starbucks] has yet to climb."

Do you think Starbucks will be a hit in coffee crazy Vietnam? 

CNN