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What are the key features of Givral?
The famous Givral brand was created in the 1950s by
a French pastry master named Alain Poitier. He had lived in
Vietnam for many years. Therefore, more than simply being
a coffee shop, it is part of the history of Saigon in particular
and Vietnam in general. When Saigon was known as the Pearl
of the Far East, the café was a hotbed of political intrigue and
a gathering place of international reporters and artists. World
renowned war correspondent Tim Page used to visit and many
artists were inspired here.
Today, Givral offers a wide range of luxury foods like fresh
cakes, birthday cakes, Christmas cakes, wedding cakes, moon
cakes, bread and pies. In addition, you’ll be also impressed by
our attentive service and our staff’s enthusiasm and friendli-
ness at all the shops in the Givral chain.
In addition, when you receive a box of Givral cookies or
mooncakes as a gift, you will recognise the long-lasting cul-
tural value of the gift that the sender would like to convey to
you as a message through time and space.
It is historical value that is most important to Givral, mak-
ing it distinct from other brands. Givral has its own soul, taste
and culture. And this is the motivation for us to develop and
expand the Givral Café chain, since we want to bring this his-
toric brand closer to more customers nationwide.
What are your expansion plans?
We will continue to expand the restaurant chain in major
cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Nha Trang,
and Ha Long. We target prime locations on scenic streets that
hold cultural and historic value to make our own coffee spaces
unique.
In addition to network expansion and efforts to strength-
en the position of Givral Bakery, we will continue to introduce
more high quality Givral pastries and products such as Givral
coffee, Givral mineral water and Givral tea, which are all good
for our customer’s health
How does the Givral of today differ from that of the past?
Starting from the café on Dong Khoi street, we have
timeout
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THE COFFEE CULTURE
THE GIVRAL TOUCH
With over 60 years
in business, Givral
Café is an integral
part of Saigon’s
history.
Ho Si Bac
,
director of food and
beverage at the
café’s management
company, Ocean
Hospitality JSC, chats with Timeout’s
Nguyen Tuong
about what makes
Givral special.