Flavors Vietnam 2026 Returns With A New Role In Vietnam’s F&B Culture

Over the past decade, Vietnam’s F&B scene has changed in many ways. The market has become more competitive, and consumers have become more thoughtful about what they expect from a brand. Good food and drinks still matter, but so do the overall experience, quality, story, and sense of connection that a brand can offer.

This shift can be seen in both directions. Vietnamese brands such as Highlands Coffee, Pizza 4P’s, and Cộng Cà Phê have expanded beyond Vietnam, bringing local F&B concepts closer to international audiences. At the same time, Vietnam has received more attention through platforms such as the Michelin Guide, Asia’s 50 Best Bars, and The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Alongside this, a new generation of restaurants, bars, chefs, bartenders, and F&B professionals is finding new ways to tell Vietnamese stories through food, drinks, spaces, and experiences. Instead of focusing only on service, they are also exploring culture, design, hospitality, and identity through every detail.

As food and drink become more closely connected to lifestyle and culture, F&B has become one of the ways Vietnam shares its story with the world.

Flavors Vietnam 2026 returns in that context.

A Strategic Shift For Flavors

Looking back, Flavors has grown alongside the evolution of Vietnam’s F&B industry.

The journey began in 2018 with the Vietnam Restaurant & Bar Awards, also known as the Bánh Mì Awards, created to recognize outstanding individuals and brands in the industry.

In 2020, Flavors expanded into professional conversations through the Vietnam F&B Conference, where experts, businesses, and industry professionals came together to discuss the movements, challenges, and opportunities shaping the sector.

From 2022 to 2023, Flavors developed into a wider annual platform with several pillars, including the Vietnam F&B Conference, Vietnam Restaurant & Bar Awards, Vietnam Restaurant Week, Vietnam Bar Week, and Rising Chefs Challenge. What started as an awards platform gradually became a space that connected chefs, bartenders, restaurants, bars, brands, and the wider F&B community.

In 2024, Flavors continued to open up more public experiences through Flavors Bar Week, Flavors Conference, Flavors Awards, and Flavors Vietnam 2024 x HOZO International Food Fest. These activities showed how Flavors was growing beyond recognition alone, creating more ways for audiences to take part in Vietnam’s food and drink culture.

In 2026, Flavors officially returns with a refreshed identity and new positioning: Vietnam’s F&B Culture Platform.

This marks a strategic shift from “Celebrate” to “Shape Culture.”

From 2018 to 2025, Flavors established itself as a media-event platform that celebrated excellence through stories, awards, festivals, and experiences, recognizing the people and brands shaping Vietnam’s F&B landscape.

In 2026, Flavors expands its role beyond recognition. By connecting chefs, brands, creators, producers, and communities, Flavors becomes a platform that fosters collaboration, inspires new ideas, and contributes to the evolution of Vietnam’s F&B culture.

Instead of only recognizing existing achievements, Flavors becomes a shared space where culture is celebrated, ideas are exchanged, and the industry continues to evolve.

What’s New About The Flavors Identity?

The new role of Flavors is reflected in its refreshed visual identity. Inspired by the way flavors move, blend, and change in everyday life, the new identity uses soft, organic, and flexible forms.

Each curve suggests openness, movement, and adaptability, reflecting a culture that is constantly shaped by different people, ideas, and experiences.

The Flavors logo still keeps familiar references to Vietnamese cuisine, including rice, bánh mì, a plate, scallions, herbs, and the warmth of the kitchen fire. In this new version, these details are not only symbols of heritage. They also become starting points for a wider story: Vietnam’s F&B culture is always moving, growing, and being continued by the people of today.

This refreshed identity is not just a visual update. It also marks the way Flavors sees its role in Vietnam’s F&B ecosystem moving forward.

Flavors 2026 Theme: “Thời Vị” – The Flavors Of Our Time

This season, Flavors is guided by the theme “Thời Vị” – The Flavors of Our Time.

In Vietnamese...

“Thời” refers to time, season, era, and moments. It suggests the imprint of each generation and the context of the time they live in.

“Vị” means taste, flavor, essence, and also position. It carries both the identity a generation leaves behind and the place that identity holds in culture.

“Thời Vị,” therefore, is not only about the food or drinks of today. It is about the mark each generation leaves behind through the way they cook, drink, gather, experience, and tell stories about their culture.

There is a Vietnamese saying: “Ăn theo thuở, ở theo thì,” meaning every era has its own way of living and tasting. The bowl of phở we eat today carries different textures from the phở remembered by previous generations. The bánh mì, once shaped by French influence, has now become an unmistakable symbol of Vietnam.

Every familiar tradition today was once an act of innovation in the past. Culture does not stand still. It continues to evolve as different “flavors” coexist, influence one another, and are passed on to the next generation.

Three Movements Bringing “Thời Vị” To Life

To bring the spirit of “Thời Vị” into real life, Flavors 2026 will be built around three key movements: Discover - Connect - Shape.

1. Discovery Through Flavors Week

Flavors Week brings the public closer to the flavors, stories, and personalities shaping Vietnam’s F&B culture today.

Through limited-edition menus, participating venues, curated guides, and the partnership with Royal Arctika, Flavors Week invites consumers to discover the people, places, and experiences that define the rhythm of Vietnam’s food and drink scene today.

It is a space for audiences to explore bar culture, contemporary drinking experiences, and selected urban destinations in a more accessible and engaging way.

2. Connection Through Rising Chefs Challenge And Flavors Awards

Rising Chefs Challenge creates a platform for the next generation of chefs, where memories, identities, and the spirit of the times are transformed into new expressions of Vietnamese cuisine.

It gives emerging chefs the opportunity to show their creativity, gain visibility, access mentorship, and connect with leading chefs, restaurants, brands, and the wider F&B community.

Flavors Awards, on the other hand, recognizes outstanding restaurants, bars, chefs, bartenders, brands, and talents across Vietnam. More than an awards ceremony, it gives talents and businesses greater visibility within the community, helping them reach new audiences, attract collaborators, and become part of the conversations shaping Vietnam’s F&B culture.

One opens the way for new talent. The other recognizes the people, places, and ideas that are contributing to the current shape of Vietnam’s F&B industry.

3. Shaping The Future Through Flavors Conference

Flavors Conference is a flagship gathering that brings together chefs, founders, operators, brands, creators, and experts to exchange perspectives, spark conversations, and explore the emerging ideas, movements, and cultural shifts shaping the flavors of our time.

Through keynotes, panel discussions, fireside chats, workshops, and networking sessions, the conference creates space for forward-thinking ideas and meaningful connections.

It looks at shifts in taste, consumer behavior, drinking and dining culture, and the broader F&B market, turning these conversations into perspectives that can inspire future collaborations and real industry progress.

From public experiences to professional conversations, from a platform for emerging talent to an annual awards program, Flavors 2026 does not only introduce “Thời Vị” as a theme. It creates an ecosystem where that spirit can be discovered, shared, experienced, and carried forward in Vietnam’s F&B culture.

This return also affirms Flavors’ new role: a platform that connects the F&B community, opens up new ideas, and contributes to the next chapter of Vietnam’s food and drink culture.

Follow the Flavors collection for the latest stories, people, and experiences shaping Vietnam’s F&B culture today.