Coffee production in China facts for kids
Coffee farming in China started in a big way in 1988. Around 2016-2017, China became one of the top 20 coffee-growing countries in the world. Almost all of China's coffee (98%) comes from a special place called Yunnan province.
How Coffee Came to China
Coffee first came to China in the late 1800s. A French missionary brought it to Yunnan province. But modern coffee farming really took off in 1988. The Chinese government worked with groups like the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme. They started a plan to grow more coffee in the Yunnan area.
The company Nestlé also came to Yunnan early on to help farmers grow coffee. Hogood Coffee, a big Chinese company that makes instant coffee, started in 2007. They have helped grow a lot of coffee in the Dehong region. Hogood uses a special way of farming called "contract farming." This means Hogood plants the coffee trees, and local farmers take care of them. Then, Hogood buys the coffee beans from the farmers.
In 2013, Yunnan Coffee Traders became the first company to sell special, high-quality coffee from the region to other countries. By 2018, they were the biggest company doing this in China.
People in China started drinking more coffee as more was grown. From 2006 to 2017, the amount of coffee people drank in China grew by about 22% each year. Most coffee drinkers in China are people who work in offices. They make up the biggest group of coffee buyers.
Where Coffee Grows in China
Almost all of China's coffee, about 98%, comes from Yunnan province. The main areas in Yunnan where coffee is grown are Baoshan, Dehong, and Menglian in Pu'er. The city of Pu'er alone grows 60% of all the coffee in China! Some other provinces, like Fujian and Hainan, also grow a little coffee.
In Fujian and Hainan, farmers mainly grow a type of coffee called robusta. But in Yunnan, they grow a different type called arabica. The most popular kind of arabica coffee grown there is called catimor.
Selling and Trading Coffee
In 2016, about half of the coffee grown in Yunnan was sold to other countries. This brought in about $280 million! Most Chinese coffee beans are "commercial grade," which means they are good for everyday coffee. These beans are usually sold as "green beans" (unroasted) to countries in Europe. The United States also buys Chinese coffee beans. For example, Starbucks bought more than half of the coffee imported into the U.S. from China in 2014.
Big coffee trading companies like Volcafe and Coex also buy coffee from China. They do this to make sure there's enough coffee in the world, especially when other coffee-growing countries have problems like dry weather.
Around 2009, some farmers in China started growing "specialty coffee." This is very high-quality coffee with unique flavors. People like Hu Xixiang from Mangzhang Farms in Menglian (Pu’er) were among the first to do this. Even though specialty coffee is still a small part of all the coffee grown in China (less than 2%), it's becoming more famous. In 2018, China was even chosen as the special "portrait country" at the world's biggest Specialty Coffee trade show. This shows that China is becoming known for its great coffee!
Chongqing has become a very important place for trading coffee within China. The Chongqing Coffee Exchange was set up there to buy and sell coffee from China and other parts of Southeast Asia. Chongqing is a good place for this because it's a major transportation hub. It's even the starting point for a special train that goes all the way to Europe, which is part of the Belt and Road Initiative. Another coffee trading center, the Yunnan Coffee Exchange, opened in Pu’er City in January 2016.
