Page 11 - YunnanTourismCultureTimes (110)

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FOCUS | 焦点

Yunnan coffee’s outward bound

咖啡“出滇记”

As dawn broke over the mountains of emphasized that “Yunnan in every cup” has
Pu’er, Yunnan, coffee farmers were already indeed become a reality.
gathering the day’s first ripe berries into For coffee enterprises in Kunshan, Yun-
their bamboo baskets. Meanwhile, 2,680 nan coffee beans are the preferred choice.
kilometers distant, the roasting factory According to Xiao Guoqiu of Kunshan
at the coffee industrial park in Kunshan, Xuanrui Coffee Co., Ltd., “40-50% of
Jiangsu, was already in full operation. our green bean raw material comes from
When asked about the precise volume of Yunnan, primarily Arabica and Catimor.
Yunnan coffee processed in Kunshan, the Yunnan coffee’s mellow flavor is highly
external communications representative favored by the market.” Inspired by the
for the Starbucks’ China Coffee Innovation maturing industrial ecosystem within the
Park could not provide an immediate figure. development zone where he previously
However, she confirmed that every cup of worked, Xiao founded Kunshan Xuanrui
Starbucks’ classic espresso contains Yunnan Coffee Co., Ltd. in 2023. He added, “We
coffee beans. regularly send our team to visit our co-
In 2012, Starbucks established its first operative Yunnan Pu’er coffee cultivation
Asia-Pacific Farmer Support Center in bases to ensure our product lines can be
Pu’er, pioneering a “premium price for pre- adjusted to meet market demand.”
mium quality” approach that led to coffee More stories of collaboration are
bean purchase prices 20-30% higher than unfolding in this region. Luckin Coffee
the market average. Eleven years later, the has established a coffee cherry pro-
Starbucks’ China Coffee Innovation Park, cessing plant in Baoshan, achieving
a 1.5 billion Yuan investment, opened in full chain control “from bean to cup.”
Kunshan. This development made China Yizheng Coffee combines cultivation
the first Starbucks global market to com- techniques such as full red cherry pick-
plete the entire “bean-to-cup” vertical ing, washed, and sun-dried processing
supply chain. Here, high-quality Arabica from Yunnan with their enterprise’s
coffee beans from over 30 global origins, roasting and quality control technolo-
including Yunnan, are freshly roasted and gies, promoting the premiumization of
delivered to Chinese consumers with maxi- domestic coffee. Kele Coffee infuses
mum efficiency. Kunqu Opera elements into Yunnan cof-
With the establishment of the Star- fee beans, launching “Kunqu Crossover
bucks industrial park in Kunshan, the Coffee” and “Kunshan Village Coffee +
proportion of Yunnan coffee in the core Yunnan Coffee,” enhancing the added
espresso blend has notably increased. At value and brand influence of Yunnan
th
the 6 Starbucks Yunnan Green Coffee coffee. The rich aroma from Yunnan’s
Excellent Supplier Conference in October mountain valleys also spreads from here
2024, Liu Wenjuan, Starbucks Global to the rest of the world.
Executive Vice President and CEO of Kunming Customs statistics reveal that
Starbucks China, stated, “We have fi- in 2024, Yunnan’s coffee exports reached
nally incorporated high-quality Yunnan 32,500 tons, marking a significant year-
coffee beans into every cup of Starbucks on-year increase of 358%. These exports
classic espresso sold in mainland China. primarily went to 29 countries and regions,
Every store in the mainland will also sell including the Netherlands, Germany, the
Yunnan single-origin coffee beans.” She United States, and Vietnam.