Is There Something Suspicious About Hainan Coffee Bean Production? How Are Hainan Coffee Beans? Are They Expensive?

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The Authentic Xinglong Coffee Dilemma

In major supermarkets across Hainan, we frequently encounter various Hainan coffee brands: Xinglong Mountain Coffee, Xinglong Authentic Coffee, Xinglong Charcoal Roasted Coffee, Xinglong Pure Coffee, and so on—all claiming to be "authentic Xinglong coffee." Upon closer inspection of the product descriptions, however, the origins are actually Haikou, Qionghai, Wenchang, and other places. "Strictly speaking, these products are all fake Xinglong products. If the government doesn't take action, they will eventually destroy the Xinglong coffee brand." Qiu Xiaofeng, president of the Xinglong Coffee Industry Association, stated in a media interview that due to limited production, many products on the market bearing the Xinglong coffee brand use imported coffee beans as raw materials. Such products cannot compare to authentic Xinglong coffee in terms of taste and quality, yet they tarnish Xinglong coffee's reputation.

Geographical Indication Protection

According to the "Wanning City Xinglong Coffee Geographical Indication Management Measures," Xinglong coffee refers to coffee produced in Xinglong, Wanning City, and its surrounding townships including Nanqiao, Changfeng, Sangengluo, and Liji. In December 2007, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine issued Announcement No. 209, implementing geographical indication product protection for Xinglong coffee. In August 2015, the Wanning Xinglong Coffee Industry Association formally applied to the State Administration for Market Regulation for the Xinglong coffee geographical indication certification trademark.

Market Reality and Production Gap

The government has not yet strictly enforced these management measures, which allows coffee produced in various regions to be labeled as Xinglong coffee and sold in the market. Market managers and merchants are well aware that if strictly enforced, the production capacity of Xinglong alone would fall far short of meeting tourists' demand for local specialties.

A 2013 tropical crop forecast table from the Hainan Provincial Department of Agriculture shows that in 2013, Hainan's coffee tree planting area was 6,000 mu, with an expected total coffee bean production of 200 tons province-wide. However, Hainan sells at least 6,000 tons of coffee annually. This enormous production-sales gap led Wanning City to introduce the "Wanning City Support Plan for Xinglong Coffee Industry Development," hoping to start with coffee cultivation by introducing preferential policies, providing farmers with a planting subsidy of 2,000 yuan per mu and free seedlings. This shows the local government is doing its utmost to support the coffee industry. Despite this, Huang Haisheng, chairman of a local coffee company, revealed to a Farmers Daily reporter that the annual production of fresh coffee cherries truly from Xinglong does not exceed 40 tons. With a 5:1 ratio between fresh cherries and raw beans, this amounts to less than 10 tons of dried raw beans.

Future Development Plans

Hainan coffee is centered in Xinglong. At the Two Sessions this February, Zhang Meiwen, Secretary of Wanning City, introduced that Wanning City currently has 6,000 mu of Xinglong coffee and aims to expand the planting area to 10,000 mu by 2020, with a long-term goal of expanding to 50,000 mu. If these figures are accurate, Wanning City's current planting area is equivalent to that of a small to medium-sized coffee plantation in Yunnan (compared to Lingfeng Houg).

How can such a limited production base support such enormous market demand?

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