Manlaojiang Coffee Featured in New York Times - Is Manlaojiang Coffee a Major Brand & How to Purchase

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Manlaojiang Coffee: From Farm to Cup with Excellence

Recently, a coffee exported by Manlaojiang was featured in the New York Times. Manlaojiang has always adhered to the principle of "from seed to cup, achieving the ultimate moment of beauty." Now, with additional fashionable and innovative elements, Manlaojiang brings its coffee flavors to the world. It not only carries the essence of traditional Chinese culture but also carefully promotes the connotation of traditional craftsmanship. This symbolizes the most romantic coffee, and with the honor of being featured in the New York Times, Manlaojiang hopes more people will experience the unique coffee aroma that permeates Manlaojiang.

Origins in Yunnan's Poverty Alleviation Project

Speaking of Manlaojiang Coffee, it actually originated from a poverty alleviation project in Pu'er, Yunnan. By promoting organic farming, it has helped more than 3,000 Lisu coffee farmers develop sustainable coffee businesses while preserving 150,000 acres of original rainforest, providing an ecological forest reserve where humans and nature coexist harmoniously.

Through years of joint efforts, Manlaojiang Coffee has received multiple recognitions and honors. These 3,000+ kind and Christian Lisu coffee farmers support Manlaojiang's journey to become a leader in China's specialty coffee industry.

The Golden Latitude for Coffee Cultivation

22 degrees north latitude is the golden zone for coffee cultivation worldwide, and Pu'er is no exception. Today, there are nearly 400 coffee companies in Pu'er, but few engage in deep processing. Yunnan Pu'er Manlaojiang Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Manlaojiang Company), rooted in Pu'er, has also seen the prospects of deep coffee processing. Their current goal is to create their own specialty coffee and secure a place in the international market.

From Selling Raw Materials to Creating Their Own Brand

The naming of Manlaojiang Company is related to their coffee plantation area, as it is located near Manlaojiang River.

"The Manlaojiang area, with its low latitude, medium altitude, and high forest coverage rate, provides an exceptional natural environment for our coffee cultivation," a relevant person in charge at Manlaojiang Company told reporters. Ultimately, they developed 14,000 acres for coffee cultivation on their 150,000+ acre plantation base. "Now, all our coffee trees are bearing fruit. There are more than 3,000 coffee farmers there, many of whom migrated from the Nujiang River area. We've organized them into 16 coffee production teams, and last year our green coffee bean production reached 800 tons."

According to reports, despite having a 14,000-acre coffee base, the previous Manlaojiang Company only sold green coffee bean raw materials.

Of course, to maximize coffee economic benefits, deep processing is essential. It is understood that after roasting, green beans can increase in value by about 10 times. Later, Manlaojiang Company sold half of its coffee beans as raw materials and used the other half for deep processing to create their own "Manlaojiang" coffee brand.

Raw Materials Must Be Booked in Advance

"Our raw materials are never in short supply. Customers need to book a year in advance to get our products," a relevant person in charge at Manlaojiang Company told reporters. The reason their coffee raw materials are in high demand is because of their high-quality coffee.

"In terms of land development and utilization, out of the 150,000+ acre coffee plantation base, we've only developed 5.6% for coffee cultivation. Excluding 0.16% for other uses, the undeveloped area reaches 94.24% of our total land. Most of this undeveloped land consists of primary rainforest," a relevant person in charge at Manlaojiang Company stated. Latitude, altitude, and climate all affect coffee quality; of course, the surrounding ecological environment also impacts coffee quality.

According to reports, regarding coffee cultivation, Manlaojiang Company adopts the approach of allocating 10 acres of land to each migrant household and collaborating with the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences to provide organic farming training and material support.

"This process isn't as easy as it sounds. From applying organic fertilizers, crop intercropping, using natural methods to prevent and control pests and diseases, soil cultivation, to helping farmers who don't understand coffee establish knowledge of quality grading and green organic standards—besides investing material resources and funds, more importantly, it requires patience, trust, and cooperation. The production of every high-quality coffee bean is not easy. During harvest, all picking is done manually, with strict grading and screening during initial processing. During drying, the beans need to be turned every two hours. Our farmers care for their labor results as meticulously as if they were taking care of infants," introduced a relevant person in charge at Manlaojiang Company.

Commitment to Creating Specialty Coffee

It is understood that Manlaojiang Company's coffee obtained the first full-process Chinese organic certification in 2011, becoming the first Chinese coffee to hold both EU and US organic certifications simultaneously, achieving full traceability from organic coffee cultivation, processing, production, to roasting, and reaching specialty standards.

"In the future, our raw material sales will gradually decrease, and we will focus more on producing our own specialty coffee," introduced a relevant person in charge at Manlaojiang Company. The formation and development of the specialty coffee trend, from the 1970s to the present, has gradually become the mainstream of the coffee market through the efforts and persistence of generations of industry elites.

Last year, Ted Lingle, founder of the Specialty Coffee Association of America and initiator of the specialty coffee movement, visited Manlaojiang Company twice and expressed appreciation for their coffee. "Now, we have also established cooperative relationships with American specialty green bean purchasers, which means Manlaojiang Coffee has successfully advanced to become a Yunnan coffee that appears in the international market alongside traditional specialty coffee producing countries like Kenya," introduced a relevant person in charge at Manlaojiang Company.

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