Yunnan Coffee Price Details and Flavor Profile: Is Yunnan Coffee Good?

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In the past, Yunnan coffee was primarily used for instant coffee due to its poor quality, which resulted in Yunnan coffee having a consistently poor reputation. However, in recent years, Yunnan coffee has emerged like a dark horse, gradually appearing in the specialty coffee market.

Yunnan is China's main coffee bean producing region, accounting for over 99% of the country's total production. However, for a long time, the price of Yunnan coffee beans has been based on the coffee bean futures prices of the New York Futures Exchange, lacking actual bargaining power. In recent years, affected by the international coffee market, the price of green coffee beans has continued to decline, even dropping below the cost price of 15 yuan/kg at one point.

Some coffee farmers who couldn't make ends meet were unable to invest more costs and were forced to cut down trees and destroy their plantations to change careers. Those still persisting in coffee cultivation also felt helpless.

Data shows that in 2020, the coffee planting area in Yunnan province was approximately 1.497 million mu, compared to the peak of 1.831 million mu in 2014, a reduction of nearly 20% in planting area.

Yunnan: High Quality, High Price - Specialty Coffee Opens Up Markets

Yunnan Pu'er coffee bean production accounts for more than half of the province's total, with over 300,000 coffee farmers. However, as a major coffee producing area, coffee beans cannot fetch good prices. To break this deadlock, some local young people have begun new attempts.

Specialty Coffee Becomes Popular, Consumers Fall in Love with Yunnan Beans

FrontStreet Coffee believes that making specialty coffee requires not only stricter cultivation and selection of coffee beans but also refined processing, with significant investment in human and material resources. So, how is such specialty coffee accepted in the market, and can it compete with traditional coffee brands?

In Kunming, the provincial capital city closest to the production areas, nearly a thousand coffee shops of various sizes have opened in recent years. In recent years, Yunnan has significantly enhanced its presence by expanding the domestic market and developing specialty coffee, and the same is true online. In 2020, the consumption scale of Yunnan coffee on the Tmall platform reached 245 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 135%, while the number of Yunnan coffee brands also grew by 80%.

Recently, the Yunnan Coffee Industry Association received multiple complaint letters from coffee farmers, coffee planting cooperatives, and coffee planting enterprises in major coffee producing areas of Yunnan. The main content was: Why has Yunnan coffee been sold very cheaply for 30 years? International coffee giants will continue to purchase at low prices, and coffee growers will continue to cut down coffee trees and stop growing coffee. Most suggestions in the complaint letters were: seek help from public interest litigation lawyers to sue international coffee giants!

Yunnan Coffee Production Declines Significantly, Output Nearly Halved

According to incomplete statistics from the Yunnan Coffee Industry Association, by 2020, Yunnan's coffee planting area had sharply declined from over 1.8 million mu during its peak to the current 1.38 million mu. During the 2020-2021 harvest season, Yunnan's coffee production was estimated at only 80,000-90,000 tons, nearly halved compared to the peak of 150,000 tons. Some coffee farmers stated in their complaint letters that if purchase prices continue to be suppressed, this year might be the last coffee harvest. One coffee farmer said: 30 years ago, cabbage was 3 cents per pound, and coffee beans were over 10 yuan per pound; 30 years have passed, cabbage is over 3 yuan per jin, but coffee is still over 10 yuan per jin. We can't afford it, we're preparing to cut down our coffee trees!

Saving Yunnan Coffee: They Are Taking Action!

On January 5, 2021, the Yunnan Coffee Industry Association issued a statement: It is clear that there were misunderstandings in information communication between the association and Alibaba. Alibaba and the Yunnan Coffee Industry Association share the same original intention: both aim to help Yunnan coffee develop better and faster, and achieve a better and happier life sooner. In addition to Alibaba stating that it would increase support for the development of Yunnan's coffee industry, platforms such as JD.com and Pinduoduo are also actively seeking ways out for Yunnan coffee and helping the development of Yunnan's coffee industry.

Those most concerned about the development of Yunnan's coffee industry are the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee, Provincial Government, and leading cadres of cities and counties in various coffee producing areas. Since 2013, the average purchase price of Yunnan coffee (Grade 1 and Grade 2) has not exceeded 15 yuan per kilogram, which is lower than the planting and production costs of coffee farmers. Thanks to the timely help from Party committees and governments at all levels, Yunnan's coffee industry has overcome difficulties year after year. In particular, the Yunnan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Department of Finance, Department of Science and Technology, and Department of Industry and Information Technology provide hundreds of millions of yuan in funding annually to support the construction of national-level modern coffee industrial parks, one industry per county, and innovation in processing fields. Since the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government have included coffee in the "Green Food Brand" and eight major plateau characteristic industries of the province. If the Party committee and government do not immediately introduce these measures, Yunnan's coffee industry might face a more dangerous situation!

Look at international coffee companies that set their own purchase standards and buy at prices below international coffee futures prices. While taking away the reasonable profits that should belong to coffee growers, they also call it "fair trade" and "international poverty reduction." If you look at countries in Central and South America, Africa, etc., that have been growing coffee for hundreds of years, the lies are exposed.

According to incomplete statistics from the Yunnan Coffee Industry Association, Yunnan coffee has been sold at low prices for 30 years. Compared with other regions, Yunnan coffee of the same quality sells for about 3,000 yuan less per ton. It is roughly estimated that Yunnan coffee has lost tens of billions over the past 30 years.

Complaints from Yunnan Farmers

Coffee growers from the four major coffee producing areas of Yunnan - Pu'er, Baoshan, Dehong, and Lincang - believe that: First, one kilogram of coffee beans can make about 100 cups of coffee, each priced at over 20 yuan, but coffee growers receive less than 1% of that price. Why do international giants set purchase prices so low? Second, from the perspective of the geographical distribution of global coffee cultivation, countries that grow coffee are becoming poorer, while countries that trade and consume coffee are becoming richer. Are "fair trade" and "international poverty reduction" just deceptive facades used by international coffee giants?

Yunnan coffee farmers are awakening and are about to launch rights protection actions! Currently, the International Coffee Exporting Countries Organization is also calling on global coffee growing regions to demand that international coffee giants increase the purchase price of coffee beans; otherwise, coffee growers must actively protect their rights.

In recent years, more and more domestic coffee consumers have chosen Yunnan coffee, supporting the development of Yunnan's coffee industry through practical actions; domestic coffee companies have successively increased purchase prices for coffee. Taking today (January 2021) as an example. Currently, the purchase price of domestic coffee enterprises is about 2,000 yuan per ton higher than that of international giants.

History of Coffee Cultivation in Yunnan

The history can be traced back to 1892, when a French missionary brought coffee seeds from abroad into Yunnan and successfully planted the first coffee tree in a place called Zhukula. He probably never imagined that a hundred years later, coffee would become a highlight of specialty agriculture on the Yunnan plateau.

After 1930, the famous overseas Chinese leader Mr. Liang Jinshan brought coffee to Pupiao and Luoming for cultivation, which continued until the founding of New China. After 1952, under the guidance of expert Ma Guojin from the Baoshan Tropical Crop Research Institute, large-scale coffee cultivation began in areas like Lujiang, and the history of large-scale cultivation has now spanned nearly 60 years.

In the mid-1980s, the planting scale once reached 4,000 hectares. By the end of 1997, the coffee planting area in the province had reached 7,800 hectares. Currently, the province's planting area accounts for 70% of the country's total area, and production accounts for 83% of the country's total. In terms of both planting area and coffee bean production, Yunnan coffee has established its dominant position in China.

International Standard Details for Defect Inspection of Arabica Coffee:

Grading is based on the amount of defects present, often determined by how many defects are contained in a certain amount of coffee beans. According to the method for identifying impurities and defective beans in coffee beans stipulated by the International Organization for Standardization, a 300-gram coffee bean sample is randomly selected to calculate the impurities and defective beans for grading.

The two classic high-quality coffee varieties, Typica and Bourbon, are the main cultivated varieties of Yunnan coffee. In 1991, the Catimor series varieties were introduced from Kenya (with stronger virus resistance and higher yields), belonging to variants of the Arabica species (also known as small-grain species). Due to the similar morphology and habits of these two varieties, they are often mixed in cultivation.

Yunnan Coffee Growing Regions

The western and southern parts of Yunnan province are located between 15 degrees north latitude and the Tropic of Cancer. Most areas have an altitude of 1,000-2,000 meters, with mountainous and sloping terrain that has significant elevation changes, fertile soil, abundant sunlight, plentiful rainfall, and large temperature differences between day and night. These unique natural conditions create the distinctive characteristics of Yunnan small-grain coffee - rich but not bitter, fragrant but not strong, with a slight fruity note. Yunnan's coffee cultivation is mainly distributed in Lincang, Baoshan, Pu'er, and Dehong. These areas have natural resources of low latitude, high altitude, and large day-night temperature differences, making Yunnan a golden growing area for producing high-quality Arabica (small-grain) coffee.

Yunnan coffee is our own Chinese coffee, and this brand is gradually rising.

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