The quietly growing coffee industry in Southeast Asia Yunnan small-grain coffee is the favorite of big international brands.

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We have always thought that the origin of coffee in the world should be mainly in Central and South America. Asians are slow to mature coffee, and the main consumption is tea culture. Once upon a time, Vietnam was already the second largest producer in the world. Yunnan, China is also eager to catch up, and the quality is not inferior to the once popular Central and South American coffee, for no other reason, coffee culture not only represents fashion but also creates amazing benefits. And there are many health considerations to drink, and even the beverage culture through fast food conditions to change people's consumption habits!

Let's take a look at the situation in the producing areas of Asian countries.

Vietnam: the second largest coffee exporter in the world

Traditionally, the Vietnamese are a people who like to drink tea. In 1857, France introduced coffee cultivation to Vietnam for the first time to enable employees of monasteries in Vietnam to enjoy coffee. Vietnam's climate is very suitable for coffee cultivation-similar to the climate and altitude of Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer.

In particular, the Central Plateau region (Central Highlands) has ideal conditions for growing coffee and was expanded into a coffee-growing area in 1975. After North Vietnam reunified South Vietnam in 1976, in order to solve the problems of social unrest and unemployment, the government encouraged people to move to the Central Plateau to grow coffee, adopted a free market policy and encouraged land reform, so that the coffee industry made great profits in exports. So far, Vietnam has a 160-year history of coffee production.

In the 1990s, the government gradually controlled the prices of many food materials (such as rice), but did not impose restrictions on coffee and even gave away free coffee seeds, prompting more farmers to turn to coffee farming. From 1986 to 2016, Vietnam's coffee industry grew nearly 100fold, with production rising from 18400 metric tons to 176m metric tons, of which 90-95 per cent was exported (mainly to the United States and the United Kingdom).

Vietnam is the largest producer of robusta coffee (Robusta) in the world, but Robusta is a low-quality coffee variety with high caffeine content and low market value. It is mostly used to process instant coffee and mixed coffee. However, Robusta is easy to grow, has high resistance to pests and diseases and strong drought resistance, and does not require special care in storage and transportation, so the overall planting cost is quite low.

Vietnam earns a lot of revenue from coffee exports every year (about US $3 trillion). However, in order to improve export earnings, many growers have recently begun to grow higher-value Arabica coffee (Arabica), but Arabica's planting conditions are more stringent and require more care and storage equipment.

Climate change in recent years has brought great challenges to coffee cultivation in Vietnam. The El Ni ñ o phenomenon in 2016 affected Vietnam's coffee production that year, directly affected the national income of that year, and threatened the lives of many people. According to the study, it is estimated that the dry season in Vietnam will be extended by two more months by 2050, which will require more irrigation to meet planting needs, but the problem of insufficient water supply will follow.

In addition, climate change and rising average temperatures will also affect soil quality and reduce the appropriate area of arable land. In order to maintain production, it may be possible to move the planting land to higher places, but this means that forests need to be deforested, which is an important condition for watershed protection, which also affects the maintenance of water resources.

More importantly, Vietnam is facing the problem of structural aging of coffee trees. About 30% of coffee trees in the country are 20-30 years old, far exceeding the peak output value of 8-15 years old. To be replanted, it takes 4-5 years for new trees to grow to harvest, which means farmers need to give up short-term gains.

To solve the crisis, the Vietnamese Government implemented the Sustainable Coffee Plan 2020-2030 (Sustainable Coffee Plan Till 2020 and Vision to 2030) with a view to achieving export earnings of US $3.8-4.2 trillion by 2020 and increasing the added value of coffee products through the processing process. At the same time, it is also hoped that stable economic benefits and yields can be ensured through sustainable planting.

China: Yunnan is the favorite of international brands

The main coffee producing area in mainland China is Yunnan Province, which was first planted in Binchuan, and then expanded to Dehong Prefecture in the southwest. Yunnan coffee can be seen in several big cities such as Baoshan, Mangshi, Tengchong and so on. The coffee beans in Yunnan are Arabica Typica and Cotml, of which the latter is smaller, so it is called Yunnan small-grain coffee.

As we all know, coffee is a new beverage in China, the real development of the coffee industry is also in recent years, and the history of coffee cultivation starts from Yunnan coffee. The introduction of coffee by French missionaries to the village of Zhukula in Binchuan County, Dali, Yunnan Province in 1892 is the origin of Chinese mainland coffee cultivation in history. Of course, as early as 1884, coffee cultivation began in Taiwan. However, the road of coffee industrialization in Yunnan is long and tortuous. Although a number of state-owned farms in Baoshan, Jinghong and other places planted coffee for export to the Soviet Union in the 1960s, coffee production was interrupted after the rupture of Sino-Soviet relations.

Until the late 1980s, Nestl é began to use Yunnan as a raw material procurement base, and coffee cultivation in Pu'er, Baoshan and other places was re-developed and gradually became large-scale. When Xiumen coffee went to the producing area for the first time in 2008, the coffee planting in Yunnan Province was only 390000 mu, and in 2010 it increased to 640000 mu, with an output of 49000 tons, but in recent years it showed a trend of rapid development. By 2014, Yunnan coffee planting area was 1.83 million mu, with an output of 118000 tons. The area has tripled in four years, which is something to be reckoned with!

The total output of coffee in Yunnan also accounts for 99% of the country's total, which is almost synonymous with Chinese coffee. The coffee-producing areas in Yunnan are also concentrated in the southwest of Yunnan Province, including Pu'er, Dehong, Lincang, Baoshan and Xishuangbanna. Recently, a small amount of coffee has been planted in Wenshan.

Most of the coffee plants in Yunnan are 1000-2000 meters above sea level, and the topography is mainly mountainous and sloping land, with large ups and downs, fertile soil, sufficient sunshine, rich rainfall and large temperature difference between day and night. The natural conditions of Yunnan are very similar to those of Colombia, that is, low latitude, high altitude and large temperature difference between day and night. The small grain coffee produced is mellow by cup quality analysis, and its quality and taste is similar to that of Colombian coffee.

Yunnan coffee is evaluated as the best coffee in the world because of its unique geographical environment and climatic conditions, which is strong but not bitter, fragrant but not strong, with a little fruit flavor. Coffee is rich in protein, fat, sucrose, starch, caffeine and other substances. after being made into a beverage, coffee is rich in aroma, delicious taste and rich nutrition, so it has become the world's three major beverages composed of tea and cocoa, and ranks first in the list.

Yunnan coffee is a variant of Arabian original species, which is generally known as Yunnan small-grain coffee, evergreen shrub, small kernel, thick peel, sweet pulp, mellow product and low caffeine content, so it is also called light coffee. It is the main cultivated variety in the world.

Indonesia: a treasure land of coffee with many special varieties

Total coffee production in Java, Sumatra and New Guinea ranks first in the world, with 10 per cent of Arabica and Robusta of 10 per cent. The famous varieties of coffee beans are Java Coffee (Jawa), Sumatran Coffee (Sumatra), Mandheling Coffee, Celebes Coffee, Catimor Coffee, Djember Coffee and Tim Tim Coffee. Among them, Sumatra specialty Mantenin coffee, with a sweet and refreshing flavor, while New Guinea specializes in fruity coffee with uniform flavor.

East Timor: organic Coffee brewed by History and Culture

During the Portuguese colonial period in East Timor, coffee cultivation played an important role in local trade. After its independence from colonization, East Timor experienced a two-decade struggle with Indonesia, during which many coffee plantations were destroyed by the war, people lost their traditional knowledge of farming, and the plantations were reduced to forests. However, because people are too busy fighting to take care of farming, these lands have become groves unpolluted by pesticides and fertilizers, forming a gold mine for growing organic coffee.

Today, organic coffee is the prince of East Timorese agriculture-worth US $10 million a year, and 46000 coffee farmers employ 1/5 of East Timor's population.

Local Starbucks has introduced a new Fairtrade coffee, East Timor Tatamailao Coffee (Tatamailau), which is heavily roasted. Tata Milao Coffee grows in 1250 meters of highland forests and has the same growth characteristics as highland coffee. growing in the shade can slow the growth of coffee beans and produce thick and dense coffee beans. Other green coffee produced at high altitudes in East Timor is also sold to local Starbucks. In 2005, Starbucks also mixed local green coffee beans with South American coffee beans to launch the "East Timor Arab Mocha Organic blend Coffee".

Nevertheless, the quality of agriculture in East Timor still needs to be strengthened. Many ancient coffee trees grow on barren volcanic soil and the rainfall is so erratic that the coffee yield per hectare is only half that of neighboring Papua New Guinea. In addition, the strong cultural background makes East Timorese farmers think that pruning hurts the soul of trees, even if it increases annual production by 10%, they are not willing to prune it.

East Timorese President Taur Matan Ruak said, "in order to save the country from poverty, it is time to abandon organic subsistence agriculture." However, after removing the advanced farming methods, many local farmers are skeptical of this way of industrialization, believing that traditional organic farming is better because it is part of their cultural identity.

Thailand: insufficient self-use of Coffee planting Industry

In recent years, Thailand's coffee industry has boomed. Many coffee shops have sprung up in the capital Bangkok, and many famous organic, sustainable coffee farms have emerged around Chiang Mai, the "coffee capital" and Chiang Rai, the largest city in northern Thailand.

The reason for the rapid development, the Thai government's policy plays an important role: to encourage local people to engage in farming, imports of coffee beans have to pay high taxes, and even some green coffee taxes of more than 90%.

Thailand has an ideal climate for coffee growth. Warm, dry winters and hot and humid summers are conducive to the production of high quality coffee beans-rich in Arabica coffee beans (Arabica). The coffee farm has the natural shade of banana, mango and other fruit trees, which can affect the flavor of coffee beans and eliminate the common sour and bitter taste of coffee beans.

However, Thai coffee has always been unknown in the world. The reason is that the coffee consumed by Thai people far exceeds the local production and is estimated to be at least more than 10 million kilograms, so there is no way to export to the international platform at all. Only about 7% of the coffee is exported each year. It is also generally combined with other coffee to form a super mixed coffee for export.

Compared with neighboring Vietnam, Thailand sells a latte for about 50 baht (US $1.75), while Vietnam costs only about 15000 dong (US $0.66). In addition to the high tax on imported coffee, the relatively high cost of local coffee production is also the reason for the high price. The coffee planting industry in Thailand is strictly regulated, and it is necessary to avoid deforestation and the use of machinery in the planting process, resulting in the need for farms to hire people to harvest coffee beans and increase labor costs.

However, judging from its increasing consumption, if the national policy is properly supported, its future output value can be expected.