Foreign media: China is becoming a big coffee producer in Asia, growing high-quality small fruit coffee

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According to the Financial Daily, China is moving from a traditional tea grower to a coffee producer in Asia, growing high-quality small fruit coffee (Arabica coffee). It is more attractive for international coffee groups and commodity traders to set up strongholds in Yunnan Province to facilitate the export of coffee beans.

For example, Volcafe, a well-known multinational coffee trader, has been exporting Chinese Arabica coffee beans over the past 10 years, and plans to set up a joint venture with Arabica Star Coffee in Simao, Yunnan Province. Volcafe will become the first international coffee trader to have a foothold in China.

Industry insiders say the coffee grown in Yunnan, China, is very similar to coffee beans from Honduras and Guatemala. The quality of Yunnan Arabica beans has been raised to the level of Central America.

Because the income of coffee farmers is twice as high as that of tea farmers who grow the same area. More and more tea farmers in Yunnan are turning to growing coffee.

Coffee consumption in China is growing at a rapid rate of 15 per cent a year, much higher than the 2 per cent increase in global coffee consumption. Yunnan coffee beans have become the main blend of Arabica coffee in Europe, according to international commodity traders and roasters.

China's coffee exports have grown steadily over the past decade, from 137000 bags (60 kg each) in 1998 to 1.1 million bags in 2012, which is not only equal to Costa Rica's exports, but also to about 1 pound of Colombian production.

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