China's coffee market is expected to reach 300 billion yuan in 2020.

In recent years, more and more Chinese people have begun to taste Western drinks on the tip of their tongue.

On November 10th, foreign media reported that senior officials at Volcafe, the coffee division of British commodities trader ED&&F Man, said that China's annual coffee production would double in the next five years, and that production might increase again if there was sufficient demand and prices could make farmers profitable.

"at this year's National Shopping Carnival, only one small manufacturer specializing in boutique coffee had more than 300,000 orders on Singles Day." An industry insider told China United Business Daily that there are unlimited business opportunities in China's coffee consumption market at present.

China will become the fastest growing market for coffee consumption

According to a report by the Financial Times, coffee consumption in China is growing at a rapid rate of about 15 per cent a year, seven times the global growth rate, compared with a 2 per cent increase in global coffee consumption.

"I am very optimistic that China's coffee market, especially boutique coffee, is a potential industry." Mr. Cui, who sells coffee and tea drinks, told China United Business Daily that the number of coffee consumers in China has been growing rapidly in recent years.

Due to the increase in drinking demand, the coffee planting and sales industry is also "sprouting", which has jointly promoted the "potential stock" state of China's coffee industry. It is reported that from coffee cultivation to retail, the Chinese coffee market has become the target pursued by enterprises and investors.

In terms of coffee raw materials, trade giants such as Volcafe and Ikam have set up joint ventures or acquisition sites in Yunnan to deepen the cooperative trading of coffee beans.

Volcafe, which just set up a joint venture in Yunnan Province last month, said that at present, traditional coffee producing areas around the world are suffering from diseases, pests and droughts, resulting in poor supply prospects. They chose Yunnan and accelerated their local distribution because they are optimistic that Yunnan coffee is expected to become one of the most important coffee producing areas in the world.

The 2014 China franchise Investment Survey report released by the China chain Management Association shows that in the most promising franchise industry, coffee and beverages received nearly 80 per cent of the voter turnout. This shows that the existence of retail terminals in the coffee industry has also attracted the attention of many merchants.

China's GDP and coffee data show that GDP has grown at an average annual rate of nearly 10 per cent in the past five years, while total coffee consumption has grown at an average annual rate of more than 20 per cent. The data have shown that China's huge consumer group is the pillar of the expansion of the coffee market. Instant coffee "sinking" and chain brands "opening stores" continue to occupy the Chinese market, constantly promoting the expansion of the entire coffee industry.

"Asia is not only growing coffee production, but also the region with the fastest growth in coffee consumption in the world. However, due to its low starting point and large number of consumer groups, China's market potential is particularly huge. " Lin Kuang, Pacorini's regional director for Asia and the Pacific, told the media that in spite of this, there has been no mature coffee market in Asia.

However, on October 28, Kunming announced the listing of the "Kunming Coffee Trading Center", which is expected to become the third largest coffee exchange in the world after New York and London.

It is precisely seeing this development prospect of the Chinese coffee market that Marubeni, Japan's largest food trader, has also come to China to look for business opportunities.

Recently, Marubeni Co., Ltd. came to China to seek partners from coffee bean suppliers to jointly develop the fastest growing market for coffee consumption in the world. The relevant person in charge of Marubeni said that the overall coffee market in Asia is expanding, but China is still in its infancy, whether it is instant coffee or ordinary coffee, Marubeni will be involved.

Offline channels stimulate online sales

Industry insiders engaged in coffee shop operation told our reporter that now more and more independent boutique cafes have entered the field of independent roasting, and most of their coffee products are sold in their own Taobao stores. "for coffee, a single online channel is too fragile, the cost of maintaining customers is too high, and offline cultivation is more important."

Mr. Cui, who sells coffee and tea drinks in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, told our reporter happily that the coffee products he operated last month cooperated with a coffee shop in Yangzhou, and Yangzhou had new dealers two days after the cooperation. In Mr. Cui's view, "this is not a coincidence."

Mr. Cui said that if a city has a cafe that sells their company's products, then the online shopping sales of the products in the city will increase accordingly.

So how do you sell a drink that no one else may have heard of? The boutique cafe with word of mouth and industry leader level is an excellent platform.

According to another coffee drink seller who works with the cafe, offline sales currently account for about 60% of her total sales. Maintaining a specialty store of her own is easily limited by location and requires a lot of cost, so "taking advantage of her strength" is the main reason why she chooses to cooperate with the cafe.

Relevant industry data show that the space of China's coffee market will continue to expand. China's coffee market will enter a period of rapid growth in the next 10 years, and its consumption is expected to reach 300 billion yuan by 2020.

Mr. Cui also said that from the perspective of the industry, the cost of operating a coffee shop is high and it is difficult to make money, so the company will mainly bake and sell coffee in the future, will strengthen cooperation with boutique cafes and will not consider opening an independent coffee shop for the time being.