Why is Starbucks' only partner in China Aitou Coffee?

Li Li, a reporter from the Economic Observer Network.

Maybe the coffee you drink at Starbucks comes from Yunnan, China, or even from Aiyi Manor.

On December 12, 2012, Starbucks Coffee's first coffee grower support center in Asia was inaugurated and put into operation in Pu'er, Yunnan. At the inauguration ceremony, a low-key middle-aged man became the focus of attention because he was Liu Minghui, the boss of Aiju Coffee, the only partner of the Starbucks coffee bean project in China. Aitai Coffee is not only the largest local coffee bean producer, but also the largest coffee bean producer in China.

Why does the fussy Starbucks choose to love coffee?

Boss Liu Minghui

Speaking of Aichi Coffee, I have to mention its boss Liu Minghui. From the outside, he is very inconspicuous, even some rustic, is completely the image of an old farmer. But when he speaks standard and fluent American English, you will cast a surprised look at this unattractive middle-aged man.

Liu Minghui is a member of the Aishi people, so his group is called the Aiji Group. After graduating from university in 1986, Liu Minghui worked in the Department of Agriculture of Yunnan Province for five years. Five years later, he joined the United Nations Development Programme (United Nations Development Programme) project and came to Italy to learn about the entire coffee-making process, including coffee cultivation, production and coffee culture. Later, he stayed in New York for another 17 years and set up his own coffee roasting processing plant in New York.

Aiyi Group was founded by Liu Minghui in 1997. It is mainly divided into two parts, one is a catering chain from field to table, and the other is coffee business from seed to cup. The former business is called Aiyi Manor, and the latter is called Aiji Coffee.

At present, Aiyi Group has contracted 100000 mu of land, of which 10, 000 mu is contracted to local farmers to grow coffee, and the remaining 90, 000 mu is used for animal husbandry and agriculture.

Liu Minghui is not only fluent in English, but also gets along with local farmers. he is well aware of the social etiquette of foreign companies like Starbucks without losing the characteristics of local farmers. At a meeting where Starbucks discussed cooperation with him, when Starbucks and his party of foreigners sat down to talk about cooperation with him, he kept playing with his mobile phone and suddenly raised an irrelevant question, which made the foreigners feel that he was very cordial and unrestrained.

Cooperation

When it comes to the process of cooperation with Starbucks, Liu Minghui does not want to say much, explaining: "just like two people in love, does it matter who chases who?"

It is understood that Starbucks and Aiyang Coffee established Starbucks Love Coffee (Yunnan) Co., Ltd. at the beginning of 2012. Starbucks owns 51% of the shares and Aixin holds 49% of the shares. Both sides are funded in cash. The two sides began formal operation at the end of this month. Its coffee bean processing plant has been put into use with an annual production capacity of 20000 tons. Two years ago, Starbucks introduced four new coffee varieties abroad to provide free saplings for Aiguo coffee, while Aiju coffee provided land and manpower for experimental planting. If the planting is successful, these four new coffee varieties will be promoted in coffee plantations throughout Yunnan. At present, the experimental project has more than 650 hectares of planting area, covering 8 plantations.

According to Liu Minghui, as the largest local coffee producer, Aishi currently has two coffee production plants, one in Pu'er Simao County with a production capacity of 20,000 tons, and the other in Ninger County of Pu'er with a production capacity of 10,000 tons. According to Liu Minghui, the best coffee beans he processed were sold to Starbucks. But as for the cooperation agreement between the two sides, he said, it is not an exclusive agreement. As long as the price offered by the other party is high, he will also sell it to others, such as Starbucks competitor Nestl é. "this is a market behavior."

John Culver, president of Starbucks China and Asia Pacific, said that by 2015, the number of Starbucks stores will reach 1500, and the current number of Starbucks stores is 700. to achieve this goal, Yunnan plays an important role in Starbucks' high-quality coffee supply.

(responsible Editor: Leo)