Brazilian coffee bean exporters want to open up South Korean market

The popular music "Gangnam Style" sarcastically sings "there are fashionable women who know how to enjoy the freedom of a cup of coffee" and "there are men who can't wait to get cold and drink a toast", fully reflecting the Korean people's pursuit of wealth and fashion. Coffee is becoming more and more advanced, and the price is on a par with that of New York. A cup of coffee worth 10, 000 won (6.1260, 0.0075, 0.12%) is not too expensive.

South Korea is the fastest-growing Arabica coffee market in Asia, attracting the attention of Brazilian coffee bean exporters. It is reported that with the sharp increase in South Korea's exports of electronic products in the past decade, the demand for high-end coffee is also increasing. South Korea is driving the coffee-loving trend in Asia, and Brazilian coffee bean exporters have noticed the trend, hoping South Korea will serve as a springboard into other Asian markets, including China. At a time when the coffee bean market is depressed, open up the Korean market.

Da Siva, who is in charge of coffee business at the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, pointed out that South Korean coffee bean roasters are willing to offer higher prices than the United States in order to get good coffee beans. He said that for every 60kg bag of coffee beans, the price sold in South Korea is more than three times that in the United States.

Braga, chairman of the Brazilian Coffee Export Council, said Brazilian coffee bean exports to South Korea could grow by 4.5 per cent a year over the next five years, compared with less than 1 per cent in Japan, Asia's largest coffee market. "South Korea pays attention to brand, origin and quality, which is why South Korea is now regarded as an important coffee market," he said. " Brazil ranks second with a market share of about 20 per cent in South Korea, second only to 30 per cent of Robusta coffee in Vietnam.

Brazil's sales of raw coffee beans to south Korea last year rose 19% from 2009 to 326000 bags, still far below the 2.6 million bags sold to japan. However, Sato, president of the Brazilian coffee industry association, believes that South Korea has the potential to reach the same scale within five years at the earliest.