Yemeni coffee is the earliest coffee bean export port

Yemeni coffee, a well-known coffee named after a port in Yemen.

The most familiar "mocha coffee". When the word appears on the recipes of bags and cafes, the meaning is different. The former refers to the port where coffee beans are exported, while the latter refers to a kind of coffee. Strictly speaking, coffee beans exported from the port of Mocha in Yemen can be called mocha coffee. Later, the port was abandoned, and the coffee once named after mocha still used the old name, which is a special case. But the mocha that appears on the coffee bag must have a suffix. For example, the Yemeni mocha is called Mocha Madari, while the Ethiopian exported Mocha is called Mocha Harald.

Current situation of coffee industry in Yemen

I. the history of Yemeni coffee

(1) the origin of mocha coffee

In Yemen, the origin of coffee is very wide, and these coffees have their own characteristics from quality to taste, but they are collectively called mocha coffee because they have historically been shipped and exported from the Yemeni port of Mocha to markets around the world. The port of Mocha is located on the coast of the Red Sea north of the Mande Strait, about 100 kilometers by land from Aden. In addition, coffee grown in countries such as Ethiopia in the northeast corner of Africa is of the same origin as Yemeni coffee, so it is also known as mocha coffee.

Yemen is the first country in the world to grow coffee on a large scale and has a long history. As early as the beginning of the 6th century, when coffee spread from the Horn of Africa to Yemen, Yemenis began to grow coffee as a cash crop.

The international trade in mocha coffee began in the early 16th century, when the Turkish royal family began to drink mocha coffee from Yemen. There are also records of mocha coffee in the archives of Portuguese merchant ships in the 17th century. After a long voyage, Portuguese sailors came to the port of Mocha on the coast of the Red Sea to resupply. The leaders of the local tribe entertained them with a black drink that the Portuguese had never seen before. the drink was unique and exhilarating and popular with sailors.

Coffee trading companies were first established by the Dutch in the early 17th century, and coffee began to be exported to Europe from the port of Mocha, which was very popular in Western European markets from Amsterdam to Paris. In the next two hundred years or so, Yemeni mocha coffee almost monopolized the entire European market. With the development of coffee trade, the port of Mocha has developed rapidly from an unknown fishing village to a new port city.

But since the 19th century, coffee seeds brought back by European sailors have been successfully propagated, and countries such as the Netherlands, France and Portugal have begun to grow coffee in their colonies, and gradually far exceed Yemen in quantity. The big European countries control and monopolize the coffee trade, resulting in a shrinking coffee export industry in the port of Mocha. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the 20th century, Yemeni coffee exports reached about 20,000 tons a year. Today, the original site of the port of Mocha has long been abandoned, and the export of Yemeni mocha coffee is mainly in the northern port of Hodeida.

(2) the characteristics of mocha coffee

Yemenis have had the habit of drinking coffee since ancient times, and the coffee culture here is very different from that of other parts of the world. In Yemen, there are many middlemen engaged in the acquisition and storage of coffee, the newly purchased coffee is in no hurry to sell every year, and coffee farmers also hoard coffee at home as a means of saving. the ones that really enter the market are often old beans that have been in stock for several years. Due to the dry climate and lack of rain in Yemen, the water content of these coffee beans is very low, which gives Yemeni coffee a very unique taste.

In the coastal plain of the Red Sea in western Yemen, the climate and soil and water conditions are not suitable for growing coffee, and coffee is mainly produced in the western mountains. Mocha coffee grows in the mountains at an altitude of 3000 meters, where the geographical environment is unique, the mountain is rugged, the air is thin, the light is strong, and the water comes from rainfall and mountain springs, which make mocha coffee special aroma and taste. The local farmers carved out fertile terraces on the hillside. To this day, coffee is still grown in the same way in these areas as it was three or four hundred years ago, relying entirely on artificial labor, never using any chemical fertilizers or pesticides, and relying on sunshine, Rain Water and unique soil to grow pure natural Yemeni coffee. In fact, coffee grown in Haiti, Ethiopia and the West Indies belongs to the same ancestry as Yemeni coffee, and many of them are known as mocha coffee. However, for a variety of reasons, their taste and aroma are very different from those of mocha coffee produced in Yemen.

Yemeni coffee is also picked and processed entirely by hand. The preliminary processing of coffee beans is made by drying and drying naturally in the sun. This method is the most primitive and simple, without any machinery or cleaning, so sometimes there are a small amount of sand and pebbles in Yemeni coffee beans. At present, only Brazil, Haiti and a few parts of India still use drying method to treat coffee beans. The coffee roasting process is also done entirely by hand, and the heat depends entirely on experience and feeling. Every process from planting, picking to roasting is done in the oldest way, and although the roasted beans are of different colors, it is this aroma mixed with rugged and wild flavors that makes the unique Yemeni mocha coffee. No wonder some people call Mocha "the diamond in the crown of Asian coffee".

Yemeni coffee has different names according to its specific origin, and there are 13 main kinds of coffee. Although the taste and flavor are slightly different, it is still collectively called mocha. Among them, the most famous varieties, such as Sanani, Mattari and Harazi, are mainly distributed in the mountains around the capital Sana'an and the high-altitude mountains between Sana'an and Hodeida province. Yemeni mocha coffee has small fruit, high density, high acidity and unique aroma. Compared with other famous coffee varieties, it has a strong sour taste, as well as a mixture of malt, nuts, wine, chocolate and other spices.

II. Current situation of coffee industry in Yemen

(1) the total output has continued to decline in recent years

Since 2001, Yemeni coffee production has declined year by year due to various reasons. The annual output has dropped from 11906 tons in 2001 to 11608 tons in 2003, 11590 tons in 2004, to about 11000 tons in 2008. In recent years, despite the rising prices in the international coffee market, the coffee industry in Yemen has not boomed, but has shrunk sharply. The reason for the decrease in coffee production is mainly due to two aspects.

First, water scarcity and soil degradation. The shortage of water resources has become a serious constraint to the economic and social development of Yemen. Coffee planting water mainly depends on Rain Water and mountain spring water, lack of irrigation facilities, water efficiency is not high, greatly affected by climate uncertainty. Soil degradation and soil erosion are serious, and the fertility and productivity of the land are weakening.

Second, farmers gave up growing coffee and planted Carter instead. The growth cycle of coffee is long, the cost is high, and the management is difficult, while Carter is easy to grow, the growing period is short, and the demand is strong, so many farmers have changed the original coffee land to planting Carter, while the planting area of coffee has decreased. Carter's planting area is increasing year by year. The shrinking acreage of coffee and the continuous decline in production, coupled with the shortage of water resources and diseases and insect pests in Yemen, have made coffee cultivation even worse.

(2) low output of high-quality mocha coffee and lack of quality standards

Although the annual output of Yemeni mocha coffee is more than 10,000 tons, only about 15% of the coffee can meet the import standards of developed countries.

The cultivation of coffee in Yemen has a long history, but the coffee industry has been in an unorganized and extensive stage of development. Due to the scattered planting, it is basically a decentralized operation in a workshop, which leads to a great difference in the quality of coffee. There are no unified standards and specifications for the picking, drying and stir-frying of coffee beans. Hand-processed coffee is easy to change color, high damage rate, and different moisture content. Farmers' techniques for growing and processing coffee are handed down from generation to generation, which is not only inefficient, but also unscientific, which lags far behind the development trend of the international coffee market.

At the same time, there is no identification standard and quality control system for coffee in Yemen, and the quality of coffee is not tested and classified in accordance with international practice. The lack of effective guarantee of coffee quality is not conducive to breaking into the markets of developed countries, and some unscrupulous businessmen even swap coffee from other countries and regions and pass them off as Yemeni mocha coffee after processing. There is still a long way to go to improve the quality and market competitiveness of Yemeni coffee.

(3) Coffee export shrinks

Coffee used to be at the forefront of Yemen's exports, but with the large-scale oil development and the development of fisheries, the status of coffee as a major export commodity has declined year by year. It has dropped from the top five ten years ago to the 23 or fourth place in recent years.

Since 2001, Yemeni coffee production has declined for four consecutive years, and coffee exports have been hit hard with the decline in coffee production.

In 2005, the Yemeni Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation proposed a plan to plant 1 million coffee trees in one year. With the strong support of the Yemeni Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, the government has increased investment in the coffee planting industry, actively encouraged farmers to plant coffee trees, and adopted a series of promotion measures, including the construction of water conservancy facilities and the promotion of planting technology, etc., hoping to develop coffee production and strive for export to earn foreign exchange.

Under these measures, coffee production and export have been restored and developed to a certain extent in recent years. Table 1 shows the statistics on the export of raw coffee beans. It can be seen from the table that the annual decline of raw coffee bean exports has been curbed since 2006, and began to pick up, and the export volume in 2007 has been close to the level of 2003. However, on the whole, the proportion of coffee in the composition of Yemeni export commodities is still low and does not give full play to the advantages and potential of its coffee brand.

(4) exports are mainly raw materials and semi-finished products, and the export structure is unreasonable

More than 90% of Yemeni coffee exports are coffee beans, and refined coffee powder accounts for no more than 10%. The coffee exported from Yemen is mainly unprocessed and primary processed products, and the deep processing capacity is not strong, while the value of deep processing and its added value are much larger than the initial processed products, which seriously affects the overall quality and income of coffee trade.

(5) lack of modern national enterprises and sales channels

The main body of coffee production and management in Yemen is extremely scattered farmers, lack of circulation enterprises that can organize farmers and have the strength of operation and sales. A few national coffee enterprises are small in scale, lack of competitiveness, and do not have excellent brands. This backward situation of decentralized management can not form economies of scale, but also not conducive to the reduction of costs and rational allocation of resources, which seriously restricts the development of the coffee industry.

III. Prospects of coffee industry in Yemen

According to the forecast of the International Coffee Organization (ICO), affected by the international financial crisis, as consumers in western developed countries began to cut back on expenditure, the demand for high-grade coffee has begun to be suppressed, while high-quality and cheap origin coffee is still in short supply. If Yemeni coffee can seize the opportunity, fully publicize its original ecological pollution-free characteristics, and give full play to the advantages of high quality and low price, there is still room for upward development.

Yemen should start with supporting its coffee enterprises, establish a more market-oriented coffee circulation and sales system, improve coffee production technology, improve and stabilize coffee quality, improve the appearance and packaging of products, strengthen advertising and enhance brand image, and take the road of high added value and brand management.

Yemeni mocha coffee can fully reflect its value only by leaving its origin and opening up the international market. This means that the Yemeni coffee industry, based on its own country, bigger and stronger, must look at the international market, export-oriented and goal-oriented in order to usher in greater development.

Yemeni Coffee Overview

Before the 6th century AD, Yemen was called Arabia, so coffee trees shipped from Yemen to other places were also called Arabian coffee trees. But the origin of these trees is Ethiopia, and the Dutch spread these coffee trees around the world. Dutch businessmen sailing eastward around the Cape of good Hope (The Cape Of Good Hope) travel across the east coast of Africa to the port of Mocha in Yemen before they begin their long trek to India. In 1696, the Dutch introduced coffee trees to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and then to Batavia in Java.

Mocha beans are smaller and rounder than most, which makes mocha beans look like peas-in fact, bean-shaped berry coffee beans (Peaberrybean) are sometimes called mocha beans. Mocha beans are similar in shape to Ethiopia's Harrar beans, with small particles, high acidity and a strange and indescribable spicy flavor. Taste carefully, but also can distinguish a little chocolate flavor, so the attempt to add chocolate to coffee is a very natural process of development.

In Yemen, coffee growers plant poplars to provide shade for coffee to grow. As in the past, these trees are planted on steep terraces to maximize the use of less rainfall and limited land resources. In addition to Tippika Coffee and bourbon Coffee trees, more than a dozen different coffee species native to Ethiopia are grown in Yemen. But even good coffee, such as premium mocha, is air-dried and the peel is connected to the beans. Until now, Yemen often uses traditional stone mills to remove dry and hard shells, which makes the shape of coffee beans very irregular and often damages them.

Despite the high quality and smooth aroma of Yemeni coffee, there is something unsatisfactory, that is, the quality can not be continuously guaranteed, and the classification of its coffee beans is uncertain. Traditionally, the best coffee beans in Yemen come from Mattari, followed by Sharki, followed by Sanani. These beans are low in caffeine and are exported from December to April of the following year. The problem in the past has been that coffee from the north was mixed with shoddy stuff before it was shipped from the southern port of Aden. Only coffee shipped from the port of Hodeida can be determined to come from the north. The vast majority of Yemeni coffee is grown under natural conditions, mainly due to the lack of funds from growers.

Flavor: exotic, slightly alcoholic, spicy and exciting, different, must be tasted

Suggested baking method: medium baking

Evaluation: excellent

The origin of coffee is exported to Yemeni coffee.

Coffee (scientific name: Coffea arabica), also known as coffee tree, Arabica coffee, etc., is the national flower of Yemen. Before the 6th century AD, Yemen was called Arabian, so the coffee trees shipped from them to other places were also called Arabian coffee trees. The name coffee comes from the Arabic word "Qahwah", which means plant drink. Later, coffee spread all over the world and was named after its place of origin, "Kaffa". It was not officially named "coffee" until the 18th century.

It is an evergreen shrub of Rubiaceae in plant taxonomy. Lateral branches extend horizontally, opposite, occasionally three whorls; simple leaves opposite, flowers are 2-10 clumps in leaf axils, the fruit is drupe oval, the first fruit is dark green, yellowish red or purplish red when ripe, the fruit of coffee is formed by pericarp, pulp, endocarp, silver peel, and the seeds (coffee beans) wrapped in the innermost layers mentioned above, the seeds are located in the central part of the fruit, and the parts outside the seeds are of little use.

The world's first coffee tree was found in the Horn of Africa. Coffee cultivation began in the 15th century. For hundreds of years, Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula is the only coffee producer in the world, and the market demand for coffee is very strong. In the Yemeni port of Moka, when coffee is shipped out, it often needs to be protected by heavy troops. At the same time, Yemen has also taken various measures to prevent coffee saplings from being taken out of the country. Despite many restrictions, Muslims who made a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca secretly brought coffee saplings back to their hometown, so coffee soon took root in India. At that time, in Venice, Italy, countless merchant ships traded perfumes, tea and textiles with Arab merchants. In this way, coffee spread to a wide area of Europe through Venice. Many European businessmen have become accustomed to drinking coffee. Later, small vendors peddling coffee appeared on the streets of many European cities, and coffee gained rapid popularity in Europe. In the 17th century, the Dutch introduced coffee to their colony of Indonesia. At the same time, the French began to grow coffee in Africa. Today, coffee has become the second largest trading product on the earth after oil! Among the countless legends of coffee discoveries, there are two legends that people are most interested in talking about, namely, the Story of the Shepherd and the Arab Monk.

Coffee is grown in three major regions of the world: Africa, Indonesia and Central and South America. Yemen was the first country in the world to produce coffee on a large scale as an agricultural crop. Yemeni mocha coffee is grown and processed in much the same way as it was hundreds of years ago. On most coffee farms in Yemen, coffee farmers still resist the use of artificial chemicals such as chemical fertilizers. Coffee farmers grow poplars to give coffee the shade it needs to grow. Coffee trees are planted on steep terraces in order to maximize the use of less rainfall and limited land resources. Yemeni mocha beans are still shipped in a straw woven bag, unlike chemical woven bags used elsewhere.

Yemen has been cultivating coffee for more than 2000 years. Coffee is cultivated in 76 countries worldwide. Coffee was first introduced to Taiwan in 1884. In 1908, overseas Chinese brought large and medium seeds from Malaysia to Hainan Island. At present, the main cultivation areas are distributed in Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong and Hainan.

Yemeni coffee needs Yemeni tasters

The Yemen Small and Medium Enterprises Service, in cooperation with the Government Social Development Fund, trained local coffee tasters in Yemen. This is one of a series of initiatives taken by the Yemen SME Service to revitalize Yemen as a birthplace of coffee. Another major initiative was the holding of the second National Conference on Natural Arabica Coffee in Yemen two weeks ago.

Yemen is the only country in the world where pure Arabica coffee is grown.