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Within 10 years, China will become the third largest coffee consumer market.

Published: 2026-02-26 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/02/26, Coffee is an international commodity second only to crude oil, while the quality of Yunnan coffee beans, which accounts for 99% of China's coffee production, is comparable to that of high-quality coffee produced at high elevations in Central America. As Yunnan, which has excellent raw materials, the sales of coffee are not satisfactory. Looking at China, there are few local brands, and the output and sales of coffee in China are similar to those in the main coffee producing areas and major coffee producing areas in the world.

Coffee is second only to crude oil in international bulk trade, and Yunnan coffee beans, which account for 99% of China's coffee production, are comparable in quality to high-quality coffee grown at high altitudes in Central America. As Yunnan has excellent raw materials, coffee sales are not satisfactory. Looking at China, there are few local brands. Compared with the world's main coffee producing areas and major consumption areas, the output and sales volume of coffee in China are far behind.

Xiong Xiangren admitted in an interview that he had to admit an embarrassing fact: that is, our Chinese coffee companies have sold raw materials for 30 years. "China consumes less than 10 cups of coffee per year compared with 300 cups per capita in Japan and South Korea, emerging coffee consumption markets in Asia."

Coffee was introduced to Europe 800 years ago and to the United States 300 years ago. Coffee only appeared in China 100 years ago, and China has only 30 years of commercial cultivation of coffee beans. Xiong Xiangren said that the introduction and development time is short, which determines that all aspects of Chinese coffee cannot be compared with Europe and America with a long coffee culture.

According to the data, coffee as an international bulk trade commodity, the global coffee output in 2015 is about 8.5 million tons, Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia and other major producing countries accounted for 70% of the world coffee output. Last year, the global coffee consumption market was about RMB 12 trillion, with the United States being the largest coffee consumption market, with annual consumption of about RMB 3 trillion, while China's coffee consumption market was about RMB 70 billion.

Although China's coffee consumption is facing an embarrassing situation, the sustained rapid growth in consumption has also made industry insiders optimistic about the development prospects of China's coffee industry.

China is now one of the fastest growing coffee consumers in the world. China's coffee consumption is currently about 200 billion yuan. Consumption is growing at a rate of 25 per cent per year, compared with an average growth rate of 2.5 per cent worldwide.

Xiong Xiangren analyzed that China has become the largest consumer of many commodities due to its large population. The Chinese consume 30% of global rice production, but drink only 1% of global coffee sales, and the growth potential is huge. Xiong Xiangren said: "The huge potential of China's coffee consumption market will continue to grow with the development of China, the world's second largest economy." Regarding the prospects for China's coffee development, he also said: "I dare to assert that within 10 years, China will become the world's third largest coffee consumption market after the United States and Brazil." At that time, whether China's coffee industry can emerge such as Nestle, UCC and other internationally renowned brands depends on our Chinese coffee enterprises.