Yunnan Coffee from the outside

People living in modern cities are no stranger to the word "coffee", and its inherent form is so deeply rooted in the hearts of the people: black slightly bitter liquid is filled in porcelain cups, and coffee fans drink its acid and taste its bitterness. even the mood has become an indispensable culture of coffee.

Undeniably, I like coffee very much, too. By chance, I met a coffee grower, Mr. Sun, and I mentioned that I wanted to see how coffee was grown. He teased me through the computer screen: the coffee base is very hard. I returned to the line: the long March 25000 could not be more painstaking.

As a result of this conversation, I went to a place called Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, carrying my luggage and reversing a plane and two long-distance buses. Lancang is in Pu'er. When it comes to Pu'er, the first thing people think of is Pu'er tea. However, as of October 2011, the coffee planting area in Pu'er City is 425000 mu, accounting for 65.6% of the country's 648000 mu, accounting for 65.8% of the 646000 mu coffee planting area in Yunnan. The output and output value are more than 50% in Yunnan Province. Five world-famous coffee giants-Nestl é, Maxwell, Kraft, Newman and Ikham-have all entered Yunnan, while Japan's UCC and a number of coffee brands from Taiwan have also entered the Yunnan horse racing enclosure. It is worth mentioning that Starbucks just signed a "Memorandum of understanding" with the Pu'er municipal government in the past November to promote the development of the coffee industry, which is also Starbucks' first coffee planting base in the world. You can imagine the status of Yunnan coffee in the eyes of coffee industry.

I always thought I could see a beautiful view of coffee, as I saw in Luang Prabang, Laos, across the river-cafes and pubs were exotic. But when I stood at the crossroads of Lancang County, except for the lively streets (the unique phenomenon of Yunnan, that is, the "days of catching the market") and the occasional flashes of Lahu women in national costumes, the houses, goods and people of this county are not much different from those of many developing counties in China, but it is curious that such a coffee-rich place can not find a decent cafe in the streets. If I hadn't been received, I wouldn't even know how to find the way to the coffee field.

The firewood teacher who received me said that coffee could not be bought in the county, because most of the coffee beans here were collected by major coffee companies as soon as they were picked from the fields, transported to major processing plants, repackaged and repackaged on shelves after passing through the production line. it has become the bagged coffee that we can see everywhere in the supermarket. As far as the people I have asked, many native-born people in Yunnan do not even know that Pu'er has patches of coffee fields. Do Lancang people drink coffee? They don't even have local access to locally freshly produced coffee beans.

Having been married for many coffee brands for many years, the pricing of coffee beans is still in the hands of companies such as Nestl é. Have you ever thought of being an independent brand in Yunnan? A director of a farmers' cooperative smiled bitterly: my coffee base is on the mountain, and the scenery is excellent. I have always wanted to transform it into a holiday farm with sightseeing, but what do you want to do? This existing framework cannot be broken, and the fact that farmers pay more attention to immediate interests also determines that cooperatives are unable to systematically carry out long-term plans. usually, the written articles of association often face the risk of breach of contract in practice. this makes willing people do not dare to burn their bridges.

It's not that there are no crab eaters. Baoshan, another coffee-rich place in Yunnan, in addition to the state-run Lujiangba, has launched a bridgehead for coffee planting brand promotion in recent years-Hougu. Hougu even has the largest instant coffee production line in China, where there are not only traditional giants, but also emerging coffee brands, such as Qiu Mansion. The best thing about Qiu Mansion is not how superior its coffee is, but that it is good at storytelling marketing. It has been properly packaged from planting to production, including field picking rich in ethnic minority customs, novel and interesting coffee courses, and timely introduction of novel ways, such as the panda coffee "hanging ear cup". In this way, the one-stop approach from upstream to downstream gives coffee beans a humanistic image that fits the current situation.

However, such companies are still rare after all, and it is easy to be labeled as a minority. The vast majority of coffee farms still rely on extensive agricultural production. "We have always focused too much on production and neglected to observe the market and consumers," Mr. Sun said. Of course, all kinds of magical foods brewing in Yunnan's wonderful soil, whether wine or ice wine, truffles or ham, also lack as strict protection of origin as in EU agricultural policy, and lose standardization and exclusivity. do things in their own way, it is inevitable that the good and the bad are intermingled.

In this country dominated by tea consumption, the rise of coffee is not only a drink, but also represents a new culture of life. Starbucks' domestic business in the United States is shrinking, but its coffee shops in China are springing up rapidly in first-and second-tier cities. The price of a standard cup of Starbucks coffee of the day is enough to buy half a kilogram of AA grade Yunnan coffee beans equivalent to 25 cups. On the other hand, people who drink coffee in a clear cafe don't care about the cost at all. instead of drinking coffee, they drink the psychological satisfaction of playing with the siren logo in their hands. For coffee growers in Yunnan, once they are no longer satisfied with low-cost branded production, rust will not become so terrible. The top priority should be how to customize a cup of beautiful drinks with stories, connotations and added value for the growing local market.