"For Starbucks, the best way to support Yunnan coffee is to deliver more and more Yunnan coffee to customers. In this way, our purchase volume will also increase."

Recently, at the Starbucks Yunnan Outstanding Suppliers of Raw Beans Conference held in Pu 'er City, Yunnan Province, Liu Wenjuan, Starbucks Global Executive Vice President and Starbucks China CEO, announced that from now on, Starbucks plans to add high-quality Yunnan coffee beans to every cup of Starbucks classic espresso sold in mainland China. Every Starbucks store in mainland China will sell coffee beans from a single origin in Yunnan.

Liu Wenjuan also mentioned at the scene that classic espresso is Starbucks 'most famous, classic and largest coffee bean. To achieve this, the yield and quality of Yunnan coffee beans need to reach a very high level. This is by no means an overnight task, but the result of 12 years of joint efforts between Starbucks and coffee farmers.

It is reported that Starbucks came to Yunnan 12 years ago and established Starbucks 'first Farmer Support Center (hereinafter referred to as "FSC") in Pu' er. Over the past 12 years, whether the coffee beans finally harvested by coffee farmers are sold to Starbucks, Starbucks agronomists will provide free and professional agronomic skills training and resources to coffee farmers.

Increase Yunnan coffee purchases, Starbucks accelerates localization in China

Starbucks established FSC in Yunnan, marking the gradual emergence of high-quality coffee in Yunnan. Starbucks said that through Starbucks 'strict quality testing, the pass rate of Yunnan coffee has increased from 20% in 2012 to 80% today. According to statistics, in the past 12 years, Starbucks has purchased more than 65,000 tons of high-quality coffee from Yunnan.

The Paper reporter also learned that since entering mainland China in 1999, China is the only Starbucks market in the world with grower support centers, baking factories and terminal stores. In addition to establishing FSC, Starbucks Zhenxuan Shanghai Baking Workshop opened in December 2017, and Starbucks China Innovation and Technology Center opened in September 2023. In the same month, Starbucks China Coffee Innovation Industrial Park was completed and put into operation, marking that China was the first in Starbucks 'global markets to achieve large-scale integration of the vertical industrial chain from raw beans to coffee. Currently, Starbucks has more than 7300 stores in China, covering more than 900 county-level markets.

Starting from 2017, Starbucks has launched Starbucks Choice coffee beans produced in Yunnan every year. This time, Liu Wenjuan, Starbucks Global Executive Vice President and CEO of Starbucks China, announced that it will increase the purchase of Yunnan coffee, with more than 7,000 stores selling coffee beans from a single origin in Yunnan throughout the year also means that Starbucks 'localization process in China is accelerating again.

Yunnan coffee is transforming into high-quality products, and the domestic coffee market is facing new opportunities

"More than 10 years ago, the four words Yunnan coffee were synonymous with low quality internationally, but now it is not." Wang Wandong, an agronomist at Starbucks, said that the purpose of the agronomist is to help coffee growers increase their yields and the "quality ruler" so that they can make more money. In this way, Starbucks can harvest better coffee beans and make Yunnan coffee better go to the world.

Yunnan is the largest coffee bean growing area in China and also plays an important role in China's coffee bean exports. According to data previously released by Yunnan.com, the coffee planting area of Yunnan Province in 2023 will be approximately 1.2 million acres, and the output of raw beans will reach 146,000 tons, accounting for 0.82% of the global area and 1.08% of the output, accounting for more than 98% of the national planting area. According to statistics from China Customs, in 2023, Yunnan's coffee export volume will be 7,100 tons, and the export value will be US$26 million, accounting for 39.77% and 33.86% of the national coffee export volume and export value respectively.

Yunnan coffee bean prices have long been dependent on the international futures price system. Many Yunnan coffee farmers told reporters that in recent years, the market for Yunnan coffee beans has become better and better, and the purchase price has become more and more substantial, especially since October 2021, the market price has risen rapidly.

Liu Xiaorong, the farmer of Mangotang Coffee, told the paper reporter,"When the older generation planted coffee beans, they only had more than 10 yuan per kilogram. During this period, prices fluctuated. Recently, the international futures price has risen to less than 40 yuan per kilogram." Xinxin Coffee Pu Fenghui told The Paper that in the past, many buyers bought Yunnan coffee by subtracting a few cents based on international futures prices. Now it is the opposite, and they need to add a few cents to buy it.

The market is also paying more and more attention to Yunnan coffee. One of the coffee farmers told The Paper that there are currently many multinational companies, boutique coffee teams, baking suppliers and bulk trading companies from all over the country to buy the green coffee beans they grow in batches, ranging from a few bags to a few tons."Yunnan coffee's planting technology and quality are constantly improving, and it is more recognized by international coffee brands. This is due to the support of coffee companies in planting training and high-quality and high-price acquisitions, which has greatly increased the income of coffee farmers."

"During Starbucks's 12 years in Yunnan, an important policy to change the Yunnan coffee market has been high quality and good prices." Tong Yalun, director of the Starbucks Yunnan Coffee Grower Support Center, told media including The Paper that 12 years ago, the domestic coffee bean market was at the same price. The lack of hierarchical management also led to different quality of raw beans."High quality and good price are the reason why coffee farmers voluntarily and proactively separate coffee beans according to quality, making the definition of premium coffee clearer, and the higher-quality coffee market responding."

According to the Paper reporter, Starbucks 'policy provides additional rewards for higher-quality coffee beans, making the overall purchase price 20% to 30% higher than the average market price, and also making the income level of local coffee farmers rise steadily.

Tong Yalun further told The Paper that 80% of Yunnan coffee beans processed by FSC are provided to Starbucks itself, and the remaining 20% Starbucks serves as buyers and then sells them to other buyers around the world."12 years ago, Yunnan coffee beans were sold in the international market. The price is very low, minus 30 cents from the basic futures price. Among them, unstable quality is the biggest criticism of Yunnan coffee in the global market. As Starbucks controls the quality of each local batch of coffee beans, Starbucks has been able to change the price from 'minus 30 cents' to 'plus 5 cents' when dealing with other international customers.

Starbucks agronomist Wang Wandong told The Paper that the quality of Yunnan coffee beans has been continuously improving in recent years. It observed that, unlike some foreign coffee producing areas, Yunnan's coffee market is very active and the competition is becoming increasingly fierce."If the coffee industry wants to continue to develop well, one is to increase the purchase price at the back end, and the other is to the front end. Planting and processing costs need to be reduced and quality needs to be improved. Agronomists also help Yunnan coffee farmers improve their planting quality through various aspects such as technology and training."

"The lack of say in Yunnan's coffee bean prices is mainly affected by insufficient production and low quality rate." According to the "Yunnan Coffee Bean Industry Development Report 2023" released by the Red Food Industry Research Institute, the "bean grab war" of coffee brands in Yunnan has begun, and the Yunnan coffee bean industry has ushered in an unprecedented dividend period.

Public data shows that the rate of fine coffee in Yunnan has increased from 8% in 2021 to 22.7% in 2023, and the deep processing rate of coffee has increased from 20% to 56%. The quality of Yunnan coffee has gradually improved, and the right to say on price has begun to appear.

According to the report released by the above-mentioned Red Food Industry Research Institute, brands currently set up to acquire in Yunnan include Starbucks, Nestle, Manner Coffee, etc., and coffee brands commissioned by middlemen include Ruixing Coffee, Blue Bottle Coffee, etc. According to statistics from the Red Food Industry Research Institute, from 2022 to the first half of 2023, the number of coffee brands launching Yunnan coffee bean products has increased compared with the previous year and a half, and the frequency of new coffee brands using Yunnan coffee beans has also accelerated. At present, Yunnan's coffee bean industry is still in the stage of high-quality transformation, and the industrial chain has been relatively complete.