Xinhua Silk Road: China’s Pu’er sees booming coffee bean exports in 2022 amid efforts on industrial chain building

Export destinations included Europe, ASEAN, America, the Middle East and other regions.

Located at 24 degrees north latitude and with most areas at an altitude from 1,000 meters to 2,000 meters, Pu’er has a warm humid subtropical climate. Rich soil, sufficient sunshine, abundant rainfall and good ecological environment all contribute to premium conditions for growing coffee beans here, making the city known as China’s coffee capital.

Pu’er coffee beans produce well-balanced and mellow coffee with a silky body and fruity aroma, which is favored by global consumers as mirrored by the increasing exports.

The coffee plantation area of Pu’er was 679,000 mu (around 45,267 hectares) in 2022, with an output of 55,700 tonnes, the highest yield in China.

In recent years, Pu’er city has been scaling up efforts to boost coffee planting, research and development, processing, sales, and storage. It launched a pilot insurance program in 2019 for the pricing of green coffee beans in the city, so as to reduce the burden on coffee producers, operators and growers, and promote sustained and healthy development of the industry.

The endeavor is paid off. Many kinds of Pu’er coffee products such as instant coffee, baked beans, hanging ear coffee bag, and capsule coffee have gained popularity as one of the best-sellers on the internet.

World-renowned coffee brands, such as Nestle and Starbucks, have launched a number of products using Pu’er coffee beans.

Coffee-related tourism is also promoted in Pu’er. During the harvest season from November to March of next year, coffee enthusiasts and entrepreneurs from home and abroad come to the city to take training lessons and engage in exchanges about coffee industry development.