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amenities and infrastructures of the region, raise the knowledge about coffee, and enhance basic services. For instance, Pu’er should focus on English language tourist and hospitality services, accommodation and transportation adapted to international preferences and the creation of coffee-specific merchandising. Above all, Pu’er should work on transforming the city of Simao into a place that transpires coffee in every corner. Promoting coffee tourism for a place that has nearly no coffee shops would most likely be unsuccessful. Authorities and businessmen need to consider these improvements before coffee tourism takes off.
5. Conclusion
In the land of tea, coffee has been growing fast in the last years. Since 2010, the area cultivated and the exports have tripled, and the total revenue from coffee sales has almost doubled. Simultaneous to the expansion of coffee business is the recognition for this local industry. Nowadays more and more consumers, investors and experts know about coffee grown in China. Given the recent success in sales, coffee industry in Pu’er is expected to continue the fast growth experienced in the last years. Local government and businesses want to create a Pu’er brand and promote the region as the coffee capital of China. Not only that, in the future they also aspire to become a point of reference for the coffee industry in Asia.
The achievements in coffee business can be almost entirely attributed to the involvement of the local government. They have succeeded in the formulation of industry-specific policies, the support to farmers and companies, and the coordination of all parties involved in coffee in Pu’er. Their motivation is more symbolic than purely economic. They want to prove that Yunnan is not an underdeveloped region; they want to show that the efforts of the local government have resulted in the development of a specialty industry unique in China; and they want to transfer that regional pride into a national pride, to promote domestic consumption of local products and reduce the import of foreign coffee.
Coffee multinationals like Nestlé and Starbucks remain important for the business, particularly in the areas of technology transfer and training. Nevertheless, the last years have seen the rise of domestic companies and processing companies that, with the assistance of the government, are trying to climb up the technology ladder and produce high-quality coffee.
Despite lacking stability and a strong international presence, local companies have come a
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long way in the past years. If they continue to evolve at this rate, local companies will likely become a benchmark of success amongst national coffee businesses and will take an important part of the leadership in the development of the Pu’er coffee industry.
In the coming years, Chinese coffee consumption will continue to increase at a fast speed.
Pu’er producers hope that a focus on the domestic market will help boost coffee sales, improve the image of Yunnan, and attract tourism. Moreover, the economic and non-economic benefits resulting from growing coffee will positively benefit farmers and the local economy of Pu’er. Farmers can consider coffee as a positive alternative to their precarious situation.
Nonetheless, coffee is an unstable cash crop that can suffer drastic price changes in short periods of time. Farmers that decide to turn to coffee should consider these aspects of coffee growing before they invest money and time. Despite encouragement from officials and entrepreneurs, this industry is not stable yet and an overconfident immersion in the coffee growing business could worsen the situation of some farmers. They need be informed and act with caution. Moreover, the expansion of coffee plantations could have a severe impact on the environment. Authorities need to foresee the potential risks of intensive coffee cultivation before encouraging the fast expansion of the land available for coffee.
Generally speaking, the fast development of coffee industry in Pu’er has had a very positive impact on the region. Coffee may not generate significant profits now, but the creation of an innovative and exclusive industry is a reflection of the progress they are making. The local government has thrived in designing an organized network of bureaucrats, entrepreneurs and laobaixing that has proved to be more successful than any other county and province in China.
Providing that the government proceeds with caution and prioritizes quality over quantity, the expansion of coffee industry in Pu’er will be very beneficial for the economic, political, social and entrepreneurial development of Pu’er and Yunnan.
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TABLE 6: Codes and references of the interviewees
Code Occupation
B02 Head of communications, Aini Garden March 13, 2014 Kunming
B03 Executive director for the distributor of
Manlao River Coffee in Kunming March 13, 2014 Kunming B04 General manager of Kworlds
Communication March 18-24, 2014 Pu’er
B05 General manager of Beigui Coffee March 19, 2014 Pu’er
B06 Manager of Nestle Coffee Agriculture
Service in China March 20, 2014 Pu’er
B07 Deputy general manager of Starbucks in
Pu’er March 21, 2014 Pu’er
B08 General manager of Arabicasm March 21, 2014 Pu’er
B09 Owner of Yicun Coffee March 21, 2014 Pu’er
B10 Promotion manager at Aini offices in Pu’er
March 24, 2014, May 5, 2014, May 12, 2014
Pu’er
G01 Director of the Pu’er Coffee Industry Development Office
March 18, 2014, June
24, 2014 Pu’er
G02 Deputy director of the Pu’er Coffee Industry Development Office
March 18, 2014, May 12, 2014, June 25, 2014
Pu’er
S01 Researcher at the University of Tropical
Crops in Pu’er March 20, 2014 Pu’er
S02 Founder of Green Watershed March 26, 2014 Kunming
S03 Member of Green Watershed March 26, 2014 Kunming
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S04 Researcher at the Tourism Management
department in Yunnan University May 16, 2014 Kunming F01 Farmer at Nestlé procurement center March 20, 2014 Pu’er
F02 Farmers at Starbucks and Aini
procurement center March 21, 2014 Pu’er
F03 Farmer at Beigui procurement center March 19, 2014 Pu’er
F04 Farmer in Ning’er county March 23, 2014 Pu’er
C01 Employee at one of Aini’s cafés March 24, 2014 Pu’er
C02 Businessman of Pu’er March 22-24, 2014 Pu’er