Why Are Yunnan Coffee Bean Prices Still Climbing?

Yunnan coffee beans have gained steady attention in the domestic market, and purchase prices for both commercial and specialty lots have risen in tandem. Some premium lots now reach the thousand-yuan-per-kilogram level. Cross-industry launches such as China Post's Post Coffee and KFC's Yunnan Little Red Can freeze-dried coffee pushed more brands toward this highland growing region.

The 2022 purchasing market shows why. Coffee has become one of the most popular beverages, and coffee arabica grown in Yunnan is winning wider consumer recognition. Nescafé, Starbucks, and Luckin have released multiple Yunnan products over the past few years, and new-style tea brands have joined, together lifting demand and prices for the region's beans.

In recent years, Yunnan coffee beans have risen to fame in the domestic market. From China Post's cross-industry launch of Post Coffee to KFC's release of Yunnan Little Red Can freeze-dried coffee, more and more brands are turning their attention to this highland growing region. At the same time, the purchase prices of both commercial and specialty coffee beans in Yunnan have risen in tandem, with some premium lots even reaching the thousand-yuan-per-kilogram level. This article will review the market performance of Yunnan coffee beans, the current state of brand applications, and look back at the 2022 price trends, analyzing the multiple factors behind their popularity.

Coffee has become one of the most popular beverages, and coffee beans from Yunnan are winning recognition from more and more consumers. As the domestic coffee market continues to expand, cross-industry entry has become one of the ways many companies seek to grab a larger share of this track. I wonder if you've noticed that more and more brands are now proactively mentioning their use of Yunnan coffee beans in their marketing.

Not long ago, Post Coffee, the first cross-industry coffee shop created by China Post, officially opened. On opening day, the co-founder of Post Coffee told the media in an interview that all the coffee beans used in the store come from Yunnan Province, and praised the outstanding quality of Yunnan coffee beans.

Yunnan Torch Coffee Lab was also involved in the Post Coffee project. The concept for the project took shape around February 2021, with Torch Coffee mainly responsible for coffee-related industry training, product output, and operational assistance. Public information shows that Torch Coffee's studio is located in Pu'er, Yunnan, with business covering coffee training, information and development, industry research and development, coffee bean sales, and import-export trade.

Recently, reports about Yunnan coffee have become increasingly frequent, and coffee brands using Yunnan coffee beans as raw material have sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain. Consumers who regularly drink Nescafé, Starbucks, and Luckin will not find it hard to notice that these brands have launched multiple Yunnan coffee products over the past few years. Not only coffee chains, but also popular new-style tea beverage brands such as Heytea, Chayan Yuese, and Mixue Bingcheng, as well as many independent coffee shops, have been venturing deep into the mountains of Yunnan to find coffee beans with outstanding flavor.

On February 14, China Post's first Post Coffee announced it would use Yunnan coffee beans. Shortly after, on February 21, Western fast-food brand KFC launched its specialty instant freeze-dried coffee "Yunnan Little Red Can" in Kunming, with plans to roll it out to more than 8,000 KFC stores nationwide in April, simultaneously launching on the KFC Super App platform, adding momentum to the promotion of Yunnan coffee.

In the past, Yunnan coffee often gave the impression of inconsistent quality. Today, Yunnan coffee has become a source of pride for Chinese people, and many coffee enthusiasts will even proactively ask cafe owners whether they have beans from Yunnan. The public's recognition of Yunnan coffee can also be confirmed by the rise in coffee bean purchase prices.

According to a March 5 report by China News Service in Kunming, the purchase price of commercial coffee beans in Yunnan ranges from 30 to 37 yuan per kilogram, an increase of more than 30% compared to the same period last year; specialty coffee beans rose from 50 yuan per kilogram in late February this year to nearly 68 yuan recently; and some lots with excellent flavor and high cupping scores can even sell for 1,000 yuan per kilogram.

The reasons driving this surge in Yunnan coffee include, on one hand, the rise in international coffee futures prices, declining production and rising prices in major Arabica-producing countries such as Brazil and Colombia, compounded by shipping congestion, which has led more and more coffee buyers to turn their attention to the Yunnan growing region.

With the rapid development of the domestic coffee industry in recent years and the continuous expansion of market volume, the time has come for Yunnan coffee beans to step onto a bigger stage.

Image source: Torch Coffee official website, internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.