At a Glance (China Coffee Network): To raise the profile of Yunnan coffee, MQ Coffee organized New Zealand coffee professionals and enthusiasts to visit Yunnan's growing regions. From winning attention to attracting a steady consumer base, the story of Yunnan coffee crossing the ocean is turning a new page.
To raise the profile of Yunnan coffee, MQ Coffee organized New Zealand coffee professionals and enthusiasts to visit Yunnan’s growing regions and learn about local coffee cultivation and processing. From winning attention to attracting a steady consumer base, the story of Yunnan coffee “crossing the ocean” is turning a new page.
Xinhua News Agency, Wellington/Kunming, October 5 — Reporter’s Notebook | Drinking a Cup of Yunnan Coffee in New Zealand
By Xinhua reporters Yi Aijun, Chen Zheng’an and Zhuang Beining
Lately, coffee beans from China’s Yunnan have been appearing more and more in cafes across New Zealand’s major cities. Among the lakes and mountains of the Southern Hemisphere, savoring a cup of “Yunka” (Yunnan coffee) blends the flavors of sunlight, plateau, and highlands into the cup—a taste all its own.
When coffee origins come to mind, people usually think of Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, and the like. Today that impression is changing—China’s Yunnan is becoming a “new face” on the global coffee map.
Headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, MQ Coffee is dedicated to promoting Yunnan coffee locally. Wang Yanqi, co-founder of MQ Coffee, says that in recent years the quality of Yunnan coffee has improved markedly, and overseas consumers’ interest in Chinese coffee keeps rising.
MQ Coffee now runs coffee-product customization, drip-bag coffee production and packaging in New Zealand, and uses product tastings, professional training, and origin-exchange programs to introduce Yunnan coffee to local consumers and industry professionals.
“Yunnan’s specialty beans get better year after year,” New Zealand coffee trainer Zhang Xue told Xinhua. She noted that Yunnan specialty coffee is drawing growing appeal through flavor expression and quality consistency, and is receiving wide attention across the industry.
Yunnan coffee is distinctive in varietal character and rich in flavor profile. It now has six core growing regions—Pu’er, Baoshan, Lincang, Dehong, Xishuangbanna, and Nujiang. Both Pu’er coffee and Baoshan small-grain coffee are listed in the China–EU geographical indication mutual-recognition register.
According to Kunming Customs, in the first eight months of 2026 Yunnan Province exported 11,000 tonnes of coffee worth 450 million yuan, mainly to 42 countries and regions including Vietnam, Malaysia, and Germany—ranking first in the nation by export value. In 2025, Yunnan exported 195.6 tonnes of green coffee beans to New Zealand, worth 10.2 million yuan.
Kunming Changchun Import and Export Trading Co. exported about one tonne of coffee beans to New Zealand this March. Wang Shizhao, the company’s general manager, explained that New Zealand has a deep coffee culture; the well-known tourist city of Queenstown has many cafes, and the popular local Wolf Specialty Coffee imports Yunnan beans. Yunnan’s Typica coffee is well received by local consumers, and other varieties such as Catimor and Sagym also enjoy a good reputation.
Wang Yanqi said that some Yunnan coffees have a pleasant sweetness and body, retaining their coffee character even with milk added, which suits the milk-coffee drinking habits familiar to New Zealand consumers. Some finely processed Yunnan coffees can also reveal richer floral and fruity notes through pour-over or drip brewing.
For Yunnan coffee, entering foreign cafes is only the first step. After years of development, New Zealand’s coffee market has formed a fairly mature industry chain spanning import, roasting, wholesale, and retail. For Chinese coffee products just entering the local market, the challenge is how to build stable sales channels, expand the consumer base, and turn consumers’ initial curiosity into lasting competitiveness.
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