The "New" Power in a Cup of Coffee — How Guiyang’s New Social Strata Are Boosting the Coffee Industry

Brief (coffeeyo.com): Across Guiyang, coffee shops are multiplying and young consumers are demanding higher quality — and a “new” force of entrepreneurs, professionals and creatives is organizing to turn that buzz into a real industry, capped by the first-ever 2026 Guiyang International Coffee Expo.

“From the 24th to the 26th of this month, an international expo covering the entire coffee industry chain will be held in Guiyang for the first time. This is far more than a trade show — it is a platform to mend, strengthen and extend Guizhou’s coffee industry chain through resource matchmaking and market validation, helping the province move from a coffee-consumption highland to an industry highland,” said Wang Weiran, executive vice president of the Guiyang New Social Strata Association and one of the organizers of the 2026 Guiyang International Coffee Expo, who has been busy of late.

Over the past two years, coffee shops have been springing up all over Guiyang, coffee talent has been gathering rapidly, and young consumers’ pursuit of coffee quality has kept rising. As a batch of local roasters with SC certification and real industry clout went viral online, coffee has become a unique window onto Guizhou’s new consumer scene.

The organizing committee of the 2026 Guiyang International Coffee Expo at work.

Yet behind the coffee-consumption boom lies a structural contradiction in Guizhou’s coffee industry: “consumption yes, cultivation no, processing scarce.” “No matter how strong downstream consumption is, the ‘roots’ of the industry chain are still planted in someone else’s soil. What we want to do is let more entrepreneurs and investors see the opportunities in Guizhou’s coffee industry,” Wang explained, laying out the original vision behind organizing the expo.

In Guiyang, members of the new social strata are turning that vision into reality. They are managerial and technical personnel in private and foreign-funded enterprises, freelancers, and new-media workers. This “new” force is active at every link of the coffee industry chain.

According to organizers, this expo is the first to bring the full coffee-industry-chain resources together into Guizhou. Whether established local brands or entrepreneurs and investors preparing to enter the sector, all can complete product selection, equipment procurement, trend analysis and resource matchmaking in one place, with the full-chain logic running through the coffee industry’s entire life cycle. “By building a normalized industry-service platform, we force local supporting industries to upgrade, infrastructure to improve and policy support to land — providing a systematic opportunity for resource matchmaking and market validation to mend, strengthen and extend Guizhou’s coffee industry chain,” Wang said.

Channeling the wisdom and energy of the new social strata into coffee-industry development is hardly a one-off. Last December, inside Monkey Coffee in the Nanming District Forest Park, the rich aroma of coffee blended with entrepreneurial enthusiasm. The “Feichang Yike — Coffee Owners Show You How to Run a Great Shop” event, jointly hosted by the Nanming District United Front Work Department, the District Federation of Industry and Commerce, and the District Government Service Center, offered precise empowerment through “experience + policy + resources,” solving growth problems for more than ten entrepreneurs.

Monkey Coffee owner Cao Zihan shared his startup journey and management insights on the spot; a representative from the Nanming District Government Service Center detailed the one-stop “one thing” service process for opening a coffee shop; the tax authority brought practical cost-cutting tips; financial institutions pitched customized products. From know-how to policy interpretation, from resource matchmaking to funding support, the single event hit entrepreneurs’ core pain points head-on.

The entrepreneurial vitality of the new social strata and the high-quality development of the coffee industry are resonating in sync —

Dr. Huo Honghao, a botany PhD from Guizhou University, planted the first trial coffee seedling in Chetian Village, Huchao Township, Gui’an New Area, completing a shift from “the PhD who sells coffee” to “the PhD who grows coffee.”

Chen Xiaolong, who crossed over from a career as a prison guard, founded the “seekseeking” brand and launched an “everyone learns coffee” campaign, training more than a thousand students in just over two years.

Lei Ming, owner of “Black Stone Coffee,” started out with policy support such as community rent subsidies and used a cup of “Houttuynia (fish mint) Americano” to open a shop all the way in Hangzhou…

They differ in identity and experience, yet all share the distinct character of the new social strata — daring to innovate and brave in exploration.

Today Guiyang has achieved full coverage of new-social-strata association organizations at both city and county levels, with 12 new association federations and 12 internet association federations established and a membership exceeding 2,000. From a single cup of coffee to an entire industry, the united front department is organizing and rallying this “new” force to precisely serve the high-quality development of the coffee industry in this city fragrant with coffee.

Source: Tianyan News (reporter Hua Shu).

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