A Coffee Bean 'Ferments' at the CIIE: Three Decades of Shanghai-Yunnan Collaboration

At a Glance (China Coffee Network): As Shanghai-Yunnan collaboration marks its 30th year, Zhenyuan's fresh coffee cherries gain bio-fermentation support through a tripartite agreement at the CIIE.

On November 7, at the Lesaffre booth during the 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE), the Shanghai Xizhong Charity Foundation, the Zhenyuan County Agriculture, Rural Affairs, Science and Technology Bureau, and the Lesaffre Fermedis Fermentation Beverage Division signed a tripartite strategic framework agreement to support the primary processing of Zhenyuan’s fresh coffee cherries through bio-fermentation technology.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Shanghai-Yunnan collaboration, and the focal point of this agreement is a single fresh coffee cherry.

Once a cherry is picked, it must go through processing, fermentation, sun-drying or washing, and dry storage before it becomes the flavor in the cup; each step affects the coffee’s final aroma, stability and market value. Zhenyuan has grown coffee for many years, and its industry is extending from cultivation to processing and branding. The question this cooperation must answer is a concrete one: how can a fermentation technique be turned into a local capacity that farmers can learn, apply, and verify?

This October, with the support of the Zhenyuan County Party Committee and government, the Shanghai Xizhong Charity Foundation and the Lesaffre Fermedis China team came to Zhenyuan, visiting large coffee growers and primary-processing enterprises, and held discussions with government departments, farmers and enterprise representatives to gain a clear understanding of the practical issues in harvesting, fermentation, sun-drying, and washing,honey processing, and dry storage, and other aspects of the production process, so as to understand them clearly one by one.

Beyond the discussions, the research team also went to processing sites for on-site inspection. After a full round of visits, the three parties gained a clearer picture of the needs: Zhenyuan requires a solution that adapts to local varieties and processing conditions, is easy for frontline workers to operate, and whose results can be verified through processing records andcupping feedback.

Under the agreement, Lesaffre Fermedis provides the technical solution, experts and professional materials, and participates in training, demonstration, data recording and effect evaluation; the Zhenyuan Agriculture and Science Bureau coordinates townships, cooperatives, enterprises and farmers, and is responsible for pilot selection, training organization and on-site support; the Foundation oversees the cooperation, designs public-welfare projects, connects public-welfare resources, and tracks progress. Going forward, the three parties will also turn the technical steps into executable actions in fields and at processing sites through hands-on training, processing records and cupping data.

On the signing day, Zhenyuan Ruinan Coffee Co., Ltd. and Zhenyuan Xinheng Coffee Co., Ltd. were awarded the plaque for theSafCoffee dedicated active-yeast technology ‘cooperation pilot.’

‘This is my first time attending the Shanghai CIIE. I am very grateful for the good policy of east-west collaboration, which gives Zhenyuan’s coffee enterprises the opportunity to step out of the mountains and come to Shanghai,’ said a Zhenyuan coffee enterprise representative at the signing site.

This year’s harvest season, the pilot farmers plan to officially apply this technology by the end of November. The expectation is also concrete: they hope the coffee beans will have more stable flavor, gain greater market recognition, and ultimately fetch a better price.

Fermentation of fresh coffee cherries is a key link in flavor formation. The thinking behind this technology is, on the premise of meeting food-safety and process requirements, to carry outcontrolled fermentation with suitable strains, so as to form a more stable microbial environment, reduce interference from undesirable bacteria, promote the generation of aromas and flavor precursors, and lay a more stable foundation for the subsequent drying, storage and cupping.

For the technology to truly work, it must be understood and mastered by frontline workers. Through training, on-site demonstration, operation cards, processing records and cupping feedback, the cooperation will explain clearly each key link, including environmental conditions, fermentation time, hygiene management, strain use and drying, so that farmers know both how to do it and why.

Zhang Peng, member of the Standing Committee of the Zhenyuan County Party Committee and deputy county head, views this cooperation as a concrete implementation of Shanghai-Yunnan collaboration in support of specialty agriculture, and hopes that pilot demonstration will drive quality improvement across Zhenyuan’s coffee sector. Thomas Lesaffre, Global General Manager of Lesaffre Fermedis Fermentation Beverage Division, said he will bring technical services to the fields, cooperatives and processing sites, and turn the experience into a replicable model through project reviews.

Going forward, the three parties will start with the two pilot enterprises and continue with origin verification, farmer training and data tracking, gradually forming an operating standard suited to Zhenyuan’s producing region. Whether the technology can take root in Zhenyuan, the harvest season beginning at the end of November will give the first answer.

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This article has been edited and compiled by China Coffee Network and reprinted from Tencent News, “沪滇协作三十年，一粒咖啡豆在进博会上“发酵”.” The copyright of the original text belongs to Tencent News and the original author. This reprint is intended solely for information sharing within the coffee industry and does not represent the views of this website; all data and opinions are subject to the original article. Our thanks to the original author for creating and sharing it.
Read the original: Tencent News, “沪滇协作三十年，一粒咖啡豆在进博会上“发酵””
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A Coffee Bean ‘Ferments’ at the CIIE: Three Decades of Shanghai-Yunnan Collaboration

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