In Xiamen, Fujian, the density of coffee shops ranks among the top in the country, with over 2000 coffee shops of various types. Xiamen, which produces almost no coffee beans, has created a billion dollar scale industrial chain for coffee consumption. Where does the vitality of the consumer end come from? Today, we visited Xiamen, Fujian for our research tour on 'Vibrant China'.
CCTV reporter Li Jingjing: Twenty years ago, this Y ú n D ā ng Road was the earliest coffee street in Xiamen. Nowadays, there are an average of 7 coffee shops per square kilometer in the city. How many different types of coffee can be brewed in Xiamen?
Coffee shops can be seen everywhere on Xiamen Island. More than twenty years ago, a coffee shop opened in Xidi Villa by the banks of Dongdang Lake. That year, a cup of coffee cost 25 yuan, and the monthly salary of Xiamen people was only eight or nine hundred yuan.
Liu Lijuan, Deputy General Manager of the Coffee Shop: Initially, there were a lot of foreign customers, and the customer base was positioned as overseas returnees, white-collar workers, and private enterprise owners.
This is the "origin" of coffee consumption in Xiamen – starting from high-end niche. But today, coffee is no longer just "something for foreigners to drink", nor is it high-end consumer goods. Cafes in Xiamen are using various ways to make this "imported drink" grow local flavor.
In Shapowei, a coffee shop that has transformed from a traditional supermarket into a trial run has added the familiar satay sauce of Minnan people to its latte, attracting many young people to come and check in.
Guest: There is a feeling of eating sand tea hotpot and drinking milk. I think it's quite compatible, it's salty and sweet.
Coffee shop manager Zhu Sisi: We have been looking for Minnan flavors and turning various childhood flavors into coffee, reflecting a state that is suitable for all ages.
Taste localization, the scene is also changing. At Jimei Dashe, in the nearly century old overseas Chinese mansion Wenque Building, Minnan tea drinks, Nanyang style, and boutique coffee blend together.
Out of town tourists: Drinking coffee in a relatively iconic building feels relaxed and comfortable.
The creativity of young people is redefining the "gameplay" of coffee. This coffee shop, which often waits in line, has a bar counter placed in the center of the store after 2000, showcasing its products like a stage. The menu is updated quarterly. Some of the special notes have added mustard, while others have been blended with cinnamon and star anise.
Coffee shop manager Wu Yujie: There is too much homogeneity in the market, and we want to find some niche flavors. There are currently no flavors that compete with us, so our customer base will be more stable.
Industry insiders have observed that Xiamen's coffee supply is becoming more refined in response to the diversification of consumer demand.
Zeng Huashan, President of Xiamen Baking and Coffee Association: Coffee is now divided into three standards. One way is to use software to order a cup, which may cost more than ten yuan, and directly deliver it to the downstairs of your office building; One way is for me to receive a friend today and go to a more stylish coffee shop; The third way is for me to go to a famous teacher and experience the essence of coffee.
More importantly, the vitality of the consumer end is also being transmitted upstream in the industrial chain. In a coffee roasting shop with a front and back factory, consumers can directly see the entire process from raw beans to brewing coffee.
Coffee shop manager Zhang Yunyan: Collect coffee beans from various real estate areas around the world in the store, and showcase them to consumers through good roasting and brewing. Coffee is not just a refreshing tool, it has many interesting flavors and stories.
A cup of coffee on the 'global' chain
China is one of the fastest-growing coffee consumption markets in the world, and every time consumers unlock a new flavor, they are driving the global supply chain. Nowadays, with coffee beans from about 25 countries and regions gathering in Xiamen, this city that does not produce coffee beans has become an important gateway for global coffee beans to enter China and a key market in the global coffee "big market".
By 2025, Xiamen will import over 8700 tons of coffee beans with a value of over 400 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of over 68%. Among them, the value of coffee beans imported from Ethiopia was 267 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of over 31 times, and the import volume of coffee beans in Xiamen accounted for a quarter of the country's total.
Chen Haojian, the head of the Inspection Department of Haicang Customs under Xiamen Customs, said that the fastest time from arrival at the port to entry into the warehouse can be around 24 hours.
According to statistics from Xiamen Customs, 5500 tons of coffee beans will be allocated for bonded import by 2025. Customs clearance, testing, and warehousing are interrelated, and Xiamen's coffee import channels are accelerating comprehensively. Coffee beans from all over the world are roasted, processed, and branded every day in Xiamen, providing a diverse consumer market in China and even globally with new formats and gameplay.
Lin Zhenya, Deputy Director of Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Commerce: Among the four imported coffee beans in China, one is imported by Xiamen enterprises. Through the distribution and distribution of coffee beans here, a center for transit trade is created.
This Taiwanese electronics company, which established a factory in Xiamen in 1992, transformed into the first factory in Xiamen to independently import raw beans in 2018.
Wang Qianwei, General Manager of Taiwan funded Coffee Factory: At that time, the average annual consumption per capita in China was less than 10 cups. Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea have an average annual consumption of 300 to 500 cups per person, and the domestic coffee industry is just in the takeoff stage.
Nowadays, this enterprise has a processing capacity of 300 tons of high-quality green beans per year and is cultivating professional talents for the society.
A leading enterprise has surpassed 30000 global coffee stores and signed a five-year, 240000 ton coffee bean purchase order worth billions with Brazil.
And more Xiamen coffee supply chain enterprises are extending their tentacles directly to the production areas and establishing first-hand procurement networks.
Wu Yawen, head of the Procurement and Development Department of Xiamen Jianfa Life Materials Co., Ltd.: The team has overseas personnel stationed in Brazil, Vietnam, and Ethiopia to directly negotiate with local top exporters and rural cooperatives.
The 'strong chain' is also reflected in the coffee utensil manufacturing industry. This coffee utensil company was founded in Shanghai and moved its headquarters to Xiamen four years ago. The grinder is exported to more than 100 countries and regions.
Wu Jiajia, head of new media at a coffee utensil company: The traditional high-end market is dominated by old foreign brands, but we have our own drilling and grinding core performance, benchmarking against top foreign brands and even surpassing them. The product has won the Red Dot Design Award.
The rapidly expanding coffee market in Xiamen has also found new opportunities for domestic coffee beans. At the beginning of this year, the first Yunnan coffee train directly arrived in Xiamen, connecting high-quality production areas in China with processing bases along the southeast coast. Beyond the consumer end, Xiamen's coffee industry chain is still extending deeper, even coffee grounds are being reused – growing succulents, making filters, and making cat litter.
Lin Zhenya, Deputy Director of Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Commerce: There are also such enterprises in the coffee industry. The implementation of green products is a form of circular economy and has also achieved carbon reduction targets.
A cup of coffee blends the flavors together
Statistics show that the coffee industry scale in Xiamen has exceeded 60 billion yuan, and is accelerating the construction of the "four major centers" of national coffee headquarters cluster, international coffee trade, southeast coastal coffee production and processing, and national coffee circulation and consumption. Beyond the industrial framework, in a cup of coffee, human touch and cultural flavor intersect and blend together here.
The relevant person in charge of Xiamen Baking and Coffee Association told reporters that the consulate on Gulangyu brought the lifestyle of drinking coffee and hosting dance parties, and gradually grew in the soil of Xiamen. The coffee habits brought back by overseas Chinese in Nanyang and the daily tea and Dim sum of Minnan people also left their marks in this cup. The taste of Xiamen coffee has always been the result of the intersection of diverse cultures. Later, Taiwanese coffee brands landed one after another, making the taste of this cup of coffee even richer.
Zeng Huashan, President of Xiamen Baking and Coffee Association: Why are there so many Taiwanese compatriots in Xiamen? Because of the warmth and inclusiveness of this city, we share the same roots.
On Gulangyu Island, Taiwanese businessman Chen Fangyu came to Xiamen from Tainan in 2014. His ancestral home is across the Jiulong River. In 1989, he returned with his father to search for his roots. Geographically close, culturally connected, and with a strong sense of brotherhood, he chose this place as his first stop for entrepreneurship. In 2019, he opened a coffee shop called "Gandan" on Gulangyu Island – a homophone of "simple" in Minnan dialect. But he didn't expect that this small caf é was connected to people like him who came across the sea – pushing the door in, having a cup of coffee, and then finding memories about 'home'.
Taiwanese businessman Chen Fangyu: I have been living on Gulangyu Island for seven years now. This island is very diverse, so I have also filmed videos to record my life. Some Taiwanese brought photos to search for their roots, and I told them they could look for the police station, and most of them could be found.
From Tainan to Gulangyu, a cup of coffee connects daily life on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Wang Qianwei, General Manager of Taiwan funded Coffee Factory: The coffee industry is developing more diversely. Nowadays, drinking coffee emphasizes health preservation, pairing it with traditional Chinese medicine and different flavors. For Taiwan, it is also a fusion of old and new.
From the century old hometown of overseas Chinese on Gulangyu Island to the fusion and mutual learning of coffee lovers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, what is contained in a cup of coffee is never just the coffee itself. It is the unique fragrance in the travel bags of returned overseas Chinese in Nanyang, the sweet return of Minnan tea with Dim sum, and the root seeking memory of the sentence "I'm back" from Tainan to Gulangyu. Nowadays, this cup of coffee with warmth is no longer just a daily life for locals, but has also traveled further along Xiamen's trade routes.
(CCTV reporter Liang Zhengzheng, Cao Yan, Li Jingjing, Han Zhitao Xiamen channel)
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