Recently, at OONE Coffee Factory in Wu'an Industrial Park, contestants are screening coffee beans. Photo by Feng Yifan, a trainee journalist at Hebei Daily
Recently, a top competition in the domestic coffee roasting industry, the 7th "Smart Baking Cup" National Station (Handan Station) in 2026, kicked off at OONE Coffee Factory in Wu'an Industrial Park. 24 contestants from all over the country stand in front of the roasting machine, closely monitoring the real-time curve on the screen and adjusting parameters based on the characteristics of the coffee beans.
This is my third time participating in the competition in Wu'an. The professionalism of the competition and the hardware level of the factories here are not inferior to those in first tier cities, "said Ma Ruping, a participant from Anhui who has won the championship of international coffee roasting competitions and is deeply impressed by the coffee supporting industry here.
Why did a national professional competition land in the industrial city of Wu'an? The answer is hidden in the OONE coffee factory.
The head of the company, Hao Mengjie, is a native of Wu'an. In 2016, she ran a boutique handmade coffee shop in Beijing, accumulating a reputation for stable quality and increasing orders.
Mass production requires a food production license, and finding factories to process on behalf of us cannot meet our quality standards, "said Hao Mengjie. With the idea of trying to make boutique baking, in 2018, Hao Mengjie returned to her hometown Wu'an and opened a coffee baking factory, embarking on the transformation from single store boutique retail to building her own baking factory.
At first, the factory was only 1200 square meters, and a small baking machine had an annual production capacity of only 200 tons. Unable to find mature bakers locally, Hao Mengjie built her own training system to gradually cultivate talents.
As the premium coffee market becomes increasingly popular and factory orders continue to grow, the existing production capacity is quickly unable to keep up with demand. In 2023, Hao Mengjie invested over 20 million yuan to relocate the factory to a new area of 12000 square meters, introducing multiple imported professional roasting equipment. The annual roasting capacity of coffee was increased to 5000 tons, and OONE Coffee Factory became the largest boutique coffee comprehensive factory in North China.
In addition to expanding baking capacity, the factory has also built a 1800 square meter constant temperature warehouse for coffee beans. Taking advantage of the port advantages of Wu'an Bonded Logistics Park, OONE Coffee Factory imports green coffee beans from more than ten global production areas such as Brazil, Ethiopia, Panama, etc., providing one-stop services such as registration, customs clearance, packaging, shipping, and sales for more than 20 green bean merchants across the country.
Previously, coffee merchants in the north had to replenish their products from warehouses in Shanghai and Kunshan, which resulted in high logistics costs and long lead times, "said Hao Mengjie. OONE coffee factory has filled the market gap in the distribution of raw beans in the north, and the delivery efficiency has improved significantly compared to the past.
The road to development is not smooth sailing. Starting from 2024, the futures price of green coffee beans has significantly increased, while the domestic terminal market price continues to decline, intensifying industry competition and continuously compressing the profit margin of traditional baking and contract manufacturing.
Under pressure, Hao Mengjie turned her attention to the deep processing track. The domestic premium coffee extract market has a large gap, and currently most products rely on imports, "she said. Subsequently, she led her R&D team to continuously tackle challenges, collaborated with research institutes on technology, and independently developed the processes of blending and locking fragrances. By the end of 2025, the coffee extract production line will be officially put into operation.
OONE's coffee extract consists only of coffee beans and water, retaining the layered flavors of premium coffee such as floral and fruity aroma, sweetness, etc. It can be directly blended or used as a flavor base for tea drinks and baking. Over the past six months since its listing, it has received orders from more than ten chain brands.
Nowadays, OONE Coffee Factory has developed into a full industry chain coffee enterprise integrating planting, processing, trading, warehousing, and training. Its products are sold to cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu, and thousands of orders are shipped daily on average. With professional capabilities, the factory has hosted large-scale events such as the World Coffee Baking Competition China Selection Competition for three consecutive years, becoming the core communication platform for the northern coffee industry.
In the future, we want to build a specialized coffee industry park in Wu'an, with a large-scale extraction plant as the core carrier, improving upstream and downstream supporting facilities, attracting more green bean merchants, R&D teams, and coffee brands to settle in, and building a complete northern coffee industry ecosystem in Wu'an, "said Hao Mengjie. (Feng Yifan, intern journalist at Hebei Daily)