First-hand observations | How did Yunnan coffee go from being a "red fruit" to becoming a "hot commodity" after leaving the mountains?
The 15th Five-Year Plan proposed to cultivate and strengthen distinctive rural industries, improve mechanisms for linking farmers with local businesses, and promote stable income growth for farmers. In Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, which was once a deeply impoverished area, the red coffee berries covering the mountains are now brightening the lives of the villagers.
Deep in the canyon
Old Joe's Stubborn Coffee Dream
Winter in the Nujiang Grand Canyon is being ignited by a vibrant "red"—the red coffee cherries covering the mountainsides as the harvest season begins. Qiao Yuguang was among the first coffee growers in the village. Right now, he's busy peeling and drying the harvested coffee cherries before sending them to the county's processing plant for roasting.
Don't be fooled by how popular Joe's coffee business is now; in the beginning, people didn't really understand him.
Qiao Yuguang, head of the Yuguang Agricultural and Forestry Development Professional Cooperative in Fuba Village, Lushui City: What can we do if we can't sell all the coffee we've grown? The pigs won't eat it, the chickens won't eat it, and we won't drink it either.
Old Qiao firmly believes that if there's a coffee market in the city, then good coffee can be grown in Nujiang. Relying on this fertile land and pleasant climate, he not only insists on planting coffee himself, but also established a cooperative to provide coffee seedlings to his fellow villagers free of charge.
Old Joe went door-to-door to persuade the villagers, and from a few households to dozens, the doubts were gradually replaced by the joy of seeing the coffee fruit ripen. Now, the harvested coffee berries are selling for a good price, and the villagers are full of energy.
Zuo Jie, a resident of Fuba Village in Lushui City, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, who has been lifted out of poverty, said: "The price of coffee has been rising every year in recent years, and I can earn more than 40,000 yuan a year."
Growing coffee is only the first step. How to sell it at a good price? Qiao Yuguang has a bigger plan in mind: he can't just be a raw material supplier. He wants to create his own brand and bring Nujiang coffee out of the mountains.
To expand his sales, this "local boss" dressed in traditional Lisu clothing traveled all over the country to coffee exhibitions of all sizes. He also collected his exhibition certificates from the past few years and made them into a "wall of honor".
"Going global" has broadened Old Joe's horizons. Now he is familiar with various specialty coffee brands and has even learned to analyze coffee prices using futures. His dream is no longer just to sell beans, but to let the world taste the aroma of coffee originating from the valleys of China, coffee with its own terroir and stories.
Qiao Yuguang, head of the Yuguang Agricultural and Forestry Development Cooperative in Fuba Village, Lushui City: By 2026, we plan to focus on high-quality products for about 80% of our coffee. As our coffee quality improves and product value increases, people's incomes will also rise. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we will further promote the high-quality development of Nujiang coffee and establish its brand.
Today in Nujiang, there are 16 coffee brands like Lao Qiao's that have been independently incubated. Alongside brand innovation, many new faces have also appeared among the thriving coffee seedlings. The local government has introduced high-quality new varieties and, through centralized seedling cultivation and sending technology service teams to rural areas, guides farmers in scientific planting and green pest control, helping villagers increase production and income.
Zhao Qian, vice president of the Coffee Association of Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province: During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we will cooperate with major scientific research institutions to solve the problems of coffee farmers in handling fresh fruit, introduce AI algorithms, and control each batch of coffee raw materials in real time and accurately to achieve high quality and high yield.
New hope in the aroma of coffee
Brands from deep in the mountains have "gone out" and also helped retain young people in the villages. The return of young people has not only brought a rich aroma of coffee to Nujiang, but has also sparked a "coffee tourism" boom here.
At the beginning of this year, construction was underway in many parts of Fuba Village, with villagers busy building new houses. Qiao Yuguang was also expanding his coffee experience center to attract tourists, an idea inspired by his son. After graduating from university, Qiao Jiazhi returned to his hometown and opened a coffee experience store in the city, turning his own coffee beans into various products such as drinks and cakes.
Qiao Yuguang's son, Qiao Jiazhi: At first, my father didn't have high hopes for the beverage business. Later, he found that many customers came to the store every day, specifically to drink our coffee, which suited the consumption habits of young people. He was very happy, surprised, and delighted.
The Lisu ethnic group's traditional festival, "Kuoshi Festival," has attracted tourists from all over the country, making Qiao Jiazhi's coffee shop increasingly popular, with daily sales exceeding 1,000 yuan.
The couple from Beijing, who came to visit and stay in the wilderness, were captivated by the beautiful scenery of the Nujiang Grand Canyon. They not only built a house there but also transformed the open space in front of it into a recreational campsite, sharing the stunning views with tourists from all over. Since opening, it has attracted hundreds of visitors.
Yuan Ye, head of the coffee plantation in Lushui City: We also want to help the local people. We want them to come here to sell fried potatoes and cold noodles. We want to increase their income. Rural revitalization also needs outsiders like us to contribute.
Currently, the number of coffee shops in Nujiang has increased to 62, giving rise to diverse consumption scenarios such as cave coffee and coffee integrating agriculture, culture, and tourism. As new coffee consumption scenarios become increasingly diverse, barista training courses at Nujiang Vocational and Technical College are packed. The local government is conducting barista skills training through school-enterprise cooperation to retain talent for industrial development.
Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the planting area of specialty coffee in Nujiang has increased from 6,800 mu to 61,000 mu, and the output value has increased from more than 40 million yuan to 576 million yuan, which has helped 11,200 coffee practitioners increase their income by about 35,900 yuan per household.
Li Hong, Vice President of Yunnan Agricultural University and Head of the Yunnan Coffee Industry Expert Group: During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we will promote the integrated development of coffee plantations and "living in Yunnan". Through intensive processing and the combination of agriculture, culture and tourism, we will create more jobs, increase the income of nearly one million farmers in 34 counties, strengthen the defense against returning to poverty, and promote the common prosperity of the region.
Building an industrial highland
It has both "coffee flavor" and "prestige".
The coffee story of Nujiang is a microcosm of the upgrading of Yunnan's coffee industry. Currently, Yunnan accounts for over 98% of the nation's coffee production, with a total output value exceeding 80 billion yuan. Behind these impressive figures, how has Yunnan's coffee industry grown? And what development opportunities lie ahead?
Stepping into the Baoshan Specialty Coffee Industrial Park, the rich aroma of coffee fills the air. The production lines operate smoothly, handling processes such as green bean sorting, roasting, extraction, and packaging. As Yunnan's largest and most comprehensive coffee industry cluster, it exports 32,000 tons of coffee beans to the rest of the country annually.
Huang Wei, Chairman of Yunnan Jinglan Tropical Crops Technology Co., Ltd.: Currently, our company's daily production capacity is 6 million cups of coffee. The domestic market is concentrated in Shanghai, Beijing, Shandong, Zhejiang, Guangzhou and Fujian. The annual sales growth rate is about 20% to 30%.
This company targets the needs of young consumers and has launched hundreds of different products, including low-fat black coffee and cold brew coffee. Currently, they are busy expanding their new factory and developing new coffee drinks.
Behind product innovation lies the collaborative efforts of the entire industry chain. In just three years, this industrial park has attracted six leading enterprises at the provincial level or above, covering the entire coffee research and processing chain. Close upstream and downstream cooperation, coupled with low logistics costs, allows companies to focus more on innovation and market responsiveness.
Yang Zhu, General Manager of Yunnan Baoshan Zhongka Food Co., Ltd.: Small-batch, multi-variety roasting is a major challenge in specialty coffee production. We have overcome this difficulty in achieving standardized and stable production by introducing a digital management system. The roasting factory is beginning to move towards intelligent, automated, and digital transformation.
Currently, Yunnan has formed six major coffee-producing areas, including Baoshan, Pu'er, and Lincang, with the coffee planting area remaining stable at around 1.2 million mu (approximately 80,000 hectares). The continuously improving industrial chain has driven the rate of deep processing of coffee from 20% to 80%, with total output value exceeding 80 billion yuan.
Li Hong, Vice President of Yunnan Agricultural University and Head of the Yunnan Provincial Coffee Industry Expert Group: During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we will strengthen scientific and technological innovation, continuously promote the improvement of the "three rates" of superior varieties, specialty coffee, and deep processing, deepen cooperation with RCEP countries, and build a national coffee industry highland.
Executive Producer: Wang Yanyuequn
Producers: Liang Lijuan, Wang Kaibo
Reporters: Li Xiaohu, Wang Xishen, Long Yang, Baoshan Media Convergence Center, Nujiang Media Convergence Center
Edited by Zhang Bo and Zhang Hao
(CCTV News Client)
