Yunnan coffee roasters
Who Roasts The Coffee?
While China’s coffee market is growing, most of what people are brewing and drinking is actually roasted abroad.
What About Yunnan Roasters?
There are few roasters in Yunnan compared to in Western coffee-consuming countries. However, their number is growing.
China’s roasters into two types: large commercial-scale roasters and single-shop roasters. The large commercial-scale roasters are those that focus on providing roasted beans for instant coffee or big wholesale businesses. Single-shop roasters, on the other hand, are those that often aim for higher quality and roast on a small scale, normally for their own shops but occasionally also for a limited number of wholesale consumers. These roasters will typically use a 500 g or 1 kg roaster.
The home roasting market is also showing a gradual growth in mainland China. It is believes that it could have large potential, given similar trends in Taiwan.
An expansive online retail marketplace is also a unique feature of the Chinese roasting industry. There are many roasting companies with little to no retail presence who focus solely on building their online following.
Challenges For Yunnan Roasters
No matter where you are, operating a roastery is difficult. Understanding the changing needs of consumers, maintaining consistent quality, balancing supply with demand… There are many aspects to master. Roasters in China face an additional set of challenges.
- First, they need to obtain permits for roasting. “Difficulty in obtaining permits for roasting is currently one of the biggest issues for the Chinese roasting industry.”
- Secondly, Chinese roasters often face exorbitant equipment prices. The exclusive distributorship arrangements that many major roasters and international equipment manufacturers have in China allow domestic companies to monopolize the market and hike up prices.
- Roasting education is not as easily accessible as in some countries. However, the coffee training market has a significant presence in China. “From looking at the CQI website that certifies Q graders, there are more certified Q Graders in Greater China than Indonesia, Brazil, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Honduras, Peru, Mexico, and Costa Rica combined.
