The Paper's reporter Sun Yizhen
【Editor's Note】
The Chronicle of Cargo Colonization is the earliest historical work dedicated to the outstanding figures engaged in "cargo farming" (commercial) activities, and the economic ideas and commercial wisdom of the people expounded by Sima Qian are praised as "historical thought and economics, and the book cover is a pioneering work".
A new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is reshaping the world economic structure and reconstructing the global innovation map. In this great change, the stories of all entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs and workers who dare to innovate and take responsibility deserve to be remembered. We launched the "Surging Financial People Weekly Magazine " To Tell the Story of Business People in the Tide of Globalization.
They have made a biography for the times, and we have made a biography for them.
Today, no bean can have such a powerful "spirit-lifting" function as coffee beans: from "beans" to "cups", from planting, processing, tasting, making, drinking, every link related to coffee awakens people's business nerves -
Some people have opened up the whole industry chain and created their own coffee brands; some people have come to the top and successfully started a business in Shanghai, which already has more than 7,000 coffee shops; some people have used this to achieve career transformation and become top coffee trainers.
Coffee and tea, cocoa and known as the world's three major drinks, as an imported product, coffee came to China for more than a hundred years. From the instant coffee represented by Nestlé entering the Chinese market in the 1980s, followed by the rise of coffees represented by Starbucks, and then to the explosive growth of Internet coffee in recent years, China's coffee consumption market has developed rapidly.
On April 29, Hongqiao International Coffee Port, which brings together the whole industrial chain of "from seed to cup", was officially opened. While boosting the development of China's coffee industry, it also officially kicked off the prelude to the construction of a 100-billion-level international trade headquarters agglomeration area in Hongqiao Import Commodities Exhibition and Trading Center (Hongqiao Pinhui).
As more people participate in the coffee industry, downstream products are abundant and stores increase; for consumers, coffee, which was originally given too many cultural attributes, is returning to its original appearance - a convenient and easy to obtain beverage that is needed every day.
From "Seed" to "Cup"
"Coffee farmers in Yunnan don't know what fine beans are. Nescafe told farmers what varieties to grow and what methods to use to treat the beans, but all this was just to make instant coffee at the time," German coffee trader Eric Baden told the surging news (www.thepaper.cn). ”
Even when Eric, who has lived and worked in China for more than 20 years, is fluent in Chinese, his communication with Yunnan coffee farmers is still very difficult – the difficulty lies not in the accents of both sides, but in the concepts that Nestlé coffee in the 90s is deeply rooted in the minds of farmers.
In 1988, Nestlé entered Yunnan, China, to develop coffee cultivation in the local area; in 1992, Nestlé set up a factory in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, and Yunnan coffee beans became one of the main raw materials of the factory. Under the influence of Nestlé, three-in-one instant coffee quickly became the mainstream of the Chinese market, and the Chinese instant coffee market began to flourish.
"Coffee farmers have formed the habit of planting and processing, and it has become difficult to change, and it is difficult to sell for better prices." Eric said.
He tried to tell Yunnan coffee farmers about the requirements for raw beans to make specialty coffee, but the response was often: "Why did Nestlé tell us to do this?" You say so? ”
Industry data shows that in China's coffee consumption market, instant coffee accounts for 72%, freshly ground coffee accounts for 18%, and ready-to-drink coffee accounts for 10%.
Although instant coffee still occupies the mainstream of China's coffee consumption market, Eric believes that relying solely on the backward management and production of bulk traded green beans is far from being able to meet the development needs of Yunnan coffee, and specialty coffee is the future development direction of Yunnan coffee.
The Institute of Science and Technology Information of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences recently released the "China Coffee Market and Industry Survey and Analysis Report" shows that China's coffee planting area is stable at about 1.8 million mu, mainly concentrated in Yunnan, China's coffee raw bean production is about 140,000 tons, ranking 13th in the world, of which Yunnan accounts for 99% of the country's total output. In terms of varieties, Yunnan coffee is mainly small-grain coffee, and Hainan mainly grows medium-grain coffee.
The research and development and protection of coffee germplasm resources started earlier in Yunnan Province. In 2003, the Ministry of Agriculture National Seed Project Yunnan Province Small Grain Coffee Seedling Breeding Base was built in Pu'er City, and at the same time, there were platform institutions such as the Coffee Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Center and the Coffee Research Institute. Pu'er City has become the most concentrated place in the country's coffee research and teaching institutions.
In 2020, the new crown epidemic swept the world, but the economic "double cycle" brought a larger market for Yunnan coffee beans.
"Although the epidemic has temporarily blocked our trade route, it has also brought opportunities for local coffee in Yunnan." Eric said. He set his sights on China and turned Yunnan coffee into a high-end niche brand for sale.
In Germany, Eric owns a coffee trading company, and in Pudong, Shanghai, Eric runs a coffee shop called "Coffee Commune". Thanks to the help of Hongqiao International Coffee Port, a group of coffee traders signed a procurement intention agreement with the Department of Commerce of Yunnan Province, and Eric, who began to lay out Yunnan Coffee early, is also among them.
"Hongqiao International Coffee Port provides window services from warehousing to freight coordination to customs clearance, helps with the complicated procedures of coffee export, and is a good platform to help Yunnan farmers export coffee." Eric introduced that he is currently discussing tailor-made service solutions with Hongqiao International Coffee Port to bring the highest quality coffee in Yunnan to the international market.
Eric's painting in his coffee shop: Coffee from Yunnan comes to the table in Shanghai.
In addition, Eric is also trying to use the platform of Hongqiao International Coffee Port to cooperate with the College of Tropical Crops of Yunnan Agricultural University to cultivate new varieties of high-quality coffee trees and plans to contract his own coffee plantations.
Growing good beans is just the first step to drinking a cup of specialty coffee. Fermentation, washing, sunning, baking, each link of the processing method is different, the taste is also different.
The roasting process has completed the ignition of the taste of coffee beans, playing the role of "turning stones into gold", which is an important step in the process of transforming coffee from agricultural products to leisure optional consumer goods. Since then, the price of coffee beans has also begun to show a huge difference.
The latest Xinhua Yunnan (Pu'er) coffee price index shows that the difference between specialty coffee beans and ordinary coffee beans reaches 40 yuan / kg. As of the week ended June 6, 2021, the average price of fine secondary coffee beans was 53.86 yuan / kg, and the average price of commercial grade III and below coffee beans was 12.44 yuan / kg.
In order to make the trading price of coffee beans more transparent, the Price Release Center of Shanghai Hongqiao Import Commodity Exhibition and Trading Center will take the lead in launching the coffee bean price index of HICH (Hongqiao International Coffee Port). This means that the requirements of "improving the functions of bonded goods display, price formation, information release and other functions of the Hongqiao Import Commodity Exhibition and Trading Center" officially approved by the State Council in early 2021 have been substantially implemented, and it is becoming possible to form a "Chinese version" of the coffee bean price system.
Eric shared with reporters the discoveries in the processing of coffee beans: "We used Yunnan coffee to make different flavors of coffee beans, such as strawberry flavor, peach flavor, etc., but many of these beans have a Pu'er tea flavor. Eric feels that it is the local soil, moisture and sun in Yunnan that give Yunnan coffee beans Pu'er tea aroma.
Like Yunnan coffee, which has a unique flavor, China is also forming a unique coffee culture. Eric believes that with the current development of the industry, China's coffee culture is still a "developing culture".
"In Europe, people like to sit in cute little shops drinking coffee and chatting; Americans have to drive everywhere and have their own coffee culture; China will definitely form its own coffee culture," Eric said. ”
From "taste" to "quality"
As early as nearly a century ago, the newspaper people in Shanghai realized that China's coffee imports were increasing year by year.
The tenth edition of the "Declaration" on May 23, 1933, published: "Chinese people often use coffee as a beverage, and the number of coffee imported from abroad is quite large every year. According to the customs trade report, in the nineteenth year (Note: the nineteenth year of the Republic of China, that is, in 1930 AD), the coffee income reached 544.462 catties, worth silver 266.4132. Twenty years (1931 AD) is 499 · 374 pounds, worth 270 · 4952 silver. ”
It may be hard for the newspaper editor who signed the manuscript to imagine that the former site of the declaration hall, in the old Shanghai public concession where he had written the news, would be transformed into a coffee shop selling both Western food and cocktails nearly 100 years later.
According to deloitte China's White Paper on Freshly Ground Coffee Industry, the number of cafes in China will reach 108,000 by the end of 2020, of which 75% are located in second-tier cities and above.
Supporting this huge figure is the coffee consumption habits cultivated by consumers in first- and second-tier cities: China's first- and second-tier cities have developed a frequency of 300 cups/year of coffee consumption, close to the level of mature coffee market.
On Yongkang Road, Shanghai's internet-red coffee street, about 20 coffee shops are concentrated within 200 meters of the eastern section of the road, while at the western end of the road, a wonton shop of less than 10 square meters is divided into three functional areas: kitchen, ledger and dining area. Three dining tables were set up, and only one person was left in the shop with a wide aisle, but the owner, Li Ling, still made room for her coffee machine in this small space.
"The guest came to eat ravioli, saw the coffee machine in my shop, and asked me if I also sold coffee. I said that the coffee I drank myself and didn't sell it, but I could give them a taste for free. Li Ling said.
Coffee is a favorite drink for three generations of Li Ling's family. The small sugar cubes that grandma put when she drank coffee left a deep impression on Li Ling when she was young. Li Ling told reporters that grandma will grind beans by herself when drinking coffee, and the small sugar cubes put in her "are branded"; in the parents' generation, the pace of work becomes faster, and for convenience, parents begin to drink instant coffee; and drinking coffee is more concerned about the quality and taste of different beans.
Drinking coffee is returning from the initial social scene demand and the symbol of "tone" to daily drinks, refreshing physiological needs have become the main reason for young people to drink coffee, and consumers' pursuit of the flavor and quality of coffee itself is also getting higher and higher.
Zhou Fang, secretary general of the Coffee Professional Committee of the Shanghai Technicians Association, believes that in the past two years, Shanghai street coffee shops have developed rapidly, but the current problem is that most of the people who serve and make coffee in coffee shops have not undergone formal training. "After only short-term training in stores, most of the staff's service and punching technology cannot meet the basic requirements."
Zhou Fang said that at present, the Coffee Professional Committee of Shanghai Technicians Association is relying on Hongqiao International Coffee Port to promote the training of coffee technicians, and in the future, the cultivation and certification of coffee talents will also become the core plate of Hongqiao International Coffee Port.
"The way of learning in the master-apprentice system, the level of the master directly affects the level of the barista. The non-uniformity of standards may cause some bottlenecks in the future development path of baristas. Therefore, there is a need to establish uniform industry training standards nationwide. Coffee trainer Jiang Feng told reporters.
Jiang Feng is currently the leader of the expert group of the Coffee Professional Committee of Shanghai Technicians Association. Prior to entering the coffee training industry, he worked as a marketing director for a real estate company and had no connection with coffee.
Talking about this career transformation more than a decade ago, Jiang Feng felt that it was not easy: "The resistance mainly comes from the cognitive gap of the coffee industry, at that time, there were too few professional training institutions. ”
Time back to 2008, when real estate control policies such as "Eight Articles of the Old Country", "Eight Articles of the New Country" and "Six Articles of the New Country" were successively issued in three years. The tightening of the real estate market has made Jiang Feng, who is in a real estate company, feel the pressure on the industry to increase. Out of his love of coffee, he came up with the idea of becoming a barista.
Around 2008, there were only a few professional coffee training schools in China. In order not to take a detour, Jiang Feng found a relatively professional coffee school in Beijing for training, and then entered a chain of coffee shops as a barista to accumulate practical experience.
In just 3 months, Jiang Feng was promoted from barista to store manager. Subsequently, Jiang Feng entered the field of coffee training, and in 2019 and 2020, he continuously cultivated the Chinese champion of the WBC World Barista Competition, one of the world's most famous coffee competitions.
Jiang Feng introduced that unlike most people's cognition of coffee production learning, coffee training courses are divided into categories, corresponding to each link of the industrial chain: the coffee bean planting at the front end of the industrial chain, corresponding to the basic course of coffee types and production areas; after picking, the coffee beans should be dried, corresponding to the processing knowledge of coffee beans; subsequently, the green bean processors should sell coffee beans to the company, and the school designed a coffee bean trade related course; then, the coffee green beans will be purchased by the coffee factory or coffee company that makes cooked beans. Roasted by the coffee roaster, corresponding to the coffee roasting knowledge; after the cooked beans are done, the special coffee taster will conduct cup testing and quality control, and evaluate whether the coffee beans are good or bad, which corresponds to the coffee tasting class.
"The last link is to go to the barista to make, which is the barista course that most of us know," Jiang Feng said, "For coffee beginners, 'will drink' and 'will do' are the most important two steps, but for the entire industry chain, from the 'beans' to the 'cup' process, the middle involves countless people, the importance of each link is the same." ”
Jiang Feng believes that practitioners should improve their segmentation in the industry and clarify which position they occupy in the industry is the most suitable.
At present, the Coffee Professional Committee of Shanghai Technicians Association is entrusted by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security to revise the national barista professional standards. The standard includes 5 professional levels of baristas, of which the highest level of coffee senior technician will be included in the national occupational standard for the first time, and the standard will be implemented from the second half of 2021.
"The coffee technician certification center will also land in Shanghai Hongqiao International Coffee Port, we hope to build Shanghai International Coffee Port into a trade platform and talent development platform, coffee companies can directly find the talents they need in the certification center of the coffee port." Jiang Feng said.
Training and courses require norms and standards, but Jiang Feng found that there are no rules for how people around the world drink coffee.
During a trip to an African coffee-producing area, Jiang Feng noticed the details of a local coffee drink: "When I arrived at the real coffee producing area, I found that African farmers would roast the coffee beans until they had a burnt paste taste and then drink them, which is completely different from the current mainstream roasting method." ”
This experience triggered Jiang Feng's thinking about the diversity of coffee culture: "You can't say that what people like to drink is wrong. Lifestyles create cultural diversity, and people's drinking habits are themselves a country's coffee culture. No matter what coffee they drink, I respect everyone who drinks coffee. ”
From "Entrepreneurship" to "Creation"
In Fujian, a major tea-producing province, whether it is instant, ear hanging, or new lyophilized powders and cold extracts, the mature processing technology of tea factories is giving more imagination space to coffee beans, and also changing the way people drink coffee in different scenes.
A staff member from a large tea processing plant in Fujian told reporters that as early as the early 1990s, the boss added a coffee processing production line in the factory because he was optimistic about the future domestic coffee market.
"Some of the famous coffee brands in the market, Nestlé, Luckin, Tim's, Yingji and other coffee brands, we all have OEM. Moreover, different brands and products, we can design different packaging to meet people's differentiated needs. The staff member introduced.
The Fujian tea factory OEM part of the coffee brand.
According to the "2020 New Tea White Paper", in 2020, the total size of China's tea market dominated by a wide variety of new tea drinks was 442 billion, while the total size of China's coffee market reached 215.5 billion yuan.
Even if some large foundries and brands have formed relatively stable cooperative relations, some people have successfully started businesses on the track where the coffee industry is gradually crowded.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has made the self-employed feel the cold of winter, but Bear Claw Coffee has caught fire in the winter with its unique creativity.
On Shanghai's Yongkang Road, behind a gray cement wall hides many different faces, but the bear's claws that reach out from the hole in the wall to deliver coffee are the same. A wall and a bear's claw glove became a protective cover for the disabled people in the wall and the outside world.
Bear's Claw Coffee
Wang Haiqing, the founder of Bear Claw Coffee, calls himself a "serial entrepreneur." Before opening a coffee shop, Wang Haiqing had a variety of professional experiences: she worked as a product manager for Chanel, opened bars and restaurants, and worked as an investor in a fund company.
By chance, a friend who worked at the Shanghai Hongkou District Disabled Persons' Federation told Wang Haiqing, who was interested in opening a coffee shop at the time, that the Disabled Persons' Federation had opened a barista course for people with disabilities.
The idea quickly took shape and landed after the chat: the coffee shop hired baristas with disabilities to offer them job offers, and the baristas put on bear claw gloves to deliver coffee to customers outside the wall.
"Before the official opening of Bear's Claw Coffee, the Disabled Persons' Federation recommended to me seven or eight baristas with disabilities who came to interview." Wang Haiqing feels that there is no conflict between starting a business to make money and doing public welfare projects.
The first bear paw coffee shop was located on a coffee street on Yongkang Road. "There are a lot of famous boutique coffee shops on Yongkang Road, and if we have confidence in our products, we should open stores in the most competitive places. The more coffee shops there are, the more people who consume them. Wang Haiqing said that this choice comes from the "ignorance and fearlessness" of late entrants, but also from the boldness and self-confidence of entrepreneurs.
The bold idea is not only reflected in the form of sale of bear paw coffee, but also in the way coffee products are made.
Wang Haiqing believes that the similarity and similarity of overseas coffee shops are very high, while the coffee shops in Shanghai are "particularly interesting", not only in number, but also in terms of product innovation.
Wang Haiqing tried to break some of the thinking patterns inherent in the industry: "People who have been making coffee, more ideas are: how to make specialty coffee more exquisite." For me, it's hard to smell the fruit from the coffee beans, so why can't I just add the juice directly to the coffee? What about adding jasmine tea? ”
Wang Haiqing is creating job opportunities for people with disabilities, and Shanghai is also providing raw materials and platforms for more coffee entrepreneurs like Wang Haiqing to create more possibilities.
In April this year, a number of coffee traders, brands and equipment manufacturers such as Bear Claw Coffee and Myron Coffee officially settled in Hongqiao International Coffee Port, and the whole chain of the coffee industry is being opened. During the "May 5th Shopping Festival", Bear's Claw Coffee temporarily built a bear's claw coffee shop similar to the Yongkang Road store in the North Area of Hongqiao Pinhui, serving 500 cups of Gemsha American coffee roasted with Gemsia's 92-point top coffee beans every day.
"The largest service group of Hongqiao International Coffee Port is the supply chain. As a coffee shop, we can take advantage of this to have a larger industry platform and a more cost-effective supplier, and hope that Bear Claw Coffee can move from Hongqiao International Coffee Port to more places in the Yangtze River Delta in the future. Wang Haiqing said.
(Intern Qiang Li also contributed to this article)
Editor-in-Charge: Li Yuequn
Proofreader: Shi Gong