China News Service, Kunming, November 3 (Chen Jing) Recently, a discussion on the "flavor beans" of Yunnan coffee has aroused great attention in the industry and among consumers.
On the 2nd, a reporter from Chinanews.com interviewed a number of Yunnan coffee practitioners and experts.
They said that "essence beans" exist to varying degrees in many coffee-producing regions around the world, and the value of Yunnan coffee should not be denied because of the very small proportion of "essence beans".
Yunnan is recognized by the world as the most suitable area for coffee cultivation in China. It has been 130 years since French missionaries brought coffee seeds to Yunnan in 1892. 98% of the country's coffee planting area and 99% of coffee production are in Yunnan. .
For a long time, Yunnan coffee beans were labeled as "low quality and low price": they were exported as raw materials, and then sold back to China at a high price after processing.
With the rise of the world's specialty coffee wave around 2015 and the rapid development of Yunnan's coffee industry, the quality of Yunnan's coffee has been greatly improved. In 2020, the price of Yunnan coffee beans exceeded the international coffee futures price for the first time, and more coffee growers turned their attention to rapid growth. the domestic market and higher value-added specialty coffee.
"'Flavor beans' were first introduced from foreign producing areas." Yang Zhu, founder of "China Coffee" in Baoshan, Yunnan, who has been engaged in coffee planting, processing and sales for 13 years, told reporters that in the industry, everyone regards coffee with a specific flavor and taste. Coffee beans are called "flavor beans".
He introduced that, as a plant fruit, coffee beans originally have bright, sour and sweet floral and fruity tones. After traditional sun exposure, honey treatment, etc., coffee will emit different flavors.
In order to form a richer and unique flavor, some practitioners will add mango, apple, citrus and other natural fruits during the fermentation process, or use different processing methods such as rubber barrels and anaerobic fermentation.
In addition, some people have made coffee to form a certain flavor by adding artificial flavors, etc. This is the "flavored bean" that has attracted much attention and controversy this time.
Li Qiwan, Institute of Quality Standards and Testing Technology, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences pointed out that China's "Guidelines for the Use of Food Safety National Standards for Food Additives" (GB2760-2014), which was implemented in 2015, clearly stated in the "Principles for the use of flavors and fragrances for food". It is stipulated that "coffee shall not be added with food flavors and fragrances".
Once a merchant adds flavors and fragrances in a certain link, it is a violation of the law that does not implement the national mandatory standards, and will be severely investigated and punished by the market supervision department.
"All world-class and national-level coffee competitions clearly stipulate that 'flavor beans' are not allowed to participate, and most practitioners are opposed to 'flavor beans'." Yang Zhu said that with the development of flavored specialty coffee The concept has gradually been accepted by consumers, and specialty coffee with various natural flavors has won the favor of many consumers. Some foreign producing areas have begun to appear in groups that can obtain higher benefits by adding low-cost artificial flavors. This practice has spread to After the country, it also attracted a small group of people to imitate and make profits.
"However, practitioners who are really in the coffee industry all want to improve the quality of coffee and improve its value, otherwise they will lose their jobs."
The picture shows the coffee beans being processed in a coffee manor in Pu'er, Yunnan, taken by Li Jiaxian
In Pu'er, one of the main coffee producing areas in Yunnan, "post-90s" and "three generations of coffee" Meizi run their own 1,000-mu coffee estate.
"Our annual output of coffee beans is about 80 tons, all of which are processed by traditional methods, and none of the beans are used to make 'essence beans'." She said that there will indeed be some middlemen who buy Yunnan coffee beans for processing and then sell them to Consumer market, but this is a problem of industrial norms and industry, and the production area should not be "backed up".
Lao Liu (pseudonym), a practitioner who has been operating a coffee studio in Kunming for 8 years, told reporters that there are indeed some consumers who pursue unique flavors who prefer to buy coffee beans with added flavor. Lao Liu will mark the processing method on the packaging to inform consumers. , for free choice.
Cheng Jinhuan, director of the Coffee Research Center of the Institute of Tropical and Subtropical Economic Crops of the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Institute of Thermal Economics), admitted that in fact, most practitioners do not focus on the non-mainstream thing "flavor beans". More It is to improve coffee varieties, standardize processing methods, establish industry standards and other fields to promote Yunnan coffee to a new level.
On October 28, 2022, after 21 years of dedicated research by the scientific and technological personnel of the Institute of Thermal Economics, the new local cultivated coffee varieties in Yunnan, "Yunka No. 1" and "Yunka No. 2", were launched.
Among them, the variety rights of "Yunka No. 1" were transferred to "Zhongka" in Baoshan, Yunnan with a transfer fee of up to 2 million yuan for the next step of promotion and cultivation.
Cheng Jinhuan revealed that he and his team are also working on formulating industry standards for specialty coffee processing to promote the standardized development of the industry.
"In order to allow everyone to drink a cup of fragrant Yunnan coffee, practitioners in all aspects have made great efforts." Yang Zhu said that once the reputation of Yunnan coffee beans is damaged, it will affect its international purchase price, which will affect coffee farmers and farmers. Other practitioners inflict huge losses.
On the other hand, this discussion also shows that Yunnan coffee has really entered the market, and the attention is getting higher and higher. The reaction of consumers tells all the peers that "essence beans" will not work.
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