The China Coffee Conundrum: Can the tea-producing powerhouse find thesame quality in its beans?

摘要

The March issue of Fresh Cup boasts a special section titled "Coffee's Rise in Asia," part of which covers the China's recent embrace of specialty-cafes. And while that country has recently emerged as a gigantic consumer - Starbucks has announced plans to have 1,500 stores in China by 2015 to make it the company's second-biggest market behind the U.S. China is also investing in growing coffee and could become a relevant producer in the coming years. The effects are already being felt there: In December 2012, the Los Angeles Times published an article with the headline "Chinese tea farmers are switching to coffee," which talked to producers in Yunnan province who were ripping out their tea crops in favor of coffee plants in hopes they could earn twoto three times as much money.