CHINA: Taiwanese entrepreneur develops Arabica coffee plantation in tropical Hainan Island to meet growing interest in Western lifestyle

Coffee, despite its popularity in the West has never been able to break through the Chinese tea drinking culture, until now. Lin Wending (pron: lee wehn deeng), a fifty-four year old retired Taiwanese government official took a risk five years ago and moved to the north of China's Hainan Island to begin the Hainan Guse Nongye (pron. goo sir nong yea) coffee plantation. He had been a coffee addict for years and eventually decided to try his luck at growing it. Lin Wending's entrepreneurial venture gambles on the opinion that as China's economy develops, an expensive cup of coffee will become a status symbol for the modern Chinese consumer spender. He says the recent influx of foreign investment and China's willingness to encourage it has made coffee a must in most companies boardrooms. "On the mainland at present the demand for coffee is doubling every year. This is because the country's economic situation is improving. More foreign companies and visitors are coming to China. If a local Chinese businessman wants to attract foreign investment then he wants to (look sophisticated by offering coffee). The foreigners bring their own coffee drinking custom with them from their own countries to China," said Li. Whilst land in Taiwan is very expensive, both labour and land are much cheaper on Hainan and the soil also possesses a very special quality. This area of Hainan possesses the same type of volcanic red earth that grows Hawaii's luxuriously expensive Kona coffee. Lin Wending hopes that his Hainan grown coffee can compete in that market. He argues that most coffee is grown in poor areas and drunk in wealthy ones. He claims his enterprise will be different. "The big coffee drinking nations consume the majority of the world's coffee but they can't grow it. So, I think everyone knows China's economy is developing fast. I hope that if I work hard, mainland China will not only be able to drink fine quality coffee but also to grow it." The local Robusta coffee, which is grown in ordinary soil and has a much sharper flavour, costs 7 yuan, (0.9 USD) per cup. Prices can rise to more than 20 yuan, (2.6 USD) for a cup of Lin Wending's red earth Arabica coffee. The demand is doubling every year. Last year Lin's company processed one hundred thousand kilograms of coffee and this year they hope to double that figure. His plantation now consists of over thirty thousand trees and many of his nursery saplings are sold to the new plantations springing up in the red earth area. The island even possesses its own small roasting machine and imports coffee from abroad to process for the Chinese market. Hainan's capital Haikou still retains its traditional architecture and street vendors selling hot bowls of noodles. However, new Western style coffee houses are also appearing to compete alongside the more traditional Chinese snacks. Many Hainanese now choose coffee over tea and not just for the novelty value. "Maybe when it started it was like that, just a fashionable craze. Then we became used to this type of drink, but at the start it was just a fashionable craze" says Ye Qing, a customer at the cafe. However Hainan coffee retains its own eastern influences. Hainanese have adopted the brewing method used in Japan and Taiwan which verges almost on a performance in itself. Water in the glass bulb bubbles up into the coffee filter over the heat of the flame. Once the flame is removed the brewed coffee dribbles back down into the bulb, leaving the coffee grains in the filters. If Lin Wending's predictions are correct then Chinese coffee could soon make the same kind of name for itself that Chinese tea has in the international market.

ITN Source | April 13, 2007

Tags:. .addict. .venture. .symbol. .entrepreneurial. .eventually