Yunnan's specialty beans generate buzz in global coffee sector

For over a decade, German entrepreneur Eric Baden, known in China as "Coffee Laolin", has been a pivotal force in promoting Yunnan's specialty coffee beans. Since founding the brand Coffee Commune in Shanghai in 2016, he has shuttled between Southwest China's Yunnan province and Shanghai, introducing advanced planting, processing, and roasting techniques to help local growers shift from bulk production to premium coffee.

His efforts have elevated the global status of Yunnan coffee, and he has witnessed its remarkable ascent.

"Before 2020, promoting Yunnan coffee was incredibly tough. Everyone wanted foreign beans; no one believed China had good coffee," Baden recalls. "Now, there's no difficulty at all, but you must be prepared for well-informed customers asking questions like, 'Which region in Yunnan is this coffee from? What processing method was used?'"

Baden's sense of achievement is well-founded. The 2025 China urban coffee development report, released during the opening ceremony of the 2025 Shanghai International Coffee Culture Festival in late April, underscores Yunnan's pivotal role in China's coffee landscape.

The report highlights that China's coffee industry reached 313.3 billion yuan ($43.5 billion) in 2024, up 18.1 percent year-on-year, with annual per capita consumption rising to 22.24 cups.

Yunnan coffee sales on Taobao and Tmall hit 417 million yuan in 2024, a 17.3 percent increase from 2023, and are projected to exceed 500 million yuan in 2025. Meanwhile, Shanghai keeps its leading position as the city reportedly owns the largest number of coffee shops in the world.

The premium bean rate for Yunnan Arabica Coffee has surged from 40 percent in 2022 to 70 percent in 2024.

"When we started Coffee Commune about a decade ago, there was no specialty coffee scene here. We were among the first to teach farmers how to produce it," Baden says, reflecting on the journey. "It's a whole new world in coffee."

As Yunnan coffee gains market traction, product segmentation has become more sophisticated. Pu'er, a city in a mountainous region of Yunnan traditionally famed for tea, has emerged as a key coffee-producing region.

"About 10 years ago, 'Yunnan Pu'er' rarely appeared on coffee menus. Now, many menus list Pu'er as the origin, reflecting growing recognition of our region and its coffee," says Liu Haifeng, a regional coffee ambassador and general manager of Pu'er Coffee Industry Development Co.