Mar 15, 2023|

JD.com Brings the Best of Colombian Coffee to Chinese Consumers

Share:

by Vivian Yang

On March 10, JD.com joined representatives from the Colombian Embassy to China and Colombia Coffee Grower Federation (FNC) to host a coffee-tasting salon at JD’s headquarters in Beijing to promote some of the world’s finest coffee to Chinese consumers.

“One out of every ten green coffee beans imported by China comes from Colombia,” said Natalia Tobon, the Commercial Counselor of the Embassy and Director of ProColombia China in her speech We are confident that with JD’s support, this number will continue to grow.” Tobon’s remarks referred to Colombia’s coffee exports to China in 2022, which were valued at $78.4 million, representing a 66 percent increase from the previous year.

Natalia Tobon (middle), Commercial Counselor of the Embassy and Director of ProColombia China

Tao Ren, Vice President of JD.com and Head of JD FMCG marketplace, highlighted the rapid growth of Chinese consumers’ appetite for the best coffee from different countries. He also emphasized the significant market opportunity for Colombian coffee – the world’s only arabica proudly branded after a country’s name.

Tao Ren, Vice President of JD.com and Head of JD FMCG marketplace

JD.com is currently utilizing a variety of channels to introduce more Colombian coffee products to the Chinese market. These include its market platform, first-party sales, as well as through its pavilion of Latin America and the Caribbean Countries. The national pavilion program is an innovative online sales window on JD.com that is endorsed by embassies to provide diversified authentic imported products from their respective origin countries.

Jiahang Wu, FNC’s Chief Representative for Greater China, highlighted the unique features of Colombia as the world’s third-largest coffee-producing country, ranging from its weather and land advantages, hand-picking harvest and processing technics, colorful aromas and tastes, to its growers’ federation and worldwide branding efforts.

Jiahang Wu, Chief Representative for Greater China, Colombian Coffee Growers Federation 

Participants at the event had the opportunity to try four varieties of Colombian coffee, including Pink Bourbon, Geisha, Castillo, and Sidra, which opened up new senses and flavors for tasters, allowing them to explore coffee in ways they never knew existed.

Mian Li, Founder of S.O.E Coffee who provided brewing service for the event, shared his observation on China’s coffee consumption trend. Li noted that the specialty coffee market is experiencing considerable growth, and emerging types of coffee, such as freeze-dried coffee, drip coffee and many other new products are well received by the young generation of consumers. Li’s company’s sales data showed that the highest consumption demand for specialty coffee comes from the second- and sixth-tier cities as it is generally believed that young consumers living in lower-tier cities have more dispensable income and a stronger passion for trendy products, which further demonstrated the widespread and high demand for great coffee among Chinese consumers.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

 

Share: