The Journey of a Specialty Coffee WFOE Roastery Startup in Wuhan China!
It’s so exciting (and nerve wracking) to get in your first green coffee shipment!
Sitting on the opposite side of the world, recollecting what I love about coffee in Wuhan, China.
As a coffee roaster starting out in Wuhan (2012) there were few options for purchasing green or roasted coffee. It seems most everything has changed in these 5 years since.
One great change is the availability of green coffee. I remember buying my first batch of coffee from some friends in Beijing. The price was outrageous, marked up 4-5x. It was my first purchase and the ROCC Coffee Roastery Grand Opening party was quickly approaching so we needed the best. We loaded up on some specialty grade Pulp-Natural Brazil, Washed Costa Rica, MicroLot Kenya & Gayo Mountain Sumatra. The Kenyan ran me $20USD/kg while the rest was closer to $15/kg! I had no choice, it was the only place I could find specialty coffee in 2012 and those were my only 4 choices.
However, to this day I have not had a Kenyan coffee which could rival that of 2012 (Kagumo Estate). Light roasted was sweetly acidic like vine ripened grape tomatoes and raspberries. Dark Roasted (I'm talking middle second crack) was like a toasted marshmallow.
2 months ago when leaving China I was sent 8 samples of some phenomenal coffees. Now green coffee traders are desparate to get roasters attention to help them offload excellent and affordable, clean, crisp, dense, fresh coffees from all over the world. Prices today are half those 2012 prices.
The unforgettable Kenyan smallholder microlot coffee with off-the-chart flavors!
Yet still, what I love about coffee in China is that it's like the Wild West. We need professionals to stand up and boldly say, "This coffee is a great bargain!" or "This is how you roast!" or "This is what blending is all about!" Instead roasters and cafes are creating new brands everyday declaring, "Buy my coffee!" "Spend money at my cafe!" "Take training courses from me!".
All this reminiscing has me thinking it's time to document ROCC's coffee history.
Thank you for taking this journey with us.
If you have any questions about business in China, sourcing green coffee or building a roastery, please reach out. Join the newsletter (link here) or connect by email & social. I look forward to helping you grow in coffee!
~ Adam 黄朋