MILAN – Coffee consumption in China has risen by a staggering 1,032% over the last ten years, from 300,000 bags in 2008/09 to 3.8 million bags in 2017/18, according to recent data reported in the Brazilian review Negócio Café.
The review is published by Núcleo de Estudos em Cafeicultura – NECAF, Federal University of Lavras – UFLA, the Coffee Research Consortium Observatory, and Embrapa Café.
While instant coffee is still dominating the Chinese coffee market, compared to other coffee formats drunk at home, a Mintel research indicates that it is losing both consumer interest and its share in the market — something that’s quite inevitable as consumers trade up for better coffee offerings.
In fact, 32 percent of Chinese consumers said that they were drinking instant coffee in 2016; this figure dropped to 26 percent in 2017.
Meanwhile, Mintel estimates that the total retail sales value of China’s instant coffee market will grow at 6.2 percent between 2017 and 2018 to reach 9.018 billion yuan (US$1.304 billion).
However, Mintel forecasts that the market will only see a 4 percent growth between 2022 and 2023.