Sat on the terrace of a cafe in Antigua, Guatemala, drinking coffee and looking around. Cafes in a village famous for the finest beans grown in volcanic ash soil were full, but few were local. Turns out, a quarter of the population is in the coffee industry, but most of the best beans are exported, and locals drink instant coffee that is inexpensive and easy to store. It was a privilege of a foreign traveler to enjoy “delicious coffee” in a village surrounded by a coffee farm.
Last year, Korea’s coffee imports exceeded $1.86 billion. It was a record-high, up 35% from the previous year. Korea is now the world’s third largest coffee market after the U.S. and China. 50 million people drink an average of 405 cups a year. It means that in a land where there is no coffee, men and women of all ages drink more than one cup of coffee a day.
When I heard that Korea became the world’s third-largest coffee market, the coffee I drank in Antigua came to mind. How can a producing and consuming country have such a different landscape? Except for Brazil, which has a large domestic market, good coffee does not lead to daily life in small and medium-sized producing countries such as Vietnam and Guatemala. Vietnam is the world’s second-largest coffee producer, but it mainly produces low-cost Robusta varieties. Scented Arabica varieties are exported, and locals limit their limits with a strong coffee full of condensed milk. The same is true of Guatemala. The top-notch Antigua beans are sold overseas, and producers drink inexpensive blends.
What about a pure consumer country? Each person in Finland drinks 12 kg of coffee per year. The amount is close to 10 cups a day. One of the reasons why Nordic countries such as Sweden, Norway, and Iceland rank among the top coffee consumers is the harsh winter months when the temperature drops to minus 30 degrees Celsius. It is in the same vein that the word “coffee rest” has become a legitimate right for workers beyond everyday terms, such as Sweden’s “Fika” and Finland’s “Kahvitauko.”
What about Korea? We drink 405 cups a year, but it’s not just because of the weather. Korean cafes are not home or workplaces but rather “third space.” People unfold their laptops and enjoy loneliness in others with their earphones plugged in. A cafe is both a space for exchange and a place where people allow themselves to be alone. The fact that Seoul is the city with the largest number of Starbucks stores in the world symbolizes Korea’s unique cafe culture.
The fastest-changing coffee market now is in China. Local brand Luixing Coffee has overtaken Starbucks, but the way it is is completely different. Here, coffee is not a “staycation,” but more of a “drink on the go.” There are few seats in Luixing’s store. I order on mobile, take the coffee, and leave right away. If a Korean cafe is a place to stay, Chinese coffee is a time-saving choice. With 1.4 billion people adopting coffee as a daily routine, coffee consumption in China has increased 26% in five years. This change is redrawing the global coffee landscape.
SALLY LEE
US ASIA JOURNAL
