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C

The priorities should be whether

the variety is suitable to be

planted in Yunnan, as well as
its disease resistance, yield and

quality in comparison to prod-

uct demands.

A Coffee Plant Called “1988”

At the end of last August, a fleet of Yunnan Special-
ty Coffee Community (YSCC) embarked on the third
“Yunnan Coffee Road Trip” from Menglian, a county on
the Yunnan-Myanmar border. Following this young team,
I went to visit all the eight major coffee-producing regions.
While the caravan bumped along the rugged road to cof-
fee estates, I had to hold on to a little coffee plant every
now and then. Less than one meter high, it is called “1988”.
Before launching the Nescafé Coffee Center years
ago, Nestlé established an Experiment & Demonstration
Farm (E&DF) in Xishuangbanna about three decades ago.
Though it did take a while, our blurry memory still man-
aged to navigate us to the old site. Here, what we saw
reminded us of respect and excitement for nature. The
human footprint has been utterly wiped out in the prime-
val forest, while dozens of varieties of coffee plants in-
troduced from all over the world are still growing, wildly. tionate name “Master Hou”. During our trip, he followed decided Catimor as the most suitable one for Yunnan.
The natural lifecycle still goes on from blossoming to us and hosted workshops for the farmers along the way, Moreover, for a cup of coffee, the variety matters, so do
fruiting. As it was in early September, we could see the sharing how sustainable agriculture is linked to our future. the terroir, care and attention to agronomy, and post-har-
coffee berries hanging on the boughs. That’s where we vest processes.”
got the “1988”, as a fellow barista decided to bring it back Catimor from Yunnan Is the Best of Its Master Hou is quite right. In the past, many farmers
as his store treasure. He named it after his birth year, and Kind used a rough way to grow and process coffee before sell-
also a tribute to the time when Nestlé entered China. ing them as commercial ingredients to Nestlé, Starbucks
This is where large-scale production emerged, and For many coffee professionals, when speaking of and other local buyers. Compared to Central and South
the Catimor and T8667/T5175 are the legacy of Nestlé’s Yunnan coffee, Catimor bias often comes up. With 1/4 America which could produce millions of tons annually,
vigorous efforts. Flashback to 1988, Nestlé entered the Robusta origin, it is often criticized by specialty coffee Yunnan with an output of 100,000 metric tons was too
Chinese market and chose Yunnan as a destination. To lovers across the world for its poor flavor. Master Hou weak to sway the coffee futures market. Coupled with
introduce this new crop to local farmers, the coffee giant explained to us what made Nestlé choose Catimor. “It small-peasant planting mode which relies on destiny and
established the E&DF to showcoffee farmers actual sam- should be based on local conditions. The priorities should resulted in unstable quality, Yunnan coffee often suffered
ples, and stationed agronomists in Pu’er to provide free be whether the variety is suitable to be planted in Yunnan, price plunge, and farmers struggled with meager income
technical support. Hou Jiazhi is one of the agronomists, as well as its disease resistance, yield and quality in com- or even failed to make ends meet. Based on such a condi-
having been working at Nestlé for more than 20 years. parison to product demands. Since coffee was an exotic tion, the care and attention to agronomy, and innovation
Traveling between mountains every day, he built a strong cash crop, farmers cared more about its harvest and of processing could bring better quality, even in the case
bond with local farmers and lands, and earned an affec- profit. We did research for 79 introduced varieties, and of Catimor.

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