Since taking office in February 2019, Teshome Toga Chanaka, Ethiopian Ambassador to China, has been multiplying his diplomatic efforts around coffee. He has taken advantage of every opportunity, such as the China International Import Expo (CIIE), to promote this favorite commodity of his country. Indeed, coffee, a key commodity in the local economy, accounts for about 30 percent of all export earnings, with a value of $833 million in 2020. An estimated 15 million Ethiopians, a quarter of the country's population, make their living from the coffee industry. On the other hand, he is aware of the potential of the coffee market in China. According to estimates by the International Coffee Organization, China's coffee consumption has grown by an average 16 percent each year over the past decade, thanks to the growing influence of the younger generation.

So when he was offered the chance to establish a center dedicated to promoting Ethiopian coffee culture in Beijing in 2019, he did not hesitate for a second. Li Lin, a Chinese businessman, is the driver of the project. Like the ambassador, the 48-year-old businessman wants to promote Ethiopian coffee and its culture to Chinese consumers.

In Ethiopia, coffee growing is a centuries-old tradition. This largest coffee producer in Africa and the fifth-largest in the world has nearly 6,000 varieties of coffee. On his first trip to the Arabica coffee region in 2013 as part of a project with the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, Li couldn't help but fall in love with this mysterious land.

During his stay, he made friends with the local population, including members of a family from the Oromo people who have been involved in the business for generations. They introduced him to coffee and encouraged him to ship their quality beans to China. Their joint venture, Le Bunna, specializing in the international coffee trade, was established in 2015 in Ethiopia.

Moving up the value chain

Ethiopia's climate is characterized by mild temperatures and plenty of rain, optimal for coffee growing. However, the coffee industry still suffers from a lack of technical skills and capacity. With the exception of a few large government-managed estates, almost all of Ethiopia's coffee is grown by small farmers who continue to apply outdated traditional methods. The regulatory authorities are therefore putting great pressure on exporters and investors to achieve excellence in the quality of "Made in Ethiopia" coffee.

Li's business shares this goal. As his company name Le Bunna (meaning the best coffee in the local language) indicates, the quality of his exported products is paramount. From the beginning, he has positioned himself at the top of the range, targeting consumers of Grand Cru coffee with its grade one beans, the highest level of quality. To this end, he has set up six processing sites in Guji District of the Oromia region, about 525 km from Addis Ababa. To ensure 100 percent excellence, he is personally involved in all phases of agricultural production, including harvesting the coffee cherries, sorting and sun-drying them, and extracting the beans.

While Ethiopia was able to ship up to 200,000 tons of coffee internationally in 2015, its export to China was only about 500 tons at the time. To Li's delight, that number has increased nearly tenfold in five years to 4,492 tons in 2020. With processing facilities in Ethiopia and a 2,700-square-meter warehouse in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, his company aims to double the volume within two years. Li is no longer satisfied with the high-end coffee segment, where Le Bunna currently holds a 30 percent share of the Chinese market. He is now targeting mass market, which accounts for 95 percent of Ethiopian coffee exports.

But like most exporters in the country, Le Bunna only ships raw beans, which are roasted, packaged and distributed in China. This prevents local producers from enjoying the benefits of added value of coffee. According to the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority, processed coffee now accounts for only 2 percent of its total exports. Coffee farmers' profit margins are less than 10 percent. The government is therefore calling on private and public players in the sector to increase their investment in manufacturing to move up the value chain.

In response to this call, Li is planning to establish processing units in Ethiopia. As a first step, he built a demonstration center in Henan Province this year. He intends to transfer this model to Ethiopia as soon as the conditions are right.

Intangible heritage

In addition to being one of the largest producers of coffee, Ethiopia is also one of its largest consumers in the world. More than half of its production is used locally where the coffee tradition is well established. "In Ethiopia, the history of coffee goes back to ancient times, just like tea in China. Far from being a simple drink, it is a true art of living. It's an integral part of the local culture," said Li.

As he noted, coffee drinking often takes place around a traditional ceremony that can seem extremely long, since it includes both the preparation and the rituals. "More than just a ceremony, traditional coffee rituals are a unique way to maintain family, social and even business ties," he said.

His mission is to immerse the Chinese public in the 3,000-year-old history of Africa's oldest independent state through this unique beverage and its associated rituals. With this in mind, he has established a center in Beijing in 2019 dedicated to the promotion of Ethiopian coffee culture, in collaboration with the Ethiopian Embassy in China.

Coffee lovers can now come and discover the centuries-old history of coffee growing in this country in the Horn of Africa, learn to distinguish the different varieties of coffee, and understand the complexity of its tradition and its ethnic diversity.

Aiming ever higher, Li wants to enrich the center's content with coffee-related paintings and costume designs. He is even working on a tourism initiative in Ethiopia, targeting at bringing more Chinese visitors to the coffee-growing areas during the harvest seasons. "This is in line with our mission to promote Ethiopian coffee culture as an intangible heritage," he said. CA

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