The average American consumes 441 cups of coffee a year. Norwegian and Finns close to 1,000. Meanwhile, the average Chinese only consumes 4 cups of coffee a year. However, coffee consumption in recent years has grown between 10 and 15 per cent annually. Coffee consumption currently stands at 120,000 tons but total consumption is expected to rise to 300,000 tons a year by 2020.

By 2020 total consumption will reach 300,000 tons per year

This generates many opportunities for Latin American SMEs, which can join forces to penetrate this market or attract investments. At a retail level, Starbucks and Costa Café are two very popular chains in China. There are many others of national origin, such as Pacific Coffee. By tradition, China consumes more tea. However, many Chinese are shifting to coffee in their efforts to achieve a more sophisticated lifestyle.

Vietnam is China’s major coffee supplier. Many Latin American countries such as Colombia or Nicaragua are in a unique position to benefit from this upward trend in consumption. Statistics from the Coffee Association of China reveal that there are 2,200 companies associated with the marketing of coffee in China. Likewise, there are 13,600 direct points of sale to the public, while it is estimated that over 500,000 people are involved in the industry.