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Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer and exporter, has been striving to enter the huge and lucrative Chinese market. Yet, as Chinese have traditionally drunk tea, it is difficult to pry the market open. Brazilian coffee exporters believe that establishing coffee retail stores may be the best "key" to unlock the Chinese market, which will not only promote its coffee brands but also cater to the lifestyle of fashionable young Chinese.
The Coffee Planning Committee of Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture is working out a plan. It aims to set up its coffee retail stores in line with the operational mode of Starbucks Corporation.
Starbucks Corporation is a large, successful coffee company in the US operating coffee restaurants and bars. It has 130 outlets in Beijing and Shanghai.
To open Brazilian coffee stores in China, the producers and exporters will join hands with local Chinese enterprises, whereby Brazil will provide the coffee and its Chinese partners will operate the outlets. In the initial stage, Brazil will create a reserve of 6 million bags of coffee for trial operation. In the near future, it will send an official to China for market research and to work out a specific investment budget.
An article in Brazil's largest daily newspaper O Estado de São Paulo says that coffee is a new, fashionable drink in China with consumption at 300,000 bags per year, equal to a week’s sales volume of Brazil. Most Chinese consider coffee as a fashionable adjunct to a modern lifestyle, and it is often found in restaurants, bars and dancing halls. An official with the Brazil Environment-friendly Coffee Export Association said that the profitable Starbucks operation in China suggested coffee house might be the best breakthrough for Brazil.
Entering the Chinese market will not only promote exports, but also help the country out of its present dilemma concerning coffee production and export. To increase exports, Brazil will adopt other ways. In May 2002, the leading actress of the Female Slave, a hit Brazilian TV series in China, toured the capital Brasilia with the script of a new TV series, in an attempt to solicit support from government and coffee enterprises. The script describes a story of foreign immigrants who plant coffee in Brazil. An official said that TV series to a certain degree can help spread and develop the coffee culture. If it can be played in China in the future, it will surely help Brazilian enterprises here.
(china.org.cn by Guo Xiaohong July 8, 2002)
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