China's role as a world supplier of coffee beans has become even more cemented, with Starbucks importing its highest volume of coffee beans from China this year.
Shanghai Daily reported that Starbucks, the world's largest coffee chain, has imported roughly 14,000 bags of coffee beans from China between January and September of 2014.
This is no small figure, because it is five times more than the volume of arabica beans imported by the company from last year. This data was sourced from PIERS, a shipping intelligence firm that measures customs data through cargo manifest details.
While this is a huge number, this only makes up a fraction of the beans that Starbucks--also the leading overall importer of coffee beans--is importing from other countries in the world.
The company's purchases already represent more than 50 percent of China's coffee exports to the United States.
The growth in bean imports also reflected the growth of Starbucks's business in China. The country has a growing urban population of coffee drinkers and Starbucks is effectively tapping into this.
Some of the coffee beans are being roasted in the U.S. first then shipped back to the country to cater to the demands of the novice consumer market. The rest of the beans are included in the blends sold around the world.
At the same time, China's coffee beans are already starting to capture the attention of U.S. specialty market.
"Given what's going on in Central America with leaf rust and the drought in Brazil, you want to look at other options," shared Craig Holt, owner of Seattle-based Atlas Coffee Importers, a company that primarily caters to specialty U.S. roasters.
Holt has never bought Chinese coffee yet, but plans to do so. In December, he will travel to Yunnan after having tried a coffee there he said was clean, bright and free of defects.