Coffee beans sourced from Ethiopia are playing a growing role in the development of China’s coffee industry, particularly in Henan province, where a local company is spearheading efforts to bridge supply chains and production between Africa and Central China.
In Puyang county’s Advanced Manufacturing Development Zone, green coffee beans imported from Ethiopia undergo a multi-stage process involving roasting, grinding, cold extraction, and freeze-drying to produce a freeze-dried coffee powder marketed both domestically and abroad. The operation is led by Huichuan Industrial Development (Henan) Co., chaired by Wang Shouying, a Henan native who returned to his hometown in 2012 after working in Beijing.
Wang’s company currently has an installed production capacity of 400 metric tons, with plans to expand to 1,000 tons over the next three years. His business initially focused on agricultural processing and freeze-drying technology in products such as dried fruits and nutritional soups before pivoting to coffee in 2019 amid rising domestic demand for premium coffee products.
Recognizing a gap in China’s coffee market, traditionally dominated by imported instant coffee, Wang chose to concentrate on pre-packaged specialty freeze-dried coffee that preserves flavor fidelity, offering convenience and cost-effectiveness. The company established a direct procurement supply chain with the Chinese local government in 2020, focusing on sourcing high-quality Arabica beans from Ethiopia—considered the coffee’s origin and home to diverse coffee germplasm.
While Chinese consumption of Ethiopian coffee has grown, with China becoming the world’s fourth-largest importer of Ethiopian coffee in 2025, Wang noted that Ethiopia predominantly exports unprocessed green beans. To address this structural issue, Wang’s company signed a memorandum in July with the Ethiopian Investment Commission to develop a full-cycle coffee deep-processing industrial park in Addis Ababa. This facility aims to integrate sourcing, sorting, warehousing, processing, and export operations to enhance the value chain.
According to Wang, Huichuan Industrial Development is among China’s earliest freeze-dried coffee producers using Ethiopian beans from across the nation’s coffee-growing regions. The company currently accounts for over 80 percent of Ethiopia-based freeze-dried coffee production destined for the Chinese market. Leveraging this industrial chain, the firm launched its own coffee brand, Rami Coffee, in 2022. The brand targets primarily female consumers aged 18 to 35 and emphasizes convenience, with products dissolving rapidly in water or milk, suitable for various coffee styles such as Americano and latte.
Lee Hyunkoo, the general agent for Rami Coffee in South Korea, highlighted that the cold extraction and freeze-drying method helps maintain freshness and richer taste profiles compared to traditional instant coffees. Meanwhile, Lu Ying, founder of Rami Coffee, said the company also develops coffee flavors tailored to local preferences in Henan, including specialty blends featuring regional ingredients like chrysanthemum and peony, reflecting efforts to cultivate coffee culture beyond China’s major metropolitan areas.
Looking ahead, Wang plans to combine African raw material quality with Henan’s manufacturing capabilities under a “African raw materials, Henan manufacturing, global sales” model, alongside expanding coffee retail formats such as machine-free coffee shops that utilize freeze-dried coffee powder. This strategy aims to deepen industrial cooperation between China and Ethiopia while tapping into evolving coffee consumption trends within China and international markets.