The increasing number of people choosing to drink their coffee black because of the recent string of food safety scares has caused an increase in demand for coffee beans, but a pest infestation of local beans has caused a surge in the price of at least 20 percent, coffee industry experts said.
Yunlin County’s Gukeng Township (古坑) Office official Sun Wang-tien (孫旺田) said the amount of coffee beans being imported is constantly on the rise, while local production, despite increasing over the past few years, makes up only 4 percent of the market.
Citing Ministry of Economic Affairs data, Sun said the nation imported roughly 14,000 tonnes of coffee beans in 2001, and by 2012, the amount had grown to 27,000 tonnes.
Locally produced coffee beans made up 4.1 tonnes in 2001, growing to 732 tonnes by 2012, Sun said.
Rising concern about adulterated foodstuffs and a growing consciousness about health has seen many coffee drinkers in the nation switch to freshly brewed coffee and they are beginning to be more picky about bean quality, Sun said.
The short delivery time of locally grown coffee beans as well as the preliminary filtering by coffee farmers of beans that do not meet standards gives these beans an advantage in terms of taste and freshness, Sun said.
Gukeng Township Farmer Association’s coffee bean production and sales class instructor Liu Yi-teng (劉易騰) and coffee shop owner Lai Sung-chih (賴松志) said that there was an evident increase in people drinking black coffee, but that pests had caused production to drop by 20 to 30 percent.
The rise in price is caused by greater demand and lower production, they said, adding that beans grown on mid to low altitudes used to sell for NT$400 (US$12) a kilogram, but are now selling for NT$500 a kilogram.
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