While Japan's economic woes have knocked the beans out of other commodities, demand for coffee has gone from good to better and looks set to hit a record high this year, a Japanese coffee roasters' association said.
Japan, the world's third-biggest coffee importer after the US and Germany, purchased 235,835 tonnes of green coffee in the first seven months of this year, up 2.6 percent year-on-year, according to Finance Ministry statistics.
Japan's roasted coffee imports soared 60.2 percent to 2,096 tonnes in the same period.
"We expect Japanese coffee demand to mark a record high this year. Consumption was not affected by the economic slump," Masao Yamashita, executive director of the All Japan Coffee Association, said in a recent interview.
Yamashita attributed the surge in roasted coffee imports to the success of US-style specialty coffee shop chains such as Starbucks Corp and Tully's Coffee Corp. Lacking roasting plants in Japan, they import their beans from their US facilities.
The increase in green coffee imports -- used by domestic roasters to produce instant coffee, regular coffee and canned coffee drinks -- was thanks to the growth of home-use coffee, Yamashita said.
Coffee demand in Japan rose 5.5 percent year-on-year to a record 416,090 tonnes on a green-coffee basis last year.
Yamashita said per-capita consumption of coffee reached 3.17 kg a year last year, surpassing the 2.42kg consumed in Britain -- another country where people are traditionally tea-drinkers.
Japan's per-capita coffee consumption could match the 4.07kg a year savored by Americans and the 5.24kg drunk by continental Europeans, he said.
But growth will depend on roasters' ability to come up with new products to meet consumers' changing needs, he said.
Yamashita cited the success of disposable drip-filters -- small paper filters packed with coffee that allow people to make a single cup of freshly brewed coffee quickly and easily.
Better processing techniques have also raised the standard of instant coffee, helping consumption, he said. Instant coffee accounts for about 44 percent of overall Japanese consumption, while regular coffee makes up some 34 percent. Liquid coffee in cans or bottles accounts for the rest.
The lickety-split expansion of espresso coffee shop chains Starbucks and Tully's has been the hottest topic in Japan's coffee market in recent years, but their growth was achieved at the expense of traditional, individually owned coffee shops, Yamashita said.
Starbucks and Tully's Coffee Japan Co Ltd are now nipping at the heels of Doutor Coffee Co Ltd, Japan's largest coffee shop chain with 1,070 outlets.
"The number of traditional coffee shops has declined as they lose out to the self-service coffee shop chains," Yamashita said. "The growth of Doutor and Starbucks does not necessarily offset the decrease of traditional stores."
The number of Japan's coffee shops peaked in 1980 at 154,630. It has declined steadily since then and now stands at about 90,000.
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
SUPPORT: Arms sales to NATO Plus countries such as Japan, South Korea and Israel only have to be approved by the US Congress if they exceed US$25m The US should amend a law to add Taiwan to the list of “NATO Plus” allies and streamline future arms sales, a US commission said on Tuesday in its annual report to the US Congress. The recommendation was made in the annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which contained chapters on US-China economic and trade ties, security relations, and Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the chapter on Taiwan, the commission urged the US Congress to “amend the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 to include Taiwan on the list of ‘NATO Plus’ recipients,” referring to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) said she would tender her resignation following criticism of her handling of alleged bullying by Ministry of Labor Workforce Development Agency branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容) resulting in the death of an employee. The ministry yesterday gave Hsieh two demerits and said she is subject to review by the Disciplinary Court. The severest possible punishment would be her removal from office and being barred from government jobs indefinitely. Workforce Development Agency Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) also received a major demerit and was transferred to another position. Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) issued a formal apology
RSS