New Hainan Client, Nanhai Net, Nanguo Metropolis Daily reporter Zhang Ye
In the 1960s and 1970s, returned overseas Chinese from 21 countries and regions came to Xinglong Overseas Chinese Farm, bringing with them coffee planting technology, production and brewing technology, and Coffee drinking habit. In more than half a century of development, Xinglong Coffee has experienced infinite highlights and also fallen into the darkest corners.
Today, the baton for the development of Xinglong Coffee has been passed to this generation of young people. Their feelings for Xinglong Coffee have not changed, but they are unwilling to stick to tradition; they worry about gains and losses, and continue to make attempts that they think are meaningful. Seeking innovation in tradition, they prefer to call engaging in the coffee business "playing with coffee." The times have given them a broader vision and shaped Xinglong Coffee into what it has never been like before.
Longyuan Coffee Manor.
Play creative cross-border fusion to give coffee more possibilities
Pour the chocolate sauce into the bottom of the cup, add ice cubes, stir evenly, pour in the coffee brewed in advance, cover with a layer of milk cap, and sprinkle with cocoa Pink , a cup of "drinkable tiramisu " is completed. Barista Feng Xiuxiong put this creative drink, which took half a month to develop, on the takeout platform and received a lot of orders and praise.
As a native of Wanning , Feng Xiuxiong has been exposed to coffee since he was a child, but coffee is still a "bitter drink" that he doesn't like. After joining work, Feng Xiuxiong often drank coffee to relieve work fatigue, and he also began to have a new understanding of coffee.
Feng Xiuxiong makes "drinkable tiramisu". Photo by reporter Zhang Ye
Feng Xiuxiong makes “drinkable tiramisu”. Photo by reporter Zhang Ye
"The selection of coffee varieties and roasting methods are very particular, and when paired with different drinks, various wonderful 'chemical reactions' will occur." Feng Xiuxiong, who gradually became addicted to coffee, simply quit his job and opened a business in Wanning. He opened a coffee shop and continued his career studying coffee.
In order to distinguish the taste of different coffee beans, Feng Xiuxiong sometimes drinks dozens of cups of coffee a day until his tongue is numb. Sometimes, he makes a cup of coffee not just to drink it, but just to observe the changes after the creamer is poured into the coffee. To him, it was like admiring a blooming flower.
In addition to studying coffee itself, Feng Xiuxiong prefers to explore more possibilities of coffee. He became obsessed with the "cross-border integration" of coffee and various ingredients, hoping to "create" new flavors. To this end, he I even tried to cook pig's feet with coffee, but of course the final result was "very unsuccessful". After trying again and again, I didn't get nothing.
By chance, Feng Xiuxiong had a sudden idea. He wanted to put the classic Italian dessert tiramisu into a cup and make it a drinkable drink. To this end, Feng Xiuxiong purchased a large amount of tiramisu. The research and development process , he often takes a bite of tiramisu first, remembering the texture and taste, and then adjusts the proportions of different ingredients according to his feelings. In this way, it took him nearly half a month to finally develop a taste that he was satisfied with. After
, he set his sights on Wanning’s local crop Banlan and developed “Banlan Coffee”. Currently, both coffees have received good market response.
Every time a new creative drink is successfully developed, Feng Xiuxiong will give it to his friends to taste and let them make suggestions. In his spare time, he will also communicate with friends who "play" coffee together to find new "inspiration". "A product has a 'life span', and consumers will get tired of it after a long time. Therefore, only through continuous innovation can consumers feel fresh about coffee and make coffee loved by more people." He said.
In Feng Xiuxiong’s long-term plan, he will continue to make creative coffee drinks. “Now he is trying to combine it with matcha . I hope that through creative drinks, Wanning’s coffee and coffee culture can be known to more people.” ."He said.
Playing with the trend makes Xinglong Coffee more popular among young people
A group of entrepreneurial teams composed of young people have created a young coffee brand, giving Xinglong Coffee a more fashionable, trendy and more in line with the aesthetic needs of young people. look".Xiaoyangqiao, a coffee brand founded by Wang Tiansi, a young man who studied abroad after the 1990s, has rapidly grown into a representative of the new generation of Xinglong Coffee in less than three years since its establishment, and has also created a new way of "playing" with Xinglong Coffee. .
A wall of windows in Wang Tiansi's office displays all the coffee products produced by Xiaoyangqiao. Judging from the packaging, the products with obvious Southeast Asian style abstract graphics are 1.0 products launched by Xiaoyangqiao with the theme of overseas Chinese culture. series of products, as for the 2.0 products, the painting style has changed dramatically. The main visual adopts a sports silhouette, uses richer color combinations, and simple lines are more fashionable and dynamic. The products launched have also changed from the relatively traditional Xinglong flavor instant coffee, hanging ear coffee to freeze-dried powder and solid snacks that are more popular among young people.
Wang Tiansi selects coffee beans. Photo by reporter Zhang Ye
In the eyes of the older generation of Xinglong people, this is not what traditional Xinglong coffee looks like, but Wang Tiansi disagrees, “Since last year, the online searches and sales of domestic coffee have begun to increase significantly, generating hundreds of Internet celebrity products, young people are increasingly becoming the main force in the coffee market."
To this end, "Xiaoyangqiao" creates products from various aspects such as product packaging design, taste, and after-sales. He combines Xinglong history and re-constructs Xinglong from a new perspective coffee culture. Whether it is product development or packaging design, fashion elements should be reflected as much as possible, breaking through the traditional framework to redefine young new fashion. Since the launch of
2.0 product, Wang Tiansi has continued to deepen this concept, combining coffee with "play". On the basis of ensuring the quality of coffee, he has continuously launched products that are more suitable for young people's tastes and life scenes. The product packaging of the new coffee no longer only emphasizes the quality and taste of Xinglong Coffee, but uses sports scenes such as skiing, surfing, paddle boarding, etc. to highlight the connection between coffee and "play".
Last year, Xiaoyangqiao innovatively launched the "outdoor portable paper coffee" product, which puts coffee powder into a portable paper bag and makes it easy to drink on the go. It is widely loved by outdoor sports enthusiasts. This year, Wang Tiansi plans to upgrade the product and "customize" product styles according to the characteristics of different outdoor sports. "We also plan to print the Wanning tourism map on the product packaging to further enhance the image of Wanning city tourism," Wang Tiansi said .
has captured the young market, to some extent thanks to the team of "Xiaoyangqiao". It is understood that the founding members of "Xiaoyangqiao" are all born in the 1990s and are 28 years old, which is the average age of these young people. In the view of this group of people, Xinglong Coffee grew up in the vibrant Hainan, where there is also a surf culture that symbolizes freedom and uninhibitedness. These elements are consistent with the cultural connotation of the private brand they want to create.
"What we want to do is not just a coffee drink, but we hope to spread a fashionable lifestyle and concept, make coffee a part of consumers' exquisite life, and make Xinglong Coffee a trend." Wang Tiansi said .
Currently, Wang Tiansi is conducting product research and development of Xiaoyangqiao 3.0. He named this series "Active", "In terms of products, we have launched more trendy coffee products independently developed, which combine Robusta refreshing When the advantages are maximized, the packaging design and positioning will be more trendy and fashionable,” he said.
Xiaoyangqiao coffee sports series products. Source: Xiaoyangqiao Tmall flagship store
“When consumers regard coffee as a part of ‘play’, it means that we have really ‘played’ with coffee,” said Wang Tiansi.
Playing out a new model of "coffee + cultural tourism" and "manor-based" taking a new path in industrial development
Inside the Wanning Xinglong Longyuan Coffee Manor, green trees cover the area and the coffee smells fragrant. In the coffee house, tourists are learning to brew coffee under the guidance of the barista. In the outdoor pavilion, tourists are sitting together, tasting coffee and food, and taking photos from time to time to record this leisurely time.
In 2010, Zeng Xiangzheng of the Xinglong Overseas Chinese Farm Team 30, with the will to "revitalize Xinglong Coffee", created an organic coffee demonstration base on this land and began to grow organic coffee.After more than ten years of development, the once small plantation has become a manor-style farm that integrates coffee planting, agricultural and sideline product processing and development, and observation and sightseeing tourism, receiving 30,000 to 40,000 tourists annually. Visitors can not only taste authentic Xinglong coffee in the cafe, but also customize coffee beans, visit coffee plantations, and even make a cup of coffee of their own flavor.
It was Zeng Xiangzheng’s son Zeng Weimao who brought about this change.
In 2013, Zeng Weimao quit his job in Haikou and returned to Xinglong to help his father manage the plantation. "Unlike vegetables and fruits, coffee is an intensively processed product. It would be a pity to sell coffee beans grown to such high standards directly." How Maximize the added value of coffee? Zeng Weimao began to try to combine coffee with tourism.
He opened the plantation and coffee factory to the outside world, giving it a "tourist" attribute, and then gradually built coffee houses, experience rooms, restaurants, etc. in the plantation, established a coffee brand, developed cultural and creative products surrounding coffee, and at the same time cooperated with exhibition companies and travel agencies Cooperate and gradually build the reputation of the coffee estate.
Tourists experience coffee DIY at Longyuan Coffee Manor. Source: Wanning Tourism
Now, Longyuan Coffee Manor has formed a marketing system of "planting + processing + cultural tourism" and has become a "model" for the integration of Wanning's coffee industry and three industries. "The 'primary industry' refers to production, which refers to the cultivation of coffee; the 'secondary industry' refers to processing, and the brand is built through the intensive processing of coffee; the 'tertiary industry' is the presentation method, which brings planting and processing into industry In the tourism scene, export connotation and spread coffee culture." Zeng Weimao explained.
In 2021, Longyuan Coffee Manor was rated as a fourth-level rural tourist spot in Hainan Province. At present, this place has become a famous local internet celebrity check-in point. Tourists come here from all over the country and stay for half a day to experience the entire process of coffee from a seed to a cup of coffee. During the off-season, many people live nearby. "Migratory birds" come here to spend time.
"Longyuan is an innovative path under the background of diverse needs in the new era." Zeng Weimao said that in future planning, Zeng Weimao hopes to use coffee as a carrier to build more derivative scenarios, by combining new services such as homestays and camping. The tourism industry has further enhanced the popularity and influence of Xinglong Coffee.
