China and the changing economic geography of coffee value chains

Bibliographic Data

ID20153732
AuthorsJohn Neilson (0000-0003-2560-2190, The University of Sydney, corresponding author), Jeffrey Neilson (School of Geosciences University of Sydney NSW), Ju‐han Zoe Wang (0000-0003-3303-7013, Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies, Asia Institute University of Melbourne Victoria)
Year2019
Volume40
Issue3
Pages429-451
Publication date2019-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSingapore Journal of Tropical Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0129-7619 • E-ISSN: 1467-9493
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/sjtg.12279
OpenAlexW2909905042
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited33

For the past three centuries, the economic geography of the global coffee sector has been characterized by the supply of beans from tropical countries for consumption in North America and Europe, with various modes of value chain coordination enacted by lead firms to ensure reliable and affordable supply. This pattern is now fundamentally changing, with growth in coffee consumption in emerging markets, including China, exceeding that in established markets. But China is not only a growing consumer market, it is less well known that rapidly increasing agricultural production in Yunnan province of southwest China has also inserted the country as an important source region for coffee, and this has been pivotal in facilitating the emergence of Chinese lead firms in the sector. This article presents the emergence of China, and Chinese firms, at a critical juncture for the structure and governance of the global value chain for coffee. The processes through which this is occurring are outlined, and the implications for regional development prospects across Southeast Asia are discussed. We argue that the changing economic geography of coffee value chains, and their increasing driven‐ness by Chinese actors, is starting to reshape the regional coffee industry in profoundly new ways

Agriculture · Business · China · Comparative advantage · Consumption (sociology) · Corporate governance · Economic geography · Economics · Economy · Emerging markets · Geography · Global value chain · International trade · Supply chain · Value (mathematics) · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Organic Food and Agriculture

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