Yunnan Launches Dedicated Coffee Train to Export to Europe

A container train service carrying 2,050 tons of coffee beans and other coffee-related products to Europe set out from Southwest China's Yunnan province on July 1. The journey has been hailed as a significant milestone in Yunnan's coffee industry's export stage.

Holding 34 containers of coffee beans and 66 containers of instant coffee products, the train started its journey from Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, and is expected to arrive in Rotterdam 15 days later.

"Before the train service became available, Yunnan's coffee entered Europe by sea transportation, which would take at least 30 days," said Xiong Xiangren, president of Dehong Hougu Coffee Ltd.

The train's route will see it pass through Chengdu, Baoji, Lanzhou in China, before crossing the border at the Alataw Pass in Xinjiang and entering Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and arriving in the Netherlands.

"The train service is significant to Yunnan’s railway coffee industries," said Hu Lu, vice secretary of the Yunnan Coffee Industry Association.

Coffee is the third largest export product in Yunnan in terms of volume, after vegetables and tobacco. In 2014, the export of Yunnan coffee amounted to 67,200 tons.