The Farmer Pioneering Coffee Cultivation in Hong Kong – CoffeeTalk

A coffee roaster hums in the attic of LCC Roastery on Lantau Island, Hong Kong, where owner Ringo Lam champions the local coffee movement. His offerings include a unique local blend called “Lantau Bean,” an aspiration to cultivate coffee in an urban area unexpected for such agriculture, given Hong Kong’s traditional tea culture and high land prices. Lam, a former tech entrepreneur, collaborates with local farmers to grow indigenous beans, taking inspiration from a pivotal trip to Panama where he received coffee seeds.

Despite Hong Kong’s generally unfavorable coffee-growing conditions, an arboriculture expert asserts that the region falls within the “coffee belt” necessary for growth, albeit lacking in elevation. The city’s unique geographical advantage allows for the cultivation of coffee, with Lam now overseeing around 400 coffee trees tended by 25 farmers, yielding their largest harvest of 10 kilograms this year—a small fraction compared to Brazil’s vast production.

Hong Kong’s slow but growing coffee industry aims neither to disrupt global markets nor replace established producers but to innovate locally through experimental growing techniques and promotional events. Farmers are also establishing connections with the public to raise awareness of the coffee-making process and the labor involved.

Mike Sim of Seed to Cup, another local coffee advocate, runs educational workshops and participates in competitions to highlight Hong Kong-grown beans. Chan Fung-ming, a farmer and former social worker in Lam’s network, sees coffee agriculture as a method to engage youth in sustainable practices.

Lam’s efforts extend to workshops where participants experience the arduous labor of coffee farming, aiming to cultivate appreciation for coffee’s origins and fair compensation for laborers. He notes that those who attend often leave with a greater willingness to support local coffee production. The nascent industry may not yield sufficient volume to rival larger coffee-producing nations, but it is forging a distinctive identity in the landscape of Hong Kong’s culinary scene.

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