Students learn the science of coffee making at Chinese university’s new program

The College of Tropical Crops at Yunnan Agricultural University welcomed its first batch of students majoring in China’s first-ever coffee science and engineering program this September.

A total of 100 students reportedly enrolled in the course, which opened in Pu’er City, where the first coffee seeds were introduced approximately 130 years ago. The four-year curriculum, approved by China’s Ministry of Education in March, includes foundational courses in food science and engineering, along with specialized classes in coffee flavor chemistry, processing, roasting and cupping.

This new program comes as China emerges as East Asia’s fastest-growing coffee consumption market, with per person consumption increasing fourfold between 2010 and 2022.