Coffee Growing in a Tea Town

By staff reporters PEDRO LAGO & GUO HONGYUAN

Ahead of his visit to Belgium in late March, 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping published an article in the local newspaper Le Soir, titled “Friendship and Cooperation Bring Better Life to Both China and Europe.” It recounted the story of a young Belgian who has taught Chinese farmers how to grow high-quality coffee. His name is Wouter De Smet.

Wouter examines the quality of coffee a Pu’er farmer grows.

Mr. Coffee

Wouter De Smet, 39, is locally known as Mr. Coffee in Pu’er, a city in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, where he arrived in 2005. He loves his nickname, and considers his close ties with local coffee growers among his best achievements.

Coffee is in Wouter’s genes. His father is an agriculturist who worked for Nestlé for many years. He spent his early years in Africa, and then took over his father’s job. He began working for the coffee plantation in China’s frontier province of Yunnan about 10 years ago.

“The biggest difficulty for me here is the language,” Wouter said. He overcame it thanks to the help of his colleague Hou Jiazhi, chief technician at Nestlé’s local operation.

“He doesn’t have to master Chinese, as Hou Jiazhi is an excellent translator,” said Luo Yucheng, who works for the same sector as Hou. “Wouter has transformed Nestlé’s development strategies and training methods in Yunnan. He goes into the countryside and offers on-spot teaching to local farmers.”

Wouter has made numerous trips to local villages. “He loves driving, and would sit behind the wheel for eight to 10 hours a day. We have been to every corner of Pu’er’s rural areas,” said Hou. He recalled one day when their car was stopped by policemen. Upon seeing a Western face in the driver’s seat, they whispered to each other that Hou must be very important if he could afford a foreign chauffeur.

Coffee and Tea, Two Brews

Wouter seldom drank tea before coming to Pu’er, hometown of the namesake tea famous across China. He later fell in love with this traditional Chinese beverage.

Wouter is impressed with local farmers’ open-mindedness, intelligence, hard work and entrepreneurship. It gives him confidence in expanding commercial coffee cultivation.