As they continue to expand their presence in China, CP Group has recently turned to the coffee industry, with Hainan being the obvious choice for their venture.

In 2020, the Charoen Pokphand Group and the Wanning Municipal Government jointly established a company that would ultimately take over the Xinglong Overseas Chinese Farm Coffee Factory and its flagship brand, Sun River. This company aims to develop and build an integrated multi-industrial project that combines coffee planting, processing, branding, and culture while promoting tourism. Empowering the development of Xinglong's coffee industry, the revamped Xinglong Coffee Charoen Pokphand Industrial Park underwent an eight-month-long renovation process before formally beginning operations in July 2022.

Why has CP Group chosen to develop this new business in Hainan?“Especially with the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, which we feel will bring more development opportunities to enterprises, we at CP Group are very optimistic about China’s development prospects,” said Xie Yi (CP Group vice chairman). After decades of intimate involvement in Hainan’s agriculture and animal husbandry, the Xinglong coffee project is a natural extension for CP Group.

"The combination of the huge domestic market and economy backing Hainan, and the island's links to the Southeast Asian coffee market, along with it being the only province to apply both free trade port policies and RCEP rules, make for huge development opportunities. " According to an introduction by the person in charge at Xinglong Coffee Charoen Pokphand Industrial Park, the global coffee market has great potential, and as CP has planned the Park's layout based on a whole industry chain, Hainan’s coffee industry will better be able to achieve the purchase of raw materials from around the world, and the sale of finished products across the globe. Just as coffee from other countries will enter China via Hainan, coffee grown in Hainan will spread to the world from here.

CP plans to retain Xinglong's coffee production techniques while introducing innovative methods like the Brazilian Miel Process, anaerobic fermentation, and "wine-washed" sun-drying to enhance the flavor of their coffee beans. They also aim to expand their range of pre-packaged goods to more than 60 items (including roasted coffee beans, ground coffee, single-serve pour-overs, and freeze-dried instant coffee). In addition to this, they are currently researching and developing new coffee products and derivatives, such as espresso blends.

CP has already achieved remarkable results based on various favorable policies and the support of Chinese governments at all levels. In the future, they plan to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port to further integrate their business with China, aiming to identify business cooperation, increase investment layout, and achieve even greater development.