SEOUL, May 10 (AJU PRESS) - The southern port city of Busan will be transformed into Korea's incubator for coffee-related businesses, city officials said during a press event on Thursday. This initiative under the slogan "Coffee City Busan" aims to serve as a growth engine for the country's second-largest city.
Busan which serves as Korea's main maritime gateway, boasts a diverse culture. Notably, an annual average of about 92 percent of imported coffee products enter the country through the city, according to Korea Customs Service. This makes Busan the first stop for freshly imported coffee beans in Korea. Capitalizing on that, the city has seen a whopping 5,669 coffee shops flourish -- a significant portion of the country's total of 83,000 stores in 2020.
The Governors Association of Korea, a collaborative body of mayors and provincial governors, held the event at Momos Yeongdo Roastery & Coffee Car in southern Busan. The event was designed to introduce the initiative, which is part of a blueprint to transform the city into the heart of Korea's coffee industry.
"Because most imported coffee enters Korea through Busan, the city can offer the freshest beans compared to other cities," Jeon Joo-yeon, the winner of the 2019 World Barista Championship, told reporters. Jeon's specialty coffee roastery attracts coffee lovers with its use of freshly imported beans.
Busan has been actively pursuing the title of Korea's top coffee city for several years. In April, a forum with 100 members was launched to establish strategies aimed at boosting the already saturated coffee business industry. A director of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), a global coffee community of baristas and coffee experts, also participated in the event for interaction with other experts.
The SCA, a non-profit organization that issues global barista certificates, signed an agreement with Busan in November 2022. This partnership aims to build a big data platform for green, unroasted coffee beans. Baristas can access this data to choose the most ideal type of coffee for their shops.
The southern port city's goal is to digitize information on various types of green coffee beans, allowing baristas to identify the most efficient roasting methods.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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