100,000 cafe "Early competition"...Breakthrough with specialty coffee?

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There are more than 100,000 cafes in Korea.

In addition to fierce competition, coffee bean prices continue to rise, increasing difficulties in the coffee industry.

In this situation, 'special tea coffee', which has a unique scent, is attracting attention as a new driving force in the saturated cafe market.

Reporter Oh Dong-gun covered it.

[Reporter]
an endless line of lines

It is crowded with people who have gathered to taste coffee.

[Lee Yu-na/ Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do: Unlike the usual americano, I want to enjoy a rich specialty, so it's more acidic than bitter.]

89 roastery cafes at home and abroad that participated in the fair deal with "Specialty Coffee."

What's the difference from the coffee you taste every day?

'Specialty Coffee' is a coffee characterized by a complex flavor of tropical fruits, chocolates, flowers, etc.

This means only beans that have received 80 or more points out of 100 by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), a coffee quality assessment agency.

It is loved by coffee lovers because of its thorough bean management and unique aroma from cultivation to extraction.

[Kim Chung-hwa / Yeosu-si, Jeollanam-do: I came back from Yeosu yesterday, slept overnight, and came in line early this morning." "It's a very famous bean, but the flavor, the flower scent, and the floral scents are very good.]

The fast-growing domestic coffee industry has recently entered a period of stagnation.

In the aftermath of climate change, the price of coffee beans has nearly tripled in four years, and competition has intensified as more than 100,000 coffee shops have exceeded.

In fact, more than 1,100 cafes closed in Seoul in the first quarter, the largest number since the statistics were compiled.

In this situation, high interest in "specialty coffee" is attracting attention as a new growth engine.

[Yanis / CEO of the Specialty Coffee Association: Specialty Coffee was a small market, accounting for about 7%. In our judgment, as coffee has shifted from functional beverages to preferences, specialty coffee is now a market that accounts for about 40% of the country.

It is also receiving favorable responses from consumers that it aims to consume value, such as whether the cultivation and distribution process of beans is ethical.

Amid rising coffee bean prices and overheating competition, the coffee industry is looking for a new way out with specialty coffee.

This is YTN Oh Dong-gun.