Busan, South Korea's second-largest city and main maritime gateway, is set to transform into the country's incubator for coffee-related businesses under the slogan "Coffee City Busan", according to reporting by AJU Press, a Korea-based news media company. The initiative, introduced during a press event on Thursday, aims to serve as a growth engine for the city, which already boasts a diverse culture and a thriving coffee industry.
According to the Korea Customs Service, an annual average of about 92 percent of imported coffee products enter the country through Busan, making it the first stop for freshly imported coffee beans in Korea. This has led to the flourishing of 5,669 coffee shops in the city, a significant portion of the country's total of 83,000 stores in 2020.
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. The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) signed an agreement with Busan in November 2022 to build a big data platform for green, unroasted coffee beans, allowing baristas to access data and choose the most ideal type of coffee for their shops. The SCA partnership with Busan extended to hosting World of Coffee Expo in the city at the beginning of May, 2024—and this was the first World of Coffee event to be held in Asia, clearly highlighting the importance of Busan to the global coffee scene.
Busan also produced the 2019 World Barista Champion, Jooyeon Jeon, who charmed the entire specialty coffee world with her mix of warmth, professionalism, and technical expertise. This was the moment much of the greater world realized something special was brewing in the port city of Busan.
"The southern port city aims to digitalize various types of green coffee beans so that baristas can figure out efficient ways to roast them," a city official stated.
With Busan's unique coffee shops already favored by tourists, such as Jeonpo Café Street, which has been selected as a must-visit location by the New York Times and CNN, the "Coffee City Busan" initiative is set to further solidify the city's position as a global coffee destination. And with city officials set to compete at the highest level by bidding to host World Expo 2030, expect to hear much more about Busan in the future.