Fang Cheng-Lun, also known as the Coffee Prince, is in charge of "Zou Zhou Yuan," a coffee farm located in Lalauya Village of Alishan. For him, coffee is the key to opening the door to a new life.
When he returned to his hometown from Taipei, the main agricultural products grown by his family were tea and moth orchids. Coffee was just a hobby. However, his interest in coffee grew stronger little by little. After attending the Gukeng Coffee Tasting Competition in 2007 and winning first prize, his life changed. Coffee brought him a sense of accomplishment that was beyond monetary value. In terms of economic benefits, the economic value of coffee is much lower than that of tea and moth orchids. However, he found self-confidence in the process of growing coffee.
Success requires effort and passion. But finding the right way to do things is also very important. Coffee has one special feature, which is that its quality can be determined by flavor and taste, and a reasonable price can be set accordingly, said Fang. He believes that after learning the criteria for evaluating coffee quality, he can apprehend the position of his farm and utilize more competitive advantages.
In order to find out how, Fang tried to grow various varieties of coffee in his farm. He deeply believes that coffee variety has a great influence on its flavor. However, it takes a huge amount of time doing research and running DNA tests to make the differences among varieties clear. If all the distinct features of coffee are well understood, with appropriate field management and processing methods, distinctiveness of his own coffee can be created. He believes that creating unique coffee flavor is his ultimate goal. Since Taiwan cannot compete with the world's major production areas in quantity, we can only win by quality. Compared to other coffee producing areas in the world, Taiwan's agricultural skills and technology are far more superior and have strong advantages. Such great advantage of agriculture is the best weapon for specialty coffee in Taiwan.
Fang’ goal at this stage is to improve coffee production quantity and quality. He would like to enhance the awareness and exposure of the farm through the auction system provided by PCA. He has a vision. He wants to make coffee business a sustainable one. Based on this vision, he expects to create a unique coffee flavor that solely belongs to "Zou Zhou Yuan."
