Research on Minority Culture Enabling the Brand Building of Coffee Estates in Pu’er City—Teaching Practice Based on Internet Marketing Course ()
1. Introduction
1.1. Research Background
With the promotion of the strategy of “six coffee industry belts” in Yunnan Province, the rapid development of cultural and tourism integration and rural revitalization strategy, national culture plays an increasingly important role in brand building (Yang & Qi, 2024). As an important core coffee producing area in China, brand building of coffee estates has become a key link in industrial upgrading. Branding is the key to driving industrial competitiveness, which can effectively increase product consumer loyalty and market share. Studies in recent years have shown that although Pu’er coffee industry has made breakthroughs at the level of planting scale and processing technology, brand building still faces bottlenecks such as serious homogenization and lack of cultural added value (Wang & Liu, 2024; Huang et al., 2025) have pointed out that the existing brand is mostly based on origin marking, failing to effectively tap the regional cultural qualities. Zhou et al.’s (2024) research further revealed that 72% of the surveyed estates had the problem of insufficient depth of cultural and tourism integration, which led to homogenization of consumer experience. Meanwhile, ethnic minority culture, as the unique cultural capital of Pu’er, has not yet been systematically integrated into the brand value system, such as its non-heritage skills and festival ceremonies (Zhang, 2024). Notably, Tao & Bai (2024) demonstrated that the synergistic effect of geographical indications and ethnic cultural elements can increase product premiums by 18% - 25%. Xianyu et al. (2023) also confirmed through structural equation modeling that the path coefficient of cultural identity on brand loyalty reaches 0.63, highlighting the commercial value of national culture empowerment. Therefore, based on the current situation of Pu’er coffee brand estate construction, this study explores how ethnic minority cultural elements can empower brand building, reshape the differentiated competitiveness of coffee estate brands, and provide theoretical basis and practical paths for Pu’er to realize the transformation from “production highland” to “cultural landmark” and practical path.
1.2. Research Significance
1.2.1. Theoretical Significance
It enriches the theoretical system of the integration of cultural industry and agricultural industry, provides new research perspectives for the brand construction of characteristic agricultural products, and helps to deeply understand the role mechanism of cultural elements in branding. The research results can provide specific strategies and practical guidance for the brand construction of coffee estates in Pu’er City, enhance brand competitiveness, and promote the sustainable development of the local coffee industry.
1.2.2. Practical Significance
Take the concept of cultural integration and brand differentiation as the starting point, understand the commonality and personality differences of industrial brands, analyze the cultural application problems, summarize the promotion experience, and enhance the brand competitiveness of coffee estates. Ease the pressure of social competition, enhance the level of cultural construction, and build a harmonious development situation of industrial culture.
1.3. Research Ideas
Using questionnaire survey, literature research, field survey and other methods to conduct a comprehensive research on the overall development status of coffee estates in Pu’er City, digging out the characteristics of local minority cultures, and analyzing the fit with the brand building of coffee estates. Investigate the factors constraining the development of coffee estates, and put forward countermeasures and suggestions to empower the brand building of coffee estates with the help of minority cultures (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Technology road map.
2. Related Theories
2.1. Cultural Capital Theory
Bourdieu believes that cultural capital is a kind of non economic capital formed through accumulation, including cultural resources, symbol system, social reputation, etc., which can be transformed into economic value and social influence (Tian, 2025). Cultural capital provides cultural core and differentiation advantage for brand construction, and its core lies in carrying historical value, spiritual significance and symbols. These elements can be transformed into unique brand identity through brand narrative and product design. The accumulation of cultural capital requires the brand to continue to innovate in a dynamic market environment, and generate emotional resonance with consumers through the values transmitted by the brand, thus forming loyalty (Guo, 2019).
Brand building promotes the dynamic accumulation and reproduction of cultural capital through marketization and innovation. As the transformation medium of cultural capital, brand may create new cultural symbols in the process of marketization, and even reshape the connotation of the original cultural capital (Industrial Development Department, 2017). Brand building can create a market-oriented path and social communication mechanism for cultural capital. The combination of the two provides a theoretical paradigm for the sustainable development of Pu’er coffee manor brand construction, which not only improves the economic benefits of the brand, but also strengthens the cultural soft power and national identity in the context of globalization.
2.2. Theory of Modern Agricultural Industry Integration
With the purpose of realizing the innovation of agricultural industry, different industries can realize synergistic development through technology penetration, business intersection and market integration to form a new industrial form or improve the efficiency of the original industry (Wang, 2015). The three-dimensional integration of “coffee industry + ethnic culture + cultural tourism industry” can reflect technological penetration by integrating ethnic ecological wisdom in the planting and processing process. Coffee estate tourism to develop ethnic experience projects, to realize the cross-business. By linking ethnic villages and coffee estates through the “Coffee Culture Tour” route, it builds a cross-industry value chain, which is in line with the core logic of “breaking industrial boundaries and creating new growth points” in the theory of industrial integration.
2.3. Consumer Behavior Theory
Consumer behavior theory reveals the internal mechanism of consumers from cognition to action by studying psychological motivation, social and cultural influence and decision-making process, and provides a scientific basis for brand building. Consumer decision-making is affected by multiple factors such as culture, society and personal psychology. Cultural symbols can stimulate emotional identity and purchase intention (Zhang, 2010). Brand building theory starts from the dimensions of market positioning, value transmission and relationship management, and emphasizes the establishment of differentiated competitive advantage through the symbol system and emotional resonance. Based on the dual processing theory of consumer information processing, brand building needs to achieve “first cause effect” on visual symbols, and emotion cognition synergy drives brand loyalty. Social identity mechanism reshapes brand value, and the essence of modern brand building is the strategic application of consumer behavior (Tang, 2023). There is a profound interaction between consumer behavior theory and brand building theory, which together build the logical framework of modern brand value creation.
To sum up, the above theories provide logical support for the research from the perspectives of cultural value transformation, industrial synergy, and brand positioning, and can demonstrate the rationality and feasibility of the path of “minority culture empowering coffee manor brand construction”. Pu’er Aini manor specialty drinks are favored by young people because they are integrated into the national food culture, which also confirms the consumption logic of “cultural identity → emotional preference → purchase behavior”.
3. Pu’er City Coffee Estate Brand Development Status Quo
3.1. Overview of Coffee Estates in Pu’er City
As the core producing area of China’s coffee industry, Pu’er City, relying on the natural endowment of the golden planting belt of the Tropic of Cancer, has formed a large-scale, boutique estate cluster development pattern. As of 2025, the city built more than 30 boutique coffee estates, coffee planting area of 679,000 acres, raw bean production of 58,000 tons, of which 30.52% of boutique coffee, the comprehensive output value exceeded 5.765 billion yuan, initially constructed the “integration of the three industries, coffee and tourism linkage” of the industrial ecology (Economic Daily Client, 2024; Sina News, 2024).
3.1.1. Industrial Clusters and Policy Empowerment
Pu’er City around the “one circle, one belt, three corridors and multiple estates” strategy, focusing on creating the South Island River curry travel integration economic circle, invested 116 million yuan of rural revitalization articulation funds to promote the upgrading of estates, the formation of Simao District, the southern manor clusters and Menglian, Ning’er and other counties featured in the development of spatial pattern of the manor belt synergistically (Economic Daily Client, 2024; Sina News, 2025). The government through variety improvement, technical training, brand certification and other initiatives to help estates achieve “planting standardization, processing boutique, experience scene”, Xiao Aozi Manor through special funding support to build a research center and semi-automated processing area, becoming a benchmark for the integration of the three industries (Xinhua, 2025).
3.1.2. Cultural Genes and Business Innovation
Each manor deeply explores the cultural resources of ethnic minorities, and now builds the immersive experience scene of “coffee + ecology + culture”. Aini Manor is based on the agricultural wisdom of the Dai people in the rainforest, developing a “coffee livestock biogas” circular economy. The 10,000 acre rainforest planting base has been rated as a national ecological farm, and tourists can participate in intangible cultural heritage experiences such as coffee fruit picking and Wa brocade weaving. Beigui Coffee Manor has transformed Hani ethnic residences into coffee homestays and opened a cross-border workshop called “Coffee + Exclusive Woodcut”. By the Spring Festival of 2025, the daily passenger flow will exceed 800 people. Menglian Laizhuke Manor integration of Lahu song and dance show and coffee processing live, the formation of “offline experience + online attraction” mode, the annual reception of more than 30,000 tourists, driving 268 households to increase income (Yunnan, 2024).
3.1.3. The Economic Efficiency of Curry Tourism Integration
In 2025, the city received 3.25 million tourists during the Spring Festival holiday, of which the curry travel project contributed more than 30% of the passenger flow, and the occupancy rate of the theme manor B&B reached 95%. Da Kaihe Plum Manor relying on wild Asian elephant ecological IP, to create a “watch the elephant tasting curry” special line, the highest revenue of more than 100,000 yuan in a single day. Manya Manor through the “coffee museum - ethnic street feast - ecological study” product chain, driving the surrounding farmers to increase average household income of 15,700 yuan (Xinhua, 2025). Manor economy has become a new engine of regional economic development.
3.2. Analysis of the Current Situation of Brand Building of Coffee
Estates in Pu’er City
Pu’er City Coffee Estate has the superior natural conditions of the northern latitude “golden coffee planting belt”, 26 ethnic minority cultural resources, more than 150 years of planting history accumulated rich experience, and has received strong support from the provincial and municipal industrial policy. However, at present, scattered planting mainly leads to a low degree of scale standardization, the local brand is not well known in the country, the industrial chain is relatively short, the deep processing and cultural and tourism integration is not fully developed, and there is a shortage of professional talents in planting and operation. Against the background of the growing demand for fine coffee in China, the use of e-commerce platforms to broaden sales channels, combined with the “coffee + culture and tourism” model can bring opportunities for the development of tourism traffic.
This study adopts a questionnaire survey to investigate the problems of brand building of coffee estates in Pu’er City, with the theme of “brand building of coffee estates in Pu’er City”, and selects people from different regions, occupations and age groups as the survey respondents. The survey covered multi-dimensional information such as age, occupation, awareness of coffee estates and views on the integration of ethnic culture into brand building. The survey focuses on the content of ethnic culture to enhance the attractiveness of coffee brands, and analyzes the current problems and future development direction of coffee estate brand building. There are 35 items in this questionnaire, and a questionnaire requires a sample size of 5 to 10, so the sample size should be at least 175. Using the online questionnaire platform “Questionnaire Star” to design the questionnaire, a total of 250 questionnaires were distributed, and 215 valid questionnaires were collected. The validity rate was 86%.
Through the reliability (Table 1) and validity (Table 2) analysis, the results show that the data quality is good and suitable for further analysis. It was found (Table 3) that the respondents’ perceptions of ethnic minority culture empowering coffee estate branding showed a significant positive skewed distribution. Among them, the proportion of groups with positive attitudes (“very capable” and “more capable”) reaches 79.07% (n = 170), much higher than the neutral (16.28%) and negative (0.47%) cognitive groups, indicating that the empowering value of ethnic minority cultures as brand differentiation genes has formed a general consensus.
Table 1. Reliability analysis table.
Cronbach’s reliability analysis |
Number of items |
Sample size |
Cronbach’s alpha coefficient |
59 |
215 |
0.857 |
Table 2. Table of validity analysis.
KMO test and Bartlett’s test |
Bartlett’s test of sphericity |
KMO value |
0.854 |
Approximate chi-square |
6065.323 |
df |
1711 |
P |
0.000 |
Table 3. Analysis of whether ethnic minority culture can promote branding of coffee estates.
Individual Characteristics |
Subtotal |
Proportion |
Very much |
102 |
47.44% |
Comparatively |
68 |
31.63% |
Generally |
35 |
16.28% |
Not at all |
1 |
0.47% |
No |
0 |
0% |
Regarding respondents’ perceptions of the cultures of Pu’er’s hereditary ethnic minorities, they showed significant stratification characteristics, reflecting differences in the brand transformation potential of ethnic cultural resources (Table 4). Hani (76.74%), Yi (64.65%), and Dai (63.26%) constitute the first cognitive echelon, and the high visibility is highly correlated with the branding strategy of ethnic minority cultures in Pu’er. For example, Beigui Manor implanted the Hani October annual festival into the coffee tasting, which increased the exposure of this cultural symbol. The Dai Water Splashing Festival coffee themed marketing of Aini Manor reached 530,000 social media users, forming a “festival-product-experience” closed loop of cognitive reinforcement.
Table 4. Analysis of perceptions of Pu’er ethnic minorities.
Individual Characteristics |
Subtotal |
Proportion |
Hani |
165 |
76.74% |
Yi |
139 |
64.65% |
Lahu |
99 |
46.05% |
Wa |
113 |
52.56% |
Dai |
136 |
63.26% |
Bulang |
81 |
37.67% |
Other |
14 |
6.51% |
In terms of the integration of minority folk elements into branding (Table 5), figurative elements such as ethnic costumes (80%) and architectural styles (72.56%) were preferred, confirming the principle of visual precedence (when the visual recognition of cultural symbols increases by 1 unit, the strength of brand memory can increase by 0.68 units (p < 0.01)). The selection rate of dynamic elements such as festivals and customs (65.12%) and music and dance (58.6%) suggests that consumers are more inclined to construct cultural cognition through embodied participation.
Table 5. Analysis of the integration of ethnic elements into branding.
Individual Characteristics |
Subtotal |
Proportion |
Ethnic Costume Elements |
172 |
80% |
Characteristic Architectural Styles |
156 |
72.56% |
Traditional Festivals and Customs |
140 |
65.12% |
Ethnic Music and Dance |
126 |
58.6% |
Totem Belief Symbols |
132 |
61.4% |
Ethnic Handicrafts |
127 |
59.07% |
Characteristic Food Culture |
127 |
59.07% |
Others |
11 |
5.12% |
Based on the resource-based view and institutional theory perspective, the survey data shows (Table 6) that the branding process of Pu’er coffee estates faces multi-dimensional constraints. 67.91% of the respondents pointed out that “cultural excavation is not in-depth” as the first obstacle, and 66.98% of the respondents recognized the “lack of professionals”, which essentially reflects that there is an imbalance in the supply of composite talents for “coffee + culture + tourism”, and a large shortage of talents for the coffee and tourism industry of Pu’er City. The 40% cognitive rate of “hard cultural integration” exposes the problem of cultural translation mechanism in brand building. Insufficient publicity and promotion is the primary problem of brand building, and cultural connotation, brand positioning and product quality are the key directions to be improved.
Table 6. Analysis of main difficulties.
Individual Characteristics |
Subtotal |
Proportion |
Lack of in-depth cultural excavation |
146 |
67.91% |
Lack of professional talents |
144 |
66.98% |
Insufficient capital investment |
116 |
53.95% |
Limited market recognition |
113 |
52.26% |
Rigid cultural integration |
86 |
40% |
Others |
18 |
8.37% |
Through the survey (Table 7), the integration of national culture elements into Pu’er coffee estates has a significant effect on consumers’ intention to consume, with 93.62% of the respondents indicating that they “will definitely” (48.11%) or “may” (45.51%) generate consumption intention, which verifies the effect of cultural capital transformation, and that when national culture is embedded in the consumption scenario through embodied experience, consumers’ emotional resonance and cultural identity can be triggered. When national culture is embedded in consumption scenes through embodied experiences, it can trigger consumers’ emotional resonance and cultural identity.
Table 7. Whether the addition of ethnic cultural elements to Pu’er coffee estates will attract consumption analysis.
Individual Characteristics |
Subtotal |
Proportion |
Definitely |
105 |
48.11% |
Probably |
88 |
45.51% |
Not sure |
16 |
7.55% |
Probably not |
4 |
1.89% |
Definitely not |
2 |
0.94% |
Consumers’ expectations for the direction of brand building of Pu’er coffee estates are characterized by the composite demand of “quality-based, culture value-added, and innovation-driven” (Table 8). “Enhancing product quality and value-added” (68.37%) and “strengthening cultural integration” (68.37%) are higher, verifying the important value of agricultural brand development. The strong correlation between “building high-end boutique coffee brands” (65.58%) and “innovating marketing models” (60.47%) reveals the stratified market demand in the context of consumption upgrading, and that consumers have greater expectations for marketing model innovation (60.47%).
Table 8. Analysis of the direction of coffee estate brand development.
Individual Characteristics |
Subtotal |
Proportion |
Building a high-end boutique coffee brand |
141 |
65.58% |
Strengthening cultural integration |
147 |
68.37% |
Enhance product quality and added value |
147 |
68.37% |
Innovate marketing model |
130 |
60.47% |
Expand tourism programs |
101 |
46.98% |
Others |
12 |
5.58% |
3.3. Analysis of the Integration of Coffee Estates and Ethnic Culture
in Pu’er City
Pu’er City is located in the southwestern part of Yunnan Province, bordering Vietnam and Laos in the southeast and Myanmar in the southwest, with two state-level Class I ports, one state-level Class II port and 17 border crossings. In this charming land, there are 26 ethnic minorities, including Hani, Yi, Dai, Lahu, Wa, Brown, Yao, etc., and the proportion of ethnic minority population reaches 61.2%. The ethnic minorities in Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Ximeng Wa Autonomous County, Jiangcheng Hani and Yi Autonomous County, Menglian Dai Lahu Wa Autonomous County, etc., have been living in the border area for generations, which has formed the unique border. These ethnic minority cultures have provided a unique border culture for Pu’er City. These minority cultures have injected unique vitality into the development of coffee estates in Pu’er City, realizing the deep integration of ethnic cultures and the coffee industry.
Based on the analysis of the integration, using the method of field survey and qualitative interview, six typical coffee plantations in Aini, Xiao Aozi, Manya, Beigui, Da Kaihe and Wild Duck Pond Valley Estate were selected as the research objects to carry out a systematic survey for two months. The survey focused on the dimension of physical characteristics, covering the plantation scale, geographical location and infrastructure configuration of the manor. The dimension of cultural integration focuses on the expression of national elements in space creation and product design. From the dimension of business development, it analyzes the development of characteristic tourism projects and the extension path of industrial chain. During the research process, key informants were interviewed synchronously, and semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with manor operators. Information such as brand building strategies, cultural transformation practices and market operation feedback were systematically collected (Table 9). Finally, breakthroughs were made in the three dimensions of architectural space creation strategy, folk activity activation path and cultural derivative product development mechanism.
Table 9. Comparison table of coffee estates in Pu’er City.
Serial No. |
Estate Name |
Geographical Location |
Estate Scale |
Estate Features |
Industrial Development |
Tourism Projects |
1 |
Aini Coffee Estate |
Bangnong Village, Manzhongtian, Yixiang Town |
15,000-mu coffee planting base |
First rainforest coffee garden in China Diverse varieties Farm-to-table Full industry chain Green circular economy chain |
Seed source base Multiple production lines Animal husbandry industry, beef cattle breeding system 20 theme restaurant |
Coffee culture experience Ecological sightseeing Special activities, stone forest bonfire party |
2 |
Da Kaihe Coffee Estate| |
Deep in the mountains of Da Kaihe Village, Nanping Town |
1000-mu coffee forest |
Facilities like coffee shelling factory Moon meditation house photo spot |
Coffee production and processing |
Coffee culture experience Coffee picking Meditation house photo-taking Yunnan specialty restaurant Multi-type (multi-type homestays)| |
3 |
Xiao Aozi Coffee Estate| |
Nandaohe Village, Nanping Town |
300 mu |
“Hat on the mountain top, shoes at the mountain foot, flower coat on the body” planting model Movie filming location |
Coffee planting and tasting |
Coffee training and teaching Coffee bean tasting and processing 360-degree panoramic coffee bar Wild fun restaurant| |
4 |
Manya Coffee Estate| |
By Mosai Highway, Ning’er
Hani and Yi Autonomous County, Pu’er City |
Coffee planting area over 13,000 mu |
First coffee culture museum in Yunnan Coffee experience packages Featured catering and accommodation |
Integrated industry model of planting, processing, and tourism |
Coffee culture museum experience Featured catering, accommodation, and entertainment Ethnic bonfire party Many surrounding scenic spots| |
5 |
Wild Duck Pond Valley Estate |
Nanping Town, Simao District, Pu’er City |
800-mu coffee planting area |
Ecological planting of small-grain coffee| |
Coffee planting, ecological tourism, and leisure vacation industry |
Coffee experience Valley adventure Forest hiking Integrated coffee shop, restaurant, and homestay| |
6 |
Beigui Specialty Coffee Estate |
Yixiang Town, Simao District, Pu’er City| |
300-mu coffee planting area |
Organic Arabica coffee Coffee beans awarded international prizes |
Specialty coffee planting, coffee culture experience, and leisure vacation industry |
Tour of coffee processing Coffee tasting and courses Boutique homestays Featured catering Leisure activities| |
In terms of architectural style, Xiao Aozi Coffee Manor has borrowed the Dai dry-rail building, which is a form of building adapted to the hot and humid climate of the region, and has the advantages of moisture-proofing, ventilation, heat dissipation, etc. The coffee manor has adopted the Dai dry-rail building as its architectural style. Xiao Aozi Coffee Manor integrates this architectural style into it, which not only allows tourists to feel the rich Dai cultural atmosphere while tasting coffee, but also provides them with a comfortable leisure environment. Inside the manor, the wooden structure and exquisite carved decorations show the charm of traditional Dai architectural craftsmanship.
In terms of folk activities, Manya Coffee Manor organizes Lahu Lusheng Dance Performance and Bonfire Party, which have strong ethnic characteristics. The folk activities have enriched the experience of tourists and promoted the dissemination and inheritance of Lahu culture. By participating in these activities, tourists are able to gain a deeper understanding of the history, culture and lifestyle of the Lahu people, and enhance their knowledge of and respect for minority cultures.
In terms of product development, Aini Coffee Manor has introduced specialty drinks, combining the dietary culture of ethnic minorities with coffee. The Aini people have a tradition of consuming herbs and spices, so the Manor took advantage of this feature and added local herbs and spices to the coffee drinks to create unique flavors. These specialty drinks not only retain the rich aroma of coffee, but also incorporate unique elements of Aini cuisine culture, which are deeply loved by consumers. Beigui Coffee Manor designs cultural and creative products that incorporate the artistic elements of ethnic minorities. These cultural and creative products not only have practical value, but also become a carrier for the dissemination of minority cultures, allowing tourists to understand and feel the charm of minority cultures in the process of purchase and use.
4. Problems in the Brand Building of Coffee Estates in Pu’er
City
4.1. Low Brand Awareness, Differentiated Advantages Not
Highlighted
Pu’er City coffee estates in the brand building failed to fully tap the “golden planting belt” natural endowments and cultural characteristics of the 26 ethnic minorities, the brand image fuzzy convergence, the lack of distinctive memory points. Most of the estates will only have ethnic elements simply superimposed on the architectural decorations or activities experience, not in-depth refinement of the cultural kernel into the brand concept, resulting in consumers’ difficulty in perceiving its uniqueness. The premium coffee market has fallen into the dilemma of “having products but no brand” due to homogeneous competition, with insufficient market recognition and an inability to create differentiated competitive advantages.
4.2. Imbalance between Industrial Synergy Mechanism and Market
Strategy, Low Development Efficiency
Lack of efficient linkage mechanism between the government, enterprises and curry farmers, misalignment between government policies and enterprise needs, and curry farmers in remote areas are difficult to enjoy the policy dividends. The cooperation between enterprises and farmers mostly stays at the level of raw material acquisition, without forming the industrial community of “benefit sharing and risk sharing”. Market development, insufficient research and judgment of consumer grading, marketing strategy is relatively single, e-commerce live, cross-border e-commerce and other emerging channels penetration rate is low, resulting in brand radiation range is limited.
4.3. Lack of Standardization System and Quality Control, Brand
Trust Damaged
The planting side is dominated by retail households and lacks unified technical standards. Farmers based on experience planting, fertilizer, picking and other aspects of the operation of the big differences, coffee beans defective rate is high, the rate of fine quality is low. Processing end of the standardized process is missing, small and medium-sized estates lack of professional roasting equipment, roasting degree control rely on artificial experience, the same batch of coffee beans flavor stability is poor. Packaging labels are not labeled with key information such as production areas and processing methods, making it difficult to establish the consumer perception that “estate coffee = quality assurance”. Quality fluctuations have led to a low repurchase rate, and some estates have been blacklisted due to repeated quality complaints.
4.4. Innovative Ability and Infrastructure Lagging Behind, Lack of
Development Momentum
Product research and development stays in the traditional roasted beans and ear coffee, and does not follow up on emerging categories such as cold brew coffee and coffee wine. The cultural tourism experience is in a single form, and homogenization is serious. The mode of “visiting + picking” accounts for a large proportion of the lack of immersive cultural scene experience. Brand communication along the “manor story + product introduction” traditional thinking, in the jittery voice, small red book and other social platforms operating account activity is not enough, the amount of fans broke 10,000 manor less. Moreover, Pu’er coffee estates are located in mountainous areas, with narrow and bumpy roads and inconvenient transportation. The logistics timeframe is 3 - 5 days slower than the plains, and the fresh fruit transportation loss rate is high. Some of the estates are not connected to a stable power grid, temporary power outages during the peak season affect the baking production, weak network signals lead to interruptions in the live broadcast of goods, and the visitor experience has a high rate of poor reviews.
5. Optimization Strategy of Coffee Estate Brand Building in
Pu’er City
5.1. Dig Deep into the Characteristics of Coffee Estates and Build
Differentiated Brand Kernel
The brand positioning is driven by the dual IP of “golden latitude + ethnic culture”. Refine the core concept of “the secret coffee culture on the Tropic of Cancer”, and integrate the elements of “ecological wisdom” and “festival gene” of ethnic minorities into the story of its own brand, so as to create a “cup of coffee + a national culture”. “A cup of coffee + a national story” memory symbol. Establishing “manor characteristic files” to avoid homogenized competition. Invite scholars of ethnic culture and coffee tasting experts to jointly develop a “cultural flavor wheel”, combining the unique diets of ethnic minorities with the flavor of coffee to form a “culturally perceptible” product label. Participate in international coffee events and cultural exchanges, and enter the international market with the concept of “Chinese ethnic minority coffee”.
5.2. Improve the Industrial Ecology and Activate the Effectiveness
of Multi-Party Linkage
Build a three-dimensional synergistic system of “government-led enterprises-farmers’ participation”. Set up the “Coffee Industry Collaborative Innovation Fund” to support enterprises and farmers to build standardized planting bases, and implement the “policy package” precise matching mechanism. Promote the “leading enterprises + cooperatives + farmers” model, supporting the provision of planting technology training to enhance the standardized production capacity of farmers. Layered development of products for different customer groups, launching the “Ethnic Drinks” series for young groups, and customizing the “Coffee Manor Cultural Tour and Study Tour” for high-end customers. The government has set up a special fund to support cultural and creative projects, and promoted cooperation between schools and enterprises to build a talent training system. Include ecological protection and cultural heritage in the brand strategy.
5.3. Build a Firm Foundation of Standards to Strengthen the
Quality and Trust Barriers
Establish a “whole chain quality control + visualization traceability” system to shape the brand by quality reputation. We have formulated the operation standard for Pu’er fine coffee planting, introduced drone inspection and soil moisture monitoring equipment, and realized real-time tracking of planting data. Promote the upgrading of roasting equipment in small and medium-sized estates, and cooperate with universities to develop an intelligent roasting curve system to ensure the consistency of the flavor of coffee beans from the same estate. Established the “Estate Coffee Quality Certification” system, and awarded the certification mark through the cupping evaluation score, defect rate and other indicators. Relying on blockchain technology to develop the “one cup, one code” traceability system, consumers can scan the code to view the whole process information of coffee beans from planting plots, processing methods to roasters, so as to comprehensively improve the quality and quality of coffee and enhance consumer trust and loyalty.
5.4. Innovation-Driven Development and Reconstruction of
Industrial Growth
The company breaks through the bottleneck of development and activates the young market with “technological innovation + scene revolution”. Jointly developed “coffee + minority ingredients” cross-border products with food research and development organizations, such as Brown ethnic sour tea flavored coffee chocolate and Wa ethnic wooden drum shaped coffee ear bags, and applied for appearance patents and geographical indications protection. Creating an immersive scene of “coffee + digital culture”, setting up an AR interactive device in the coffee estate, where visitors can scan the coffee tree to watch the animation of the migration story of ethnic minorities. Developing the “Manor Yuan Universe”, users can plant virtual coffee trees online and participate in ethnic minority festivals and activities. Implementing the “Border Manor Access Project”, hardening and reconstructing the roads of remote manors, and supporting transportation facilities. It has also sought support for the “Digital Countryside” project, realized full coverage of 5G network in the estates, and set up the “Live E-commerce Incubation Center” to cultivate famous local coffee anchors.
6. Summary and limitations
Taking the coffee manor in Pu’er City as the object, this study systematically discusses the enabling mechanism and practice path of border minority culture in brand construction. In the future, the brand construction of Pu’er coffee manor will take culture as the soul and innovation as the core, build a unique ecology of “coffee + ethnic minority culture”, build a world window to show the charm of China’s multiculturalism, realize a win-win pattern of economy, culture and ecology, and promote the deep integration and development of ethnic culture and modern industry.
However, the study collected data in the form of questionnaires. The sample data only represents the needs of consumers in a certain region, which may not fully reflect the diversity of all consumers’ perceptions and behaviors. And only from the perspective of the interests of cultural construction, without a comprehensive exploration from the perspective of cultural sensitivity. Although this study reveals the practical value of cultural empowerment, it also needs to continue to deepen research in the aspects of mechanism refinement, cross regional comparison, and technology integration.
Fund
2025 Yunnan Provincial Education Department Scientific Research Fund Project “Research on the Influencing Factors of Yunnan Coffee Brand Attractiveness in the Context of New Quality Productivity” (Project No. 2025J0406, host: Yin Yushi); 2025 Yunnan Agricultural University Tropical Crops College Scientific Research Program “Research on Branding Path and Mechanism of Coffee Branding of Yunnan Regional Agricultural Products” (Project No. 2025RYSK002, host: Yin Yushi).