1st INTERNATIONAL COFFEE DAY CELEBRATION Inaugural Ceremony Opening Remarks

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am so delighted and it is a great pleasure to welcome you to FAO for the first official celebration of International Coffee Day! It is a historical moment; the first is always the first. I do not know how many ‘firsts’ I have made since I came. That is something I really appreciate - giving me the great honour to make another ‘first’!

You know, I was not a coffee drinker until I was 20 years old.

We celebrate this special privilege because of the importance of coffee, and that is why it was endorsed by the UN General Assembly. 

But, let me begin with a personal story. I was born into a rice-farming smallholder family in Hunan Province, South China — a place where tea is the prevailing culture. When I first tasted coffee four decades ago – now 42 years ago actually, in 1984 - in Beijing I tasted the first cup of coffee made in the Chinese way of how to prepare tea.

I remember the first sample was from the Philippines. A friend of mine gave it to me because he was manager of a tea import/export company. Then, I put the coffee powder into hot water and we started drinking it. That was my first coffee taste from the Philippines. Not from Colombia, not from Brazil, because at that time it was too far away from me; we only got some samples from neighbours. The first feeling I had was that it was so different from the taste of tea, but I started loving it! 

At first when something is strange, you adopt it and then you create additional value. I am a very inclusive person; I used liquid tea and added coffee. Have you tried it? Liquid Longjing tea and then mixed with coffee. 

I created a dialogue in 2017 in Hangzhou, the Coffee and Tea Summit Dialogue, when I celebrated the International Tea Exhibition. That is why I invited all the coffee producing countries, including Colombia, Brazil, Cambodia, Viet Nam and of course Ethiopia, Kenya and some Arabic states, and the Philippines of course. About 34 countries who are coffee growers came there.

That is why the tea exhibition includes coffee and cocoa.

Some African countries like Ghana and the Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) - they always say they are the number one producer of cocoa.

The campaign for the International Tea Day started in 2006, before I came, and then in early 2019 through FAO it was submitted to the UN General Assembly, so when I arrived the International Tea Day was about to be established, and then I created my own mission and commitment.

So, why the International Coffee Day?

Coffee is very popular in the west, but it started becoming popular in the east as well, especially in China. Every year there is a 20 to 30 percent increase, and last year they imported about USD 1 billion in coffee beans from Brazil alone.

My scientific training told me something important: coffee is not just a beverage. It is a precise combination of water, soil, climate and human ingenuity.

Coffee is a true global citizen, and important for diplomacy!

I know there are a lot of diplomats here. If you taste coffee, you can feel the value of diplomacy and then you really understand what real diplomacy is.

Tea and coffee are a bridge of diplomacy.

In Addis Ababa, the coffee ceremony is a sacred moment of community.

Actually, the word coffee in English originates from the region called Kaffa in Ethiopia.

In the 6th Century, coffee was discovered and planted first in Yemen about 600 years ago.

It arrived in Brazil only about 300 years ago. You can read the story about coffee and how it was introduced by Generals at that time. It was in 1727 -  so almost 300 years ago. But it became popular only 120 to 130 years ago.

In Bogotá, a “tinto” is the pulse of street life.

I remember in 2007, I led a big delegation to Bogotá, and I cleared out all the coffee in one of the shops. The manager came to complain saying “please leave some on the shelf” and I said: no, we want your coffee; you know when the Chinese come, we are big purchasers.

In Rio de Janeiro, coffee was the economic powerhouse from the valley. They call it the Coffee Valley since 1846.

In Hanoi, “iced milk coffee” tells a story of tradition meeting innovation.

In Rome, an espresso is a way of life.

If you are a real coffee drinker, you should drink six cups of espresso per day. If you drink less than that, you are not a real coffee drinker.

Because my professor in Wageningen University, the Dutch called him “milker” because he used to drink little coffee with a lot of milk.

In Shanghai, the specialty coffee culture is growing at a quick pace — China's coffee market reached USD 42 billion in 2024. Now it might have doubled to be above USD 80 billion!

I am not going to promote the Chinese company but Luckin Coffee – that is now the mother company of Starbucks - is the largest chain store in the world. It has about 240 billion RMB turnover in a year; this year, only about five years started its new digital business model.

Young people are no longer standing in long queues to pick it up; they order it online and get it delivered at their door.

So, coffee beans should change the business model; from growers to the consumer.

That is my enjoyment. I follow the coffee industry in the world, and the coffee consumption culture in China during the past 40 years.

International Coffee Day is about celebrating more than just a drink; it is about the human diversity that connects us.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we enjoy a cup of coffee, we must remember one key fact: up to 80 percent of the world's coffee is produced by smallholder farmers.

These 25 million farmers scattered across the mountains and tropical highlands of Latin America, Africa and Asia, are the true backbone of this global industry.

I just had a meeting with the Secretary General of the World Free Trade Zone Organization. We wanted to promote several key commodities in the industry - a free trade industry park.

Coffee came to my mind. We should help the smallholder farmers to get added value and a decent job. Otherwise, companies like Illy, Lavazza, Luckin or Starbucks take all majority of its profits.

We should help the smallholder farmers first.

Today we celebrate the millions of people around whose livelihoods and lives depend on coffee.

Last March, the UN General Assembly designated 1 October as International Coffee Day, following endorsement by the FAO Ministerial Conference in 2025.

Thank you also to Her Excellency the Ambassador of Brazil for her leading role.

Also, today is the National Day of China.

We started the one-week golden week holiday. I was woken up by so many messages, also through social media, but I am a poor FAO Director-General. We do not have holidays. We never enjoy Chinese holidays here. Yesterday I woke up at 5:30 to come here and attended the first meeting at 8:00.

We should work hard. That is my duty, that is my destiny.

None of this would be possible without the millions of people whose knowledge, skills and hard work sustain the coffee sector.

That is why we work hard, but at least we get quite a good pay. But for our coffee growers, they work day and night and they do not get enough pay. They deserve a better pay. That is our role – not only for coffee but also for other commodities with which we have a linkage with the industry, and to create jobs for them.

You cannot increase the price, because the international price like for example for bananas is so cheap, and mango is also cheap. But you have to find a way to help the smallholder farmers to join the value chain and benefit from the value chain.

Our theme for this inaugural celebration, “Celebrating Coffee, Honouring the People Behind Every Cup” – but not only to honour them, but also to appreciate. Let them benefit from each cup of coffee. That is my destiny, my commitment - to recognize and honour their contribution.

As we mark the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026, we would like to also recognize the essential roles women play across agrifood systems, from production and processing to trade, to the table.

In the coffee sector, we need to increase opportunities for women across the entire coffee value chain.

Coffee farmers and communities continue to face significant challenges, including climate variability, pests and diseases, market volatility, and economic shocks.

Building a more resilient coffee sector requires investment in sustainable and climate-smart production systems, better access to innovation and technology, as well as greater opportunities especially for smallholder farmers.

FAO is working with Members to advance these priorities. These efforts are part of our work to transform agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.

I said more inclusive. It mainly means that any value chain should benefit the smallholders: smallholder producers, smallholder growers, and smallholder service providers. That is why Italy is so important. Because they have so many smallholder service providers. It’s not only about producing coffee, but about how many people work in this sector.

And for the Four Betters. Achieving this transformation requires strong partnerships.

I am particularly pleased to celebrate this first International Coffee Day together with my esteemed colleague, the Executive Director of the International Coffee Organization, who is joining us virtually.

I got to know she comes from several generations of coffee growers. I think for her life, for her destiny, she is fully determined.

Our two organizations have a longstanding partnership, which we recently renewed to deepen our cooperation in support of the coffee sector and the people who depend on it.

Together, we are working to ensure that behind every good cup of coffee lies a combination of nutrition security, environmental resilience and economic empowerment.

Dear Coffee Friends,

I wish to thank all the countries participating in today’s event and for generously sharing their coffees and traditions with us - and for bringing the diversity of the world’s coffee cultures from Addis Ababa to Arabia, to Europe, to Latin America, and now they also came to Asia.

Asia’s first coffee growing country is Timor-Leste, and then the Philippines, because of colonialism history. But now it is part of the culture of Asia.

Thank you and enjoy your coffee, and remember it is not just a coffee break, it is a coffee action moment - and it is a moment for real diplomacy!

After coffee you get the excitement, and then you get to calm down with a new spirit.

Thank you, thank you so much!