- Gordon Dumoulin
Is Coffee The New Tea ?
High tech fun ! The good old rubber saving stamp for collecting a free cappuccino or latte in your favorite coffee shop ๐
In 2020, China's coffee market was valued a little over USD 12 billion, nearly doubling the value in 2015 with an expected annual growth of 10-15% in coming years. Since October 2021, China is with 5,400 stores Starbuck's second largest market after the United States and many foreign coffee chains are knocking doors in the market. But Starbucks is not even the largest chain in number of stores, Luckin Coffee from Beijing surpassed 6,000 stores earlier this year, only established in 2018.


Nevertheless the average consumption per capita is 9 cups of coffee per year in China is neglible compared to world's number one Finland with a per capita average of 1400 cups per year or for example the United States with about 400-450 cups.
The overall per capita comparison does not reflect a realistic picture as there are huge demographic differences in China with respect to coffee consumption. While drinking coffee is practically non-existent in many rural areas across China, habitual coffee drinkers in 1st- and 2nd-tier cities in China consume an average of about 300 cups a year, near the level of mature markets. Of these habitual coffee drinkers, more than 50% are constantly increasing their coffee consumption, thereby developing a coffee drinking habit.

China has also their own coffee cultivation and drinking culture in Yunan province.
๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ ? Probably not, but China today is certainly a very attractive and huge market for coffee business with on the other hand also the most competitive and difficult market at the same time. Innovation, experience, lifestyle, quality and services are constantly evolving factors in this market.

๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ... It can be expected that a trendy development and modernization of the tea market (apart from bubble teas), adapting product and market developments to Generation Y and Z consumers, will pop up sooner or later. The question is not if but when... Maybe a better business opportunity than the harshly competitive coffee market ?

๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ '๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข'...
#coffee #tea #starbucks #luckin #chinabusiness #chinamarket
Sources/Interesting reads about the coffee market in China :
Coffee Market in China: How to Sell your Coffee (2022)
https://marketingtochina.com/coffee-market-in-china-how-to-sell-your-coffee/
Coffee market in China - statistics & facts
https://www.statista.com/topics/7311/coffee-market-in-china/#dossierKeyfigures
White paper on Chinaโs freshly brewed coffee industry
The Coffee shop market in China
https://daxueconsulting.com/competition-of-coffee-shops-in-china/
Video source : chinainsider IG