{"id":9081,"date":"2021-12-17T07:30:24","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T07:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=9081"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:48:26","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:48:26","slug":"will-manner-coffee-conquer-starbucks-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/will-manner-coffee-conquer-starbucks-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Manner Coffee conquer Starbucks in China?"},"content":{"rendered":"

China\u2019s coffee consumption is booming, with local brands like Manner Coffee threatening the supremacy of Western brands like Starbucks. Juliette Pitt<\/strong> examines what the success of homegrown brands means for the future of consumer brands in China<\/h2>\n

While China is still regarded highly for its tea, young Chinese people have recently been turning to coffee to get their caffeine fix. According to the Qianzhan Research Institute, China\u2019s coffee market is set to exceed RMB 300 billion (\u00a335.5 billion) by 2024. Currently, annual revenue in the coffee segment amounts to around \u00a310 billion and it is projected to grow by 9.21% annually between 2021 to 2025.<\/p>\n

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In March 2021, it was announced that Shanghai has the most coffee shops in the world. At nearly 7,000 cafes, the city beats out Tokyo (3,826), London (3,233) and New York (1,591). The UK\u2019s largest coffee chain, Costa Coffee, together with Starbucks accounts, for around 35% of the total coffee shops in Shanghai, while British retail brands like Whittards have also seen success with their coffee products.<\/p>\n

The rise and fall of Luckin Coffee<\/h4>\n

Luckin Coffee was founded in 2017, and this venture capitalist pet project became the first successful Chinese coffee chain. By 2019, Luckin had opened more than 4,500 stores across 53 cities in mainland China. With the stated aim of overtaking Starbucks, the brand began trading on the Nasdaq.<\/p>\n

However, its success was short-lived. In autumn 2020, the company admitted to fabricating over $300 million in earnings and soon after, Luckin Coffee was quickly delisted from US markets. Tainted by the scandal, the company faced numerous penalties from China\u2019s Ministry of Finance and, perhaps more crucially, received a torrent of negative feedback from netizens unimpressed with the company\u2019s behaviour. Despite this setback, Luckin played a key role in increasing the visibility of domestic Chinese coffee brands. Indeed, Luckin is still the second most popular chain in Shanghai behind Starbucks.<\/p>\n