The top 10 most promising “specialty coffee” retail brands

China's coffee market is currently worth 70 billion, with an annual growth rate of 15%. The coffee market has great potential. Previously, New Consumption Insider took stock of the hot self-service coffee machine business. The drinking structure of coffee ranges from ready-to-drink, instant to freshly ground. Instant occupies 70% of the market share. At present, with consumption upgrading, especially in first- and second-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, many people have the demand for coffee consumption, and are more picky about the quality and taste of coffee, and pay more attention to the coffee experience. As the third revolution of coffee, boutique coffee is more sophisticated from the selection of coffee beans to roasting.

Let’s take a look at 10 specialty coffee cases with great potential.

Game-changer: Lian Coffee, a takeaway company

Lian Coffee was founded in 2015. It initially provided Starbucks delivery services, and later established its own coffee brand and provided coffee delivery.

In 2017, during the week of Singles’ Day, the sales of Lian Coffee exceeded 1 million cups, and on Singles’ Day, the sales were close to 400,000 cups, close to the sales of 1,000 Starbucks stores. In March this year, Lian Coffee received a B+ round of financing of 158 million yuan.

How does Lian Coffee dominate the multi-billion-dollar coffee market?

Products are king, keep innovating.

Lian Coffee will continue to innovate its existing products to drive the influx of new users and increase the order density of old users. For example, Lian Coffee has launched popular products: Bulletproof Coffee and Pink Coconut Water. It has also launched boutique coffee beans to meet the needs of people who have a demand for boutique coffee. Lian Coffee itself does coffee takeaway, and the types of coffee it provides and the layout of its stores meet the needs of most office and coffee consumers. In terms of takeaway packaging, Lian Coffee builds the brand's originality and pays attention to keeping the coffee "flipped over without spilling" and exquisite appearance.

Coffee external code requirements + multi-channel smart ordering.

Lian Coffee targets people who don’t have time to go to stores but have a demand for freshly ground coffee. Starbucks and Costa cannot achieve full coverage except for major business districts and office areas. Lian Coffee has found the right market positioning and covers the people in need. With intelligent WeChat and mini-program ordering, and no restrictions on stores or rent, it is more cost-effective in terms of price.

Master online marketing.

Lian Coffee regularly launches activities based on holidays and uses social platforms such as WeChat to interact with users, which not only meets users' emotional needs and maintains user stickiness, converts new users, but also converts them into purchasing traffic.

Starbucks Select Stores

Since 2014, Starbucks has opened more than 110 Reserve stores with the R logo in China, which offer higher quality coffee.

Emphasis on returning to coffee itself.

The coffee beans sold in Starbucks Reserve stores are Sumatra Grinji, Rwanda Shuli, Papua New Guinea Roca, and Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee beans. The Reserve stores emphasize the quality of coffee. The coffee beans come from famous farms around the world, and each coffee can be traced back to its origin and grower. In addition to quality coffee beans, customers can sit at the bar and communicate with the barista, watching the barista make coffee. The barista will ask the customer's preferences, adjust the water temperature and flow rate, and introduce the production process and the use of utensils as well as related coffee knowledge, bringing a full immersion coffee experience.

The decoration style combines Chinese and Western styles, actively integrating local elements.

Starbucks Reserve stores around the world adapt to local conditions and incorporate local elements. The different styles of Starbucks Reserve stores have created visual highlights and attracted many consumers to check in. Most Starbucks Reserve stores have a simple industrial style combined with local elements of the cities where they are located.

The Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Shanghai is a two-story building that looks like a coffee can or a theater. Inside is the most representative of Chinese style, with a two-story copper can engraved with seal characters and stamps. The Starbucks Reserve store is equipped with many coffee-making utensils and top-level coffee machines, and a simple wooden bar with a strong Western industrial feel.

The selected stores in Shenzhen incorporate circuit boards and clothing elements that represent Shenzhen's electronic technology, which is also Starbucks' tribute to Shenzhen's technology and manufacturing industry. The Xi'an store opened this year also incorporates representative elements of Xi'an, from shadow puppets to armor, paying tribute to the ancient city's Qin and Tang Dynasty customs.

Internet celebrity coffee % Arabica

% Arabica coffee comes from Kyoto, Japan. It currently has 17 stores in Dubai, Kuwait, Berlin, Hong Kong and other places. In February this year, it entered Shanghai and opened its first store in mainland China.

Only sells coffee.

% Arabica specializes in coffee and offers 4 types of coffee: espresso, macchiato, latte, Americano and lemonade. As its name suggests, it uses 100% Arabica coffee beans. The coffee beans come from its own planting and global procurement of boutique coffee beans. The coffee machine in the store is a slayer coffee machine with a pre-soaking function, precise water flow control, and fine powder output. The wooden shell is very design-conscious.

Appearance is justice.

% Arabica's minimalist style, coffee packaging, and "%" logo are impressive. In terms of store design, % Arabica uses simple and elegant white as the main color, combined with the original wood color to create a warm living atmosphere. Some high-looking baristas are hired to make coffee for customers. The baristas' perfect and professional production and latte art craftsmanship give customers a perfect coffee experience.

Popular specialty coffee: Seesaw Coffee

“A good life should be shared with more people, and good coffee should be available to more people.”

——Zong Xinkuang, founder of seesaw coffee

Seesaw was founded in 2012 and currently has 16 stores in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Last year, it received 45 million yuan in Series A funding and will continue to expand in other regions to popularize specialty coffee.

Export coffee lifestyle.

Since Seesaw opened its first store in Shanghai in 2012, it has quickly captured the hearts of consumers with its coffee quality and simple and stylish design. Before financing, Seesaw expanded very slowly, but it gave it time to slowly improve its coffee quality and cultivate consumers' coffee habits. Seesaw has offline coffee experience and training courses every month, which are divided into free experience, paid professional and advanced coffee knowledge training.

Strictly control the supply chain.

The coffee beans come from coffee farmers in Yunnan. We carefully select high-quality coffee beans and establish long-term cooperative relationships with local farmers. The Seesaw team members come from all over the world, but they have a great passion for coffee. You can see the stories of each barista on the Seesaw official account, and the team atmosphere is also very pleasant.

A designer storefront.

Seesaw stores focus on design aesthetics, open bars, and beautiful and exquisite utensils and equipment. This environment facilitates communication and experience between customers and baristas.

Eagle Coffee

Known as the most beautiful coffee shop in Shanghai, it currently has 3 stores in Shanghai. Its founder, Wang Juntao, has many years of experience working in Korean coffee companies and is determined to create a boutique coffee brand.

Covering traffic population.

Yingji Coffee is located in Xintiandi, Fengshengli, and Fuxing Soho, covering major office areas and areas with dense traffic, saving advertising costs. The design of a boutique coffee shop. Yingji attracts consumers to take photos and check in with its stylish and atmospheric decoration style, two floors, spiral staircases, and hanging coffee machine installation.

Professional coffee quality.

Yingji's coffee beans are selected by the team from all over the world. There are many award-winning star baristas in Yingji's barista team. The machine is also an Italian Slayer coffee machine.

Due to the location of the center, high-end design, high-quality coffee beans and baristas, Eagle Coffee is not expensive. The per capita consumption of 56 is acceptable among the boutique coffees in the same industry and is also affordable for ordinary consumers.

Manner coffee

With a store area of ​​less than 3 square meters and an average price of 15 yuan per cup, it can make a monthly income of 100,000 yuan. Manner Coffee in Shanghai can be said to have achieved the ultimate cost-effectiveness in boutique coffee.

They roast their own coffee beans, use high-quality ingredients, have a great taste, and are priced at $10-20, which is why many people are willing to queue up.

The simple white packaging is beautiful and convenient for takeout, so you can drink it right after you buy it.

GREYBOX

GREYBOX was founded in 2016 and received 100 million yuan in Series A funding last year. It is an offline boutique coffee shop. Currently, it has 16 chain stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other cities. In the future, it plans to enter Hong Kong, Taipei, New York and other places.

Boutique route.

GREYBOX uses coffee beans with a SCA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) score of 90 or above, which are roasted for 48 hours before use. The milk used is also sourced directly from Australia. The barista chose to hire the champion of the World Coffee Competition as the chief barista. The coffee machine used is La Marzocco, which is known as the "Rolls-Royce of coffee machines" and can accurately record the brewing standards of different blends of beans. Visually, GREYBOX also uses the same black, white and gray tones as its logo, with a minimalist style.

Specialty Coffee Academy, cultivating coffee culture.

Like other boutique coffee shops, GreyBox has set up a boutique coffee academy, offering classes for coffee lovers every weekend. In the future, it will also set up a "front shop and back factory" coffee shop to allow customers to see the coffee roasting process and strengthen the "boutique" tone.

Multiple product forms and multi-channel sales.

In addition to coffee, customers can also buy desserts and meals in the store. In addition, cold brew coffee, drip coffee, mugs, coffee pots and various coffee peripherals can be purchased in the store and on the official website.

Coffee from the heart: UNIBROWN Coffee from the heart

Founded in 2015, it received tens of millions of yuan in financing last year. It is a chain of boutique coffee brands positioned in business spaces and currently has 4 stores in Shanghai.

The location is chosen in the core business district to give full play to the social attributes of coffee.

In addition to providing coffee and services, Youxin Coffee, which is located in the core business district, also provides additional corporate services to the businesses in the space.

Enhance user experience and manage the community.

Youxin Coffee emphasizes community management and has held coffee classes, teaching latte art and coffee tasting. Through various activities, it increases user stickiness.

Carefully selected coffee.

Youxin Coffee has a complete product line, with two new drinks launched every month. It strictly controls everything from raw material selection to production. It only uses coffee beans with a score of 80 or above in the SCA rating, and roasts them in a Shanghai OEM factory. The manufacturer strictly controls the quality of the coffee and ensures the stability of the coffee quality.

Create a hit product.

Previously, the coffee cone that became popular on Instagram was very popular, and Youxin also launched two products, "Latte Cone" and "Matcha Cone", which were welcomed by many consumers.

Mellow Coffee

Since its establishment in 2011, it has 40 stores across the country.

Mellower emphasizes the quality of coffee beans, which are sourced directly from coffee farms around the world to ensure the freshness of the raw materials.

On the other hand, Mellower has a team of champion baristas, including Jin Zhenkui, Huang Yan, Li Qi, Chen Zijing and other well-known baristas in the industry, leading the industry standards.

Mellower has continuously updated its creativity. It has launched creative coffee drinks such as "Sweetheart Rain", "Iced Lemon Yirga", and "Gothic Latte", which have been loved by consumers and widely spread.

Quality Control Coffee

Founded in 2011, it currently has 12 stores in Shanghai and Jinan. It was founded by Taiwanese boss Zheng Songmao.

Make fractional coffee.

The six types of coffee provided by Quality Control Coffee have won good results from the American Coffee Quality Institute. Quality Control Coffee selects high-quality coffee beans from around the world, and each type can be traced back to its origin.

Franchise and takeaway.

The quality control department adopts a flexible management mode, including direct operation and franchising, and also actively develops the takeaway business and reaches cooperation with multiple platforms.

After taking inventory, we found that most of the coffee shops are located in Shanghai. Shanghai is the city with the most coffee shops in China. According to the 2017 data from Coffee Gate, Shanghai has nearly 1,865 more coffee shops than Beijing and 2,813 more than the third-place Guangzhou. It can be said that if you want to consider the ecology of coffee shops, you can see it by looking at the market in Shanghai. In addition, among the many coffee shops that attract consumers, the location and design factors of the coffee shops are very important. In addition, there are factors such as the quality of coffee, coffee machines, and baristas. In addition to selling, many coffee shops are constantly innovating, opening takeaway businesses, and selling coffee peripherals online and training coffee courses offline. China's coffee market has great potential. Let's wait and see which players will emerge in the future.

Source: New Consumption Insider