Chinese Coffee: It's Never Too Late to Start Investing

Recently, China’s coffee unicorn, Luckin Coffee, filed for a US IPO, which prompted another investment boom in China’s coffee market. Actually, China’s coffee market remained the hot area for venture capital and showed a higher growth trend, especially in 2018. According to JingData, the amount of venture capital in China’s coffee market reached CNY 322m in the first five months of 2018, twice the total amount financed in 2017.

The wave of 'new concept' and 'new retail' has greatly influenced the Chinese coffee market. Domestic coffee brands have sprung up with floods of capital and included new business models such as O2O coffee, boutique coffee, coffee vending machines, and convenience store coffee – represented by Luckin Coffee, Seesaw Coffee, Label Coffee, and ParCafé, respectively. International brands have also teamed up with strong partners – such as the Nestlé-Starbucks licensing deal and Coca-Cola’s acquisition of Costa Coffee – in a bid to capture further growth opportunities in the Chinese coffee market. Additionally, experimental new concepts such as 'any moment,' 'new-tech décor,' 'aperitivo lifestyle,' and 'affordable luxury' have been promoted to greatly enrich the experience of coffee consumption.

What does this new wave of coffee mean for coffee companies moving forward?