Coffee started late in China. In the early days, only high-spending people or returnees were interested in having a drink in the cafe. Over time, the domestic coffee market has undergone earth-shaking changes. As an important part of the world coffee market, China is highly concerned by foreign media. Let's take a look at the coffee market in the eyes of foreign media!

 

Recently, foreign media said that coffee is being squeezed into the Chinese market dominated by tea culture, where coffee consumption is likely to become a global leader from the bottom of the world. China's coffee consumption accounts for less than 2% of the world's total, but the industry has begun to change.

 

According to the BBC website reported on July 14, in 2005, Richard Chien opened a coffee shop in northeastern China. At that time, a group of freshly brewed baristas could make about 900 cups of coffee a day, and the price per cup was 6 yuan - less than 1 dollar. Ten years later, he runs a high-end coffee school in Beijing. There, students spend several hours understanding the aromatic and tasting techniques of coffee beans. The price of coffee used in the training is $6 per cup （about 40 yuan）.

 

China's “economics have changed and people are increasingly understanding different lifestyles,” said Richard Qian. “They no longer have tea in their eyes.”

 

According to the US Department of Agriculture, China's coffee consumption has nearly tripled in the past four years, ranking first among all the large markets it tracks. The potential of the Chinese market is also enormous: the country has a total population of 1.4 billion.

 

Starbucks is confident in the Chinese market, so it is preparing to open its first international baking and experience center in Shanghai next year. The company believes that China will be its largest market. The Seattle-based coffee chain has more than 2,000 stores in China, and they plan to add 500 stores each year for the next five years. Another American coffee chain, Dunn Dole, announced last year that it will add more than 1,400 stores in the next 20 years, an increase of nearly 100 times.

 

According to the report, the growth of coffee sales proves that China is transforming into a consumption-driven economy, which is mainly due to the changing consumption will of the middle class. More and more Chinese are traveling abroad, some are espresso in Japan, and some have completed semesters in American cafes. Unlike the parents, many young Chinese generations grew up surrounded by cafes.

 

“It just happens to be at the sweet spot of casual family spending.” Gao Zicheng, a professor of investment at Peking University, said that he had co-authored “One hour to read Chinese consumers: five small stories to understand the cruel struggle of 1 billion consumers.” “This book. Many Chinese people think that drinking coffee is still a hobby, but it is a luxury lifestyle that is not far away.

 

In the Chinese economy, where growth is slowing, the demand for other commodities is declining, but coffee seems to be a different kind. The country's vast population base and almost unexplored markets have unprecedented opportunities.

 

According to data provided by market research firm Ou Rui International, the average Chinese person drinks 3 cups of coffee per year, ranking almost at the bottom of the world, only higher than countries like Sudan and North Korea. In comparison, the average American consumes 363 cups of coffee per year and the British also has 250 cups.

 

Lei Xiaoshan, managing director of China Market Research Group, said that Chinese people's desire for coffee ”completely changed the global supply chain.“ Coffee growers need to judge how to produce more coffee beans to cater to Chinese tastes. ”Before this happened, the price of coffee beans soared because demand exceeded supply, until the growers increased production to alleviate this situation.“

 

The company estimates that China's coffee consumption will continue to grow at an annual rate of about 20%, and Lei Xiao believes that this change is largely due to women under the age of 30. ”They no longer buy Louis Vuitton's bag, but instead turn their attention to experiential consumption.“ He said, ”The coffee culture is part of it.“

 

According to the report, both taste and cost pose a threat to China's emerging coffee market, especially in urban areas with high living standards.

 

If you compare a Chinese coffee shop, especially a high-end coffee shop, to coffee shops in California and Boston, you will find that they sell fewer coffees per day.“ Peter Ray, trader of California coffee exporter Royal Coffee Dosevich said, ”There has not been a rapid growth.“

 

According to the report, in order to make coffee truly successful in China, it is necessary to let less tourists believe that coffee can supplement or even replace tea - especially for some unique coffee varieties.

 

The US Wall Street Journal website reported that China's demand for commodities may be slowing as economic growth slows, but in a country with a tea-drinking tradition, coffee – even at a price – is a rare highlight. . Analysts say that driven by changing tastes and a rapid increase in the middle class, demand for other luxury goods, including imported fresh fruit, is also growing rapidly.

 

According to Raffier Oberetti, a food and beverage analyst at BMI Research, coffee represents ”a Western lifestyle that is attractive to the upper class and middle class in the city“。 And tea is considered a more traditional drink.

 

Taiwan's Zhongshi News reported that some coffee experts said that if the mainland drinks 20 cups a year, the price of coffee in the world will rise by three times, showing that the mainland has a huge influence on global coffee.

 

In general, in the eyes of foreign media, although China's per capita coffee is still small, the Chinese coffee market still has great potential.