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Luckin Coffee triumphs over Starbucks

Chinese brands are overtaking former Western heavyweights. One example is Luckin Coffee. Starbucks used to dominate the market for on-the-go coffee. Now, a domestic competitor is taking over. The ingredients are the same as in other sectors: A better sense of the market and a head start on digitization. Zero Covid speeds up the shift.

Coffee has gone from being a luxury drink to an everyday commodity in China’s big cities. Especially metropolises like Beijing, Shanghai or Shenzhen are dotted with coffee shops. Chinese coffee consumption has been steadily growing for years, and it is hardly surprising that China has become Starbucks’ second-largest market after the domestic US market. In 1999, the Seattle-based company opened its first branch in China and claims to now operate more than 5,400 stores in over 230 cities in China.

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