China Business Daily (Reporter Chen Qing) my country's coffee market welcomes new members. Recently, the California-based specialty coffee brand Blue Bottle Coffee announced on its official WeChat account that the brand's first store in mainland China will be opened in Shanghai on February 25. Jing'an District opened.

In the face of the competitive coffee market, what can Blue Bottle Coffee win?

　　In recent years, the competition between old and new coffee brands has been fierce. Although it is not too early for Blue Bottle Coffee to enter the Chinese market, there are still certain opportunities.

According to data from iiMedia Research, the scale of China's coffee market in 2020 is 300 billion yuan, and it is expected to exceed one trillion yuan by 2025, showing a continuous expansion trend overall.

　　Blue bottle coffee also has its own advantages in development.

According to public information, Blue Bottle Coffee, founded in California in 2002, was acquired by Nestlé in 2017 after years of development. Currently, it has opened more than 100 stores in the United States, Hong Kong, China and other places.

As a representative brand under the "specialty coffee" subdivision, Blue Bottle Coffee also has extremely high requirements for quality, and all coffees are roasted within 48 hours.

Corresponding to high quality is high price. It is reported that the per capita consumption price of blue bottle coffee is about 60 yuan, while the per capita price of Starbucks is about 50 yuan.

　　In addition, the location of Blue Bottle Coffee’s stores is also quite distinctive.

The first store of Blue Bottle Coffee in Shanghai has chosen the historical building "Yutong Flour Factory Dormitory", with a strong retro atmosphere and minimal interior design.

The blue bottle with the iconic pattern on the product packaging design is very eye-catching.

At the same time, in order to fulfill the promise of 48-hour roasting, Blue Bottle Coffee needs to ensure a reasonable distance and smooth logistics between stores and roasting factories in the region.

The roasting factory selected in Shanghai this time is set in GLP Jing’an International Science and Technology Park, which is also relatively close to the coffee shop.

　　As a specialty coffee brand, Blue Bottle Coffee has no small ambitions to enter Shanghai this time.

It is reported that Blue Bottle Coffee will set up ten stores in Shanghai. In addition to the first store to be opened, it also includes Taikoo Li, Huaihai Road, Guojin, Hong World Expo Site, Raffles City North Bund and other areas.

　　Although Blue Bottle Coffee has considerable ambitions for the Chinese market, it remains to be seen whether it can capture Chinese consumers.

According to the "Shanghai Coffee Consumption Index" released by Shanghai in 2021, as of the end of January, there were 6,913 cafes in Shanghai, the city with the most cafes in the world.

At the same time, it is difficult for the blue bottle coffee, which is the main product, to be recognized by the mainstream market.

Industry insiders believe that at present, domestic consumers lack professional understanding of coffee (coffee bean origin, roasting, etc.), and the competition in the coffee market is fierce. It is difficult to form differentiation by relying on the advantages of coffee itself.

　　With the diversification of business models, new trends have emerged in the coffee market.

In the fast-paced urban life, functional coffee is becoming more and more mainstream.

In recent years, the rapid emergence of brands such as Ruixing Coffee is enough to show that the market for functional coffee is very hot.

In addition to the existing coffee brands, China Post also announced its official entry into the coffee industry recently, and the first store was officially opened in Xiamen.

　　Industry insiders believe that with the continuous emergence of localized cheap coffee, specialty coffees such as blue bottle coffee do not meet the current mainstream consumer demand.

Compared with specialty coffee, the affordable coffee market, which is easier to scale, has greater potential.

Whether Blue Bottle Coffee can successfully emerge from the market competition remains to be tested by the market and time.