"Between the beans and the cup, how to make a good cup of coffee, Italy has strict standards, and we hope to make Chinese enterprises their own characteristics." Sitting in front of a coffee world map, Xie Jianping, chairman of Gemilai, told Yicai.com The reporter said that there was also a row of various coffee machines on the table behind her.
Autumn is getting stronger, and this year, China's home appliance industry is also feeling the coolness of this autumn.
However, the business of coffee machines continues to boom, and the domestic and export markets still maintain a strong momentum of development.
Recently, a reporter from China Business News visited the coffee machine manufacturers in Shunde, the capital of small household appliances, and found that they were all planning new business.
Gemilai, the leading domestic commercial coffee machine company, is continuing to increase investment in the Chinese market; Hongri Technology is the largest drip coffee machine supplier of foreign brands in China, and is testing its own domestic brand; Xinbao Co., Ltd. (002705 .SZ) accounts for 40% of China's coffee machine exports, and is also increasing its own brand business in the Chinese market.
Twenty years ago, Shunde had become one of the largest coffee machine production bases in the world, and was keen to promote the global production share.
Compared with the past, Shunde is still an important coffee machine production base in the world, but the proportion of output is no longer the focus. Local entrepreneurs are now talking more about technological innovation, industrial design, brand building, and cross-border integration. A microcosm of the transformation of China's small home appliance industry.
Coffee machine bucks the trend
With the overall decline in China's home appliance market this year, coffee machines are one of the categories that are growing against the trend.
According to a research report by AVC, the sales of coffee machines on Tmall will increase for six consecutive months in 2022, with a year-on-year growth rate of over 200%.
The research report of GfK Zhongyikang also shows that the coffee machine products in the Chinese market have been significantly upgraded.
In recent years, the proportion of drip-type products has gradually decreased.
As of the first half of 2022, the retail sales of drip coffee machines in the online market accounted for only 8.2%, and the proportion of retail sales fell to 23%, while the market share of espresso machines was gradually increasing, especially semi-automatic espresso machines.
"China's young people have gradually become the main consumption force. They are more international and more accepting. As a fashionable drink, coffee is favored by more and more young people. Local retail stores such as Luckin Coffee have also played a role in promoting, Combining coffee with fruit, coconut milk, etc., the taste is more localized, the price is more affordable, and the purchase is more convenient." Xie Jianping told reporters.
"The epidemic has repeatedly promoted the expansion of the coffee machine market." Aowei Cloud analysis believes that, especially in the first half of 2022, the epidemic will continue to repeat, takeaway and dine-in will be blocked, and home office will gradually become normalized. Home coffee machines are welcomed by long-term coffee consumers. .
With the development of China's economy and the improvement of people's income level, the concept of refined life has gradually changed people's attitude towards coffee from a refreshing need to a social one, and the potential development space of the domestic coffee machine market is still very large.
Zhang Lizheng, head of the coffee machine business unit in the Greater China region of Philips Home Appliances, told Yicai.com that according to its background data, consumers in first-, second- and third-tier cities in China are interested in coffee machine searches, marketing material interaction data, and actual data. Sales data are all positive growth.
"Benefiting from the vigorous development of the entire industry, this year's coffee machine segments have grown rapidly, including not only different sub-categories, but also different price segments." Zhang Lizheng said.
From the perspective of the domestic coffee machine market structure, data from Aowei Cloud Network shows that the sales volume of fully automatic high-pressure extraction (ie Italian) coffee machines is the highest due to its convenience and stability, accounting for nearly 60% of the sales, followed by semi-automatic high-pressure extraction. Coffee machines account for nearly 20%, and capsule coffee machines and drip coffee machines also account for about 20%.
Coffee machines are not only popular domestically, but exports also keep growing.
According to the data of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, from January to July 2022, the export value of China's coffee machines was 1.444 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 16.5%; the export volume was 55.8441 million units, a year-on-year increase of 0.98%.
In terms of export value, North America and Europe are the main export markets, accounting for more than 60%, and other export markets include Asia, Latin America, Oceania and Africa; at the product level, pump coffee machines account for more than 50%, drip coffee machines The coffee machine accounts for about 20%.
"Coffee machines are an evergreen item in the North American home appliance market, among which drip coffee machines have long occupied the main share of the American coffee machine market." A person from Galanz told Yicai.com that Galanz's own brand coffee machine will be listed on the mainstream in North America in 2020. Sales channels mainly include high-end Craftsman series high-end coffee machines and retro Italian coffee machines.
It is understood that the company's coffee machine sales have doubled since its launch in the North American market.
"Behind the growth against the trend is the technical precipitation of Chinese coffee machine companies for many years." Liu Chunyu, vice president of Hongri Technology, told the first financial reporter that Hongri Technology's factory has its own molds, as well as molds that customers entrust to produce products.
In the early days, customers taught them how to do it; now, they can provide customers with one-stop solutions from appearance creativity, structural design to manufacturing, and have technologies with independent intellectual property rights.
This year, Hongri Technology has supported a well-known brand to develop a grinding and brewing coffee machine in three months.
Liu Chunyu revealed that because they have the technical platform and solutions for the coffee machine, the customer can combine their existing solutions and make the appearance and mold.
Hongri Technology's coffee machine export business experienced rapid growth in 2020 and 2021, and the growth rate has slowed down significantly this year. However, with the accumulation of past technologies, the number of cooperation projects with some major customers is still increasing.
Reshaping the domestic coffee machine market
"The coffee industry all over the world is looking at China, and the future of the coffee industry must be in the Chinese market." Liu Chunyu, sitting in the product exhibition hall on the first floor of the office building of the Hongri Technology Factory, said firmly to the first financial reporter.
The shelves behind him are full of coffee machines and coffee appliances produced by Hongri Technology for partners around the world.
Among the coffee machines of several European and Japanese brands, Liu Chunyu pointed to a product and said, "This is a coffee machine that we completely independently developed, owns a number of international and domestic patents, and can simulate the hand-brewing technique of a barista. German Red Dot Design Award".
He also handed another business card to the first financial reporter and said, "Actually, we are also testing our own domestic brands."
At present, foreign brands still occupy a larger share of China's domestic coffee machine market.
According to the research report of Aowei Cloud, in the first half of 2022, the brand concentration of China's coffee machine market is above 60%. Compared with 76% in 2020, the brand concentration has declined and brand competition has intensified.
The mainstream brands of domestic coffee machines include Delonghi, Nespresso (under Nestle), Philips, etc.
Delonghi has a relatively high market share; Nespresso mainly sells capsule coffee machines with coffee capsules; Baicui, Yumto, Gemilai, etc. are more affordable.
Looking back at the domestic home coffee machine industry, Zhang Lizheng said that coffee is an imported product, so foreign consumers will have higher demands. In the early years, only some foreign brands were in the home coffee machine market. These foreign brands are expanding their business. Enter the Chinese market.
But there has been a very obvious trend in recent years: many local Chinese brands and funds are entering the category of home coffee machines.
This industry needs more brands to work together to implant the demand for home coffee machines in the minds of consumers.
In the field of commercial coffee machines, at present, the specialty coffee market uses more Italian brand coffee machines; in the first-tier chain coffee shop market, more Swiss brand coffee machines are used.
A coffee machine agent introduced to the first financial reporter that the imported coffee machine brands mainly come from Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United States, etc., and the price ranges from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan.
In China, these high-priced imported coffee machines are basically bought by coffee shops, but also by banks and other institutions.
According to the data provided by Wisdom Buds to the first financial reporter, as of October 20, 2022, there have been more than 57,000 patent applications in the global coffee machine field, including more than 17,000 authorized invention patents.
From the perspective of major companies, in the field of coffee machines, Delonghi has more than 630 patent applications, of which more than 290 are authorized invention patents, mainly in the fields of dispensers, filters, mixing chambers, etc.; Philips has more than 2,300 patent applications. , including more than 750 authorized invention patents, mainly in the fields of grinders, filters, coffee pots, etc.; Nestle Nespresso has more than 310 patent applications, including more than 170 authorized invention patents, mainly in the steam outlet, etc. field.
The number of patents for Chinese brands of coffee machines is also catching up.
Judging from the number of patent applications in the past five years, the number of patent applications for coffee machines in China is significantly higher than that in other countries.
In this field, Xinbao has a total of more than 970 patent applications, including more than 70 authorized invention patents, mainly in the fields of water outlet, sealing ring, brewing head and other fields; Yilong has a total of more than 110 patent applications, of which authorized inventions There are 2 patents, mainly in the fields of brewing device, coffee capsule, conveying device and so on.
Gemilai has a total of more than 70 patent applications, including 2 authorized invention patents, mainly in the fields of water outlet, automatic, heating module, pump furnace system and so on.
Hongri Technology has a total of more than 30 patent applications, including 2 authorized invention patents, mainly in the fields of water outlet, automatic, coffee pot and other fields.
OEM brand up
The domestic coffee market is growing strongly, and former foundries have begun to build their own brands.
A reporter from China Business News found that in Shanghai, where there are many coffee shops, many boutique coffee shops and small coffee shops are already using domestic coffee machines.
Li Zhen, the owner of Shanghai coffee buff coffee shop, told the first financial reporter that in the selection of coffee machines in the store, he thinks that the first impression is to look good.
At present, the store is equipped with an imported coffee machine and a domestic coffee machine.
Li Zhen said that the imported coffee machine in the store is from the American brand slayer, which is good-looking and easy to use, but it is twice as expensive as another domestic brand coffee machine.
He lamented that he didn't seem to be embarrassed to open a store without ordering expensive things.
However, Li Zhen believes that the domestic coffee machine will be more flexible in the setting of various parameters, and the temperature, pressure, and flow rate can be adjusted, and the playability is high.
Therefore, the use of two coffee machines together allows the store to respond to different product needs.
Liu Chunyu believes that "specialty coffee is the trend of development" in the domestic market.
In the future, Chinese consumers will pay more attention to the origin of coffee beans, hoping to mobilize the original taste of coffee beans from all over the world through different water temperatures and different brewing methods, which contains business opportunities for the coffee machine industry.
Now another identity of Liu Chunyu is the founder and CEO of "Fika Fika", which focuses on the new market segment of automatic hand-brewed coffee machines.
He said that how to allocate the resources of the export OEM business and the domestic independent brand business is a test.
Xie Jianping also gave an example, Chinese people like fancy coffee, and a retail store does not produce as many cups of espresso per day as in the European and American markets. How to prevent the water in the water pump of the coffee machine from boiling repeatedly requires efforts in research and development; some People think that coffee is bitter, but in fact, the taste of coffee is three-dimensional and rich. How to better restore the original flavor of coffee and meet domestic demand, domestic brands must also work hard.
"You can't just look at the coffee industry from the perspective of small household appliances. Domestic brands must look at the coffee culture and service in order to achieve greater success." Pan Weidong, deputy general manager of Gemilai brand operations, told Yicai.com.
Recently, a reporter from China Business News saw in the Gemilai factory that a group of college students were welcomed to the coffee experience center on the first floor of the company's office building. They are students of the Department of Industrial Design of Lingnan Normal University, and they came to the factory for production, research and study.
In the face of visitors, Pan Weidong said that Gemilai first focused on the commercial coffee machine market, and expanded the home coffee machine market, while expanding the tea appliance market, focusing on the "coffee tea" joint.
The first financial reporter saw in the commercial machine production workshop of Gemilai that there is a production line in the production of commercial coffee machines, and the water pump & boiler are one of its important core components. It is piled up in piles, waiting to be shipped; another production line is producing tea machines and is constantly packing boxes.
"We can provide both tea machines and commercial coffee machines for retail stores." Pan Weidong said that Gemilai pays more attention to the domestic use of commercial machine technology and will continue to promote it in the home machine market.
Xinbao Co., Ltd., the leading coffee machine OEM, is aggressively expanding the domestic coffee machine market in mainland China, and under the banner of the acquired Italian brand "Yumtu", it has entered into semi-automatic espresso machines.
Xinbao Co., Ltd. revealed in the investor relations event in August 2022 that its coffee machine brand, Yumto, performed well in the first half of this year, but its volume is still small. From July to August this year, the company's self-owned brand business generally maintained a steady growth trend. .
International brands add to the Chinese market
In the context of the continued boom in the domestic coffee market, foreign brands are also increasing their investment.
Recently, Philips has launched a high-priced household semi-automatic coffee machine in the domestic market, extending the product category from fully automatic coffee machines to the semi-automatic field. The new category comes from the Italian brand Saeco previously acquired by Philips.
Zhang Lizheng told the first financial reporter that Philips was more oriented towards entry-level consumers who pursue simplified operations. Saeco will target consumers in China who have medium and high unit prices and pursue a sense of self-operation experience.
"The epidemic has made people spend more time at home. In addition to the changes in taste, coffee has many characteristics of self-experience, self-exploration, and the need to share with family and friends."
Zhang Lizheng said that the Chinese coffee machine market is growing rapidly, while the European coffee machine market is very mature and will be larger, but the entire Asia-Pacific region, including China, will grow very fast.
Delonghi is also expanding its coffee machine business in China.
According to public information, Dongguan Delong Jianwu Electric Co., Ltd. is building the third and fourth expansion projects locally. The project is mainly engaged in the production and manufacture of coffee machines, with a total investment of 280 million yuan.
The first financial reporter learned from industry insiders that Delong's new coffee machine production base in Dongguan will be completed in 2022 and put into operation in the first half of 2023.
Eureka, a century-old Italian grinder brand, is also preparing to invest in the Chinese market.
Shen Weibo, Marketing Manager of Shanghai Peinini Import and Export Trading Co., Ltd., told reporters that EUREKA plans to cooperate with the company to establish EUREKA's Sino-foreign joint venture factory in China.
Shen Weibo said that EUREKA will combine the needs of the Asia-Pacific market and select suitable models for production in Chinese factories.
In the supply chain of accessories, except for a few core components, all of them are provided by China's industrial chain, and a research and development center will also be set up.
This cooperation hopes to base itself on the Chinese market and revitalize the Asia-Pacific region.
According to Euromonitor, the sales volume and sales of coffee machines in China will continue to expand at a compound growth rate of 9% and 10.2% from 2021 to 2026.
The research report of GfK Zhongyikang believes that the popularity of coffee machines in the Chinese market has continued to heat up in recent years, and product upgrades have never stopped, but it seems that the explosive growth of the market is always a step away.
China has a profound tea culture, and the coffee machine market is relatively small; and the proportion of instant coffee and freshly ground coffee remains high. China is the manufacturing center of the global coffee machine. The coffee machines produced are exported to all over the world, but the export enterprises are large. Most are OEM.
In the future, with the increasing acceptance of coffee culture by young consumer groups, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the Chinese coffee machine market, and the market still needs to be cultivated.