How did Goubuli move into the coffee store business?

Tianjin Goubuli Group has spent more than seven years building a coffee business in China. Its subsidiary Tianjin Senyongtai paid 6 million Australian dollars in 2014 for exclusive, permanent rights to the Gloria Jean's brand in China. By January 2015 it had opened 12 branded coffee stores, and in February 2022 it registered Gloria Jean's Coffee Food (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. with 500,000 RMB in capital.

Chairman Zhang Yansen once said the plan was to reach 20 stores in 2015 and 200 within five years, a target that remains far from reality. The company now faces Starbucks, China Post, and other rivals in a crowded market. For any coffee enthusiast watching the sector, the case shows how a time-honored food brand tries to translate name recognition into a coffee store network.

When Tianjin Goubuli Baozi also picked up a coffee cup, the competitive landscape of China's coffee market gained yet another highly talked-about player. From spending heavily in 2014 to acquire the franchise rights in China for Australia's Gloria Jean's brand, to establishing a dedicated coffee food company in 2022, Goubuli Group's exploration in the coffee sector has spanned more than seven years. What is the gap between the vision of opening 200 stores in five years that was promised at the time and reality? Facing pressure from both new and old rivals such as Starbucks and China Post, can this time-honored brand find its own place in the coffee track? This article sorts out the key milestones and current situation of Goubuli's cross-industry coffee venture for coffee enthusiasts' reference.

The aroma of coffee has long spread to every corner of China, and many traditional time-honored brands have entered this field, selling this cup of "Western soy milk," with Tongrentang and China Post among the pioneers. Now, Goubuli, known for the Tianjin specialty snack baozi, has also set up a dedicated coffee enterprise.

Data from Tianyancha shows that on February 22, 2022, Gloria Jean's Coffee Food (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. was officially registered and established, with Zhang Yansen serving as the legal representative, registered capital of 500,000 RMB, and business scope covering food sales, daily necessities sales, and catering management. In terms of shareholder structure, the company is 100% held by Tianjin Goubuli Food Co., Ltd.

In fact, Goubuli Group's contact with Australia's Gloria Jean's Coffee International can be traced back to 2012. After two years of difficult negotiations, the two parties officially signed an intellectual property licensing agreement on December 25, 2014: Tianjin Senyongtai Catering Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Goubuli Group, obtained the exclusive and permanent brand usage rights for Gloria Jean's in China, for which Goubuli paid 6 million Australian dollars as the initial franchise fee.

By January 22, 2015, Tianjin Goubuli had opened 12 Gloria Jean's branded coffee stores in the Chinese market. At that time, Goubuli Group Chairman Zhang Yansen revealed in a media interview that he planned to expand the number of stores to 20 within 2015 and reach 200 within five years. He candidly stated that entering the coffee business was aimed at promoting the company's diversified development, hoping to use the profits from the coffee segment to feed back into Tianjin Goubuli, this "time-honored brand."

Today, seven years have passed since Tianjin Goubuli obtained the franchise rights in China for Australia's Gloria Jean's coffee brand. The store list on Gloria Jean's Coffee China official website shows that as of February 23, 2022, only 28 stores remain in mainland China, far from the 200-store goal Zhang Yansen originally planned. It is worth noting that 16 of these 28 stores are concentrated in Tianjin.

As more and more industries pour into the coffee track, the market share each participant can obtain is constantly being diluted. Previously, Starbucks' "expelling police officers" incident damaged its brand image in China, and many coffee consumers clearly showed alienation from the brand. Shortly afterward, China Post, representing the "national team," opened its "first" post office cafe in Xiamen, Fujian, quickly becoming a focus of public discussion.

China's coffee market share is certainly huge and is still in a stage of rapid growth, but the number of competitors should not be underestimated. In just two years, Chinese medicine pharmacies, hospitals, milk tea shops, and others have all set their sights on coffee, this big cake, with some operating freshly ground coffee and others making ready-to-drink products. Compared with China Post, Tianjin Goubuli is more of a local specialty food brand in public perception, and its store scale is far smaller than China Post's—the latter has outlets across the country.

Therefore, when Tianjin Goubuli will complete the rollout of 200 offline stores, and how large a slice of the coffee market it will be able to carve out by then, as consumers, we can only wait and see.

Image source: Internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.