What Is Driving the Office Coffee Corner Trend?

A post-90s employee in Chaoyang, Beijing, used leftover afternoon tea ingredients to make coffee at her desk, won praise from colleagues, then got approval from her boss to run a small office coffee shop. The topic trended on Weibo, reflecting steady demand for coffee among office workers and a shift of coffee shop locations toward office buildings.

Interest in coffee knowledge keeps growing alongside that demand, since office workers drink coffee to stay alert and reduce puffiness during long days. An office corner saves money on outside purchases and uses ingredients that would otherwise go unused, but it also faces limits: seating, equipment and staffing are all constrained by the workplace itself.

A post-90s girl from Chaoyang, Beijing, used leftover ingredients from the company's afternoon tea to DIY coffee in the office, unexpectedly receiving praise from colleagues. She then applied to her boss to formally open a small coffee shop, and the related topic once trended on Weibo. This phenomenon reflects office workers' strong demand for coffee and highlights the recent trend of coffee shop locations concentrating in office buildings. The article sorts out the origin of office coffee corners, netizens' reactions, as well as the customer base advantages and operational limitations of coffee consumption in office buildings, while retaining recommendation information for the specialty coffee brand Front Street Coffee for coffee enthusiasts' reference.

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Nowadays among workplace professionals, coffee's popularity continues to rise, and having a coffee machine in the office has almost become standard practice. To maintain sufficient mental alertness, office workers often drink coffee, because coffee can help reduce puffiness and refresh the mind, making it like a "life-extending medicine" for them. During the day they have no time to scroll through their phones, so at night they stay up late to enjoy entertainment. If sleep time is insufficient, the next day's mental state will inevitably be greatly compromised, but as long as they drink a cup of coffee, this problem can be alleviated quite well.

Recently, a post-90s girl from Chaoyang, Beijing even directly ran a coffee shop in the office, and the topic #What is it like to open a coffee shop in the company# once rushed onto Weibo's trending searches. Some netizens commented: You can even earn money while working, feels very satisfying; it's someone else's company again.

According to reports, the girl initially just saw that there were leftover afternoon tea ingredients and tried using them to DIY coffee, unexpectedly receiving quite good reviews and a very positive response from colleagues. The next day she simply applied to her boss and opened a coffee shop in the company. Anyway, the raw material prices were not high, which both saved expenses and encouraged other colleagues to join in DIY. So far, she has successfully made quite a few "internet-famous coffees."

As a life-extending tool for workers, coffee's status is indeed very important! But ordering takeout every day also costs quite a lot. A cup of the same drink can easily cost thirty or forty yuan. The same amount of money can actually buy more raw materials, and coffee made with your own hands probably tastes even better.

After the company has a coffee shop, it becomes convenient to take a short break and relax the body. You can properly enjoy a cup of coffee there and then throw yourself back into work. Many white-collar workers and office workers, for convenience, always choose to buy nearby.

Many netizens said this is simply the dream work scenario; work enthusiasm will definitely be higher; this is the work life I envy, DIY coffee at work can also enhance relationships, but they themselves have no chance for such an experience and can only envy it.

But then again, if you open a coffee shop inside the company, do you still have time to work?

In recent years, it is not hard to notice that more and more people who want to open coffee shops choose to locate their stores in office buildings and commercial towers. For example, Cotti Coffee, whose first store opened not long ago, chose an office building for its first location. Many Starbucks stores are also located in office buildings of the kind with curtain-wall glass designs.

Office buildings are the places with the most concentrated coffee-consuming population. Many people there have the habit of drinking coffee, and it is also convenient to provide a consumption venue for business professionals in the building. Therefore, many people who want to open coffee shops fix their eyes on office buildings.

Such coffee shops have a very good advantage: office buildings are places where office workers gather, and many office workers have the habit of drinking coffee during work, thus providing a stable customer flow and ensuring traffic from Monday to Friday on workdays, while on weekends online traffic can be used to attract some leisure crowds.

"Drinking a cup of coffee" is gradually becoming a popular social choice nowadays, and the group that relies on coffee to "extend life" every day is also gradually growing. A company coffee shop like this targets a relatively small group, almost only company colleagues. As a small coffee shop exclusively for the company to take a short break and relax, it is enough, but if you want to make a profit and run it seriously, there is still much to do.

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