Why do coffee market specialty drinks at 40 yuan spark debate?

Coffee festivals and markets keep drawing crowds, but a widely shared complaint targets the average 40-yuan small cup of specialty drink. Long queues, noisy venues and entrance fees make the value hard to justify next to chain brands, and social media posts say few stalls focus on basic coffee or cultural exchange.

The editor coffee market debate centers on balance between commerce and experience. Some brands do use quality ingredients and care in their drinks, yet the overall impression persists. Vendors continue to organize events one after another, while consumers who brew at home for under 10 yuan question the premium and ask practitioners to strengthen core products.

In recent years, coffee festivals and markets have sprung up everywhere, attracting large crowds of enthusiasts and photo-takers. However, some netizens have pointed out that an average 40-yuan small cup of specialty drink, with long queues, noisy surroundings, and even an entrance fee, offers far less value for money than chain brands. Similar complaints keep appearing on social platforms, arguing that coffee markets are gradually becoming milk-tea-like and bar-like, with very few stalls truly focused on basic coffee and cultural exchange. Even so, markets continue to be held one after another, and consumers seem to be leeks that can never be fully harvested. Of course, some brands do put care and quality ingredients into their specialty drinks, but the overall impression is still hard to change. For industry practitioners and coffee lovers alike, how to balance commerce and experience has become a question worth pondering.

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Nowadays, all kinds of coffee festivals, markets, and related events are emerging one after another. Whether they are veteran coffee fans or young people who love checking in, everyone is happy to join the fun. As a result, almost every coffee festival scene looks unbearably crowded, with long queues always forming in front of the stalls, especially in the afternoon when people head out in concentrated numbers.

It is understood that

In recent years, coffee markets (coffee festivals) of various scales have appeared one after another in many cities across the country.

Recently, a netizen shared on social media their views on the current coffee markets: "I've tried the average 40-yuan cup (of specialty drink), and I really don't understand where the premium is reflected." "Coffee culture is slowly becoming like milk tea, like a bar. Does mixing this and that really count as a specialty drink?" "There are very few stalls truly focused on green beans, roasted beans, pour-over, lattes, Americanos, and other basic coffees, and on exchanging culture." "I make coffee at home myself, and the cost can be kept under 10 yuan. It's hard to accept coffee items with excessive packaging but mediocre core quality." "I hope coffee practitioners can steadily do a good job on basic products."

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Faced with an average-priced 40-yuan "specialty drink" in a rather small cup, you still have to stand in a long queue in the blazing sun, and some coffee events even require buying a ticket to enter.

By contrast, large chain coffee brands with comfortable spaces and plenty of style (% Arabica, Starbucks, Lavazza...) are clearly more cost-effective.

In response, many passersby in the comments section said that nowadays "markets are held too frequently, it's boring, it's better to sit in a cafe near home," "I drank 6 cups today... I feel like they were all just sweet water," "There's no cafe environment, yet they sell cheaper than specialty coffee shops, and the surroundings are chaotic. If there's a free ticket, it's still okay to walk around, but paying for a ticket is just being a sucker."...

Actually, in daily life, how many people would walk into a coffee shop and order a specialty drink with a relatively high premium, jokingly called "sweet water" by netizens?

Perhaps the atmosphere of the coffee festival made you impulsively buy a cup of coffee you had never tried locally, or perhaps you paid for it just to post a check-in on Moments.

Even so, posts complaining about coffee markets keep appearing on social networks, yet these events still go on as usual, as if consumers were leeks that can never be fully harvested.

Of course, some brands have indeed put effort into "specialty drinks," and their ingredients are solid enough, but gradually, people's impression of coffee festivals is left with only increasingly milk-tea-like and bar-like high-premium specialty drinks, plus having to buy a ticket to enter, and the same huge crowds as always.

Overall, for coffee practitioners and "coffee heads," what they want is simply to feel the strong cultural atmosphere of the coffee world. In fact, whether it is a coffee festival or a coffee market, it should not focus only on commercial interests while neglecting the overall experience.

Image source: Internet

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