What Does the WBC Champion Coffee Signing Mean for Luckin?

Boram Julio Um, winner of the 2023 World Barista Championship, announced a partnership with Luckin Coffee on October 29, appearing in photos with other WBC champion coffee titleholders wearing Luckin aprons. He is likely the sixth WBC winner signed as a Luckin spokesperson, joining Hidenori Izaki, Agnieszka Rojewska and Anthony Douglas on the brand's ambassador roster.

The gathering points to Luckin's strategy of tying its name to winners of the WBC coffee championship, whose titles carry weight in specialty coffee circles. Um, a Korean-Brazilian barista, took the 2023 crown in June with a routine built around the themes of team and dream, and his signing extends a lineup that already spans champions from 2014, 2018 and 2022.

With less than two months left before 2023 comes to an end, Luckin Coffee seems to still have a major move up its sleeve. On October 29, WBC World Barista Championship winner Boram Julio Um posted several group photos on social media, expressing his joy at working with the Luckin team and tagging the people in the photos. Judging from the images, this is very likely the sixth WBC champion spokesperson signed by Luckin. In the photos are not only Boram himself, but also 2014 champion Hidenori Izaki, 2022 champion Anthony Douglas, and 2018 champion Agnieszka Rojewska. Several champions gathered together, all wearing Luckin barista aprons. This article will sort out the background of this collaboration, Luckin's champion spokesperson strategy, and the latest progress of its global bean-hunting plan.

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With less than two months left before the end of 2023, Luckin Coffee still has major news brewing.

On October 29, WBC World Barista Championship winner Boram Julio Um posted several group photos on his personal social media account, with text expressing his pleasant collaboration with the Luckin team and tagging the people appearing in the photos. It is not hard to guess that this should be the sixth WBC champion signed by Luckin as its newest brand spokesperson.

Luckin's brand elements can be seen everywhere in the photos. Besides himself, several familiar WBC champion competitors were also wearing Luckin barista aprons, obediently standing by for the shoot.

That's right! These familiar faces are respectively 2014 WBC world champion Hidenori Izaki, 2022 World Barista Championship (WBC) champion Anthony Douglas, and 2018 WBC World Barista Championship champion Agnieszka Rojewska. Each of them once showed off their full prowess on the WBC stage and ultimately lifted the trophy, making them true "big names" in the specialty coffee circle.

If you also follow past World Barista Championships, then you surely know that the person posting the photos is precisely this year's freshly crowned champion. At the end of June this year, as the latest WBC came to a close, Boram Julio Um used "team" and "dream" as the themes running through his entire presentation. With his outstanding performance, he won repeated praise from the judges in attendance and ultimately took the crown at this edition of the World Barista Championship.

After winning the World Barista Championship, this Korean-Brazilian barista also became a focal figure in the specialty coffee world and drew attention from the industry, including from Luckin.

In March this year, Luckin officially announced the launch of its global bean-hunting plan and said that Anthony Douglas, the previous WBC champion, would lead the team directly to the two major coffee-producing origins of Ethiopia and Panama. After Anthony, Luckin has now also invited the sixth WBC champion, Boram Um, once again expanding the "Luckin WBC Champion Legion" and maxing out the "gold content" of its spokesperson lineup.

It is rare for four world champions to appear in the same frame, and all of them neatly put on Luckin's spokesperson uniforms, holding the "little blue cup" and flashing peace signs at the camera, making one unable to resist sighing inwardly: Luckin wants to "monopolize" the WBC champion seats, doesn't it?!

From sweeping up champions from various fields as spokespeople to brand collaborations every few days, from hit new products dominating the homepage to long-term coupon giveaways that push competition to the extreme... Looking back at Luckin's major moves from the beginning of the year to now, it can be said that every single one has shaken the coffee industry. Just as everyone thought Luckin was still busy planning its next "big-name" collaboration, in fact it had already found the sixth heavyweight member for its "WBC Champion Team."

As for the specific details, let us wait and see Luckin's official announcement when the time comes!

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