Why Do Coffee Festival Drinks Feel Really Expensive?

Coffee festivals in cities such as Jinan, Ningbo, and Nanning have drawn crowds and specialty brands, but high-priced signature drinks are often left unfinished in nearby trash bins. Signature concoctions generally cost from just over thirty to more than fifty yuan, and some consumers say the volume is small and the coffee flavor weak.

Odd combinations such as douzhi Americano add to the risk of a bad pick for any coffee enthusiast. One specialty drink can cost as much as two or three lattes, so visitors spend hundreds of yuan across an event. The waste and the trial-and-error cost have become industry concerns.

In recent years, cities such as Jinan, Ningbo, and Nanning have hosted coffee festivals one after another, attracting numerous specialty coffee brands and large crowds of visitors. On site, aside from the usual espresso drinks, various signature concoctions have become the main products promoted by the stalls, with prices generally ranging from just over thirty to fifty-plus yuan. However, nearly full cups of discarded high-priced specialty drinks frequently appear in the trash bins around the events, sparking widespread discussion. Consumers report that some specialty drinks are small in volume and weak in coffee flavor, and there are even bizarre combinations like douzhi (fermented mung bean milk) Americano, making the risk of a bad pick quite high. At the same time, the relatively high pricing has led many to exclaim they "can't afford to drink it," as one specialty drink sometimes costs the same as two or three lattes. This article reviews the consumption phenomenon and industry concerns behind the specialty coffee craze at coffee festivals, and retains recommendations related to the Front Street brand.

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With the rapid development of coffee culture, several cities including Jinan, Ningbo, and Nanning have recently held coffee festivals with distinctive features. Many specialty coffee brands were invited to participate, and combined with various fun activities organized by the hosts, these events attracted large numbers of visitors, with the venues packed and bustling.

Coffee enthusiasts who attended shared that, in addition to the common espresso drinks, there were also many eye-catching specialty concoctions at the coffee festivals. Some coffee stall owners, worried that visitors might drink too much coffee and feel unwell, also offered snacks and refreshments, providing thoughtful and considerate service that left many visitors with lasting impressions.

According to feedback from consumers on site, the prices of espresso drinks at coffee festivals across different cities differ little, while specialty coffee is mostly priced between just over thirty yuan and just over fifty yuan. To some, the prices are not very affordable, but many people still tried them. Some coffee lovers said that after visiting one event they spent several hundred yuan and drank five or six different specialty drinks.

However, visitors leaving the events noticed that many discarded specialty coffees could be seen in the trash bins around the venues, including nearly full cups of drinks priced at over 50 yuan, prompting a netizen to lament, "A specialty coffee costing over 50 yuan a cup, thrown away just like that."

Regarding the coffee festivals held in various places, some people who have attended such events multiple times say that perhaps to satisfy the curiosity of visitors wanting to try coffee, specialty coffees appear on coffee stalls with increasing frequency, but the accompanying risk of a bad pick is also rising.

For example, at this year's Ningbo coffee festival, people who went specifically for specialty coffee tried five or six different brands' concoctions and felt these drinks were small in volume and lacked coffee flavor. Some also couldn't handle unconventional specialty drinks like douzhi Americano, taking a sip before decisively abandoning them.

On the other hand, the high pricing of specialty coffee has also become a point of complaint for many: "Anything coffee-related is expensive except the barista," "A 50-yuan coffee, 40 of it goes to the barista for tattoos," "It's really expensive... I only had two cups and left...," "I asked around about prices first, then decided not to go."

In the view of one coffee festival regular, she feels that today's coffee festivals, large and small, are all about various competing specialty "sweet little waters," making people feel that coffee's "taste" is increasingly lost. Not only are these specialty drinks not very tasty, but their prices are generally high, with one specialty drink sometimes costing the same as two or even three lattes.

Coffee festivals gather specialty coffee brands from various places, so coffee lovers don't need to travel the world—they can try various signature coffees right at their doorstep. However, the dazzling array of specialty drinks has become the main product promoted by stall owners, and prices keep rising, which also means the cost of trial and error for consumers has increased. As a result, more and more visitors are deterred by the prices and unwilling to try easily, fearing they might accidentally step on a landmine.

Image source: Internet

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