How has fruit coffee beverage development lost its momentum?

Fresh fruit coffee specialty stores have contracted sharply after rising around 2020. Brands led by Benlai Buying have fallen from a peak of 725 stores to just over 140, a closure rate near 80 percent. Other fruit coffee chains are also cutting stores, shutting down, or transforming, leaving a niche that once drew capital and new product launches across the coffee and tea beverage sectors.

Fruit coffee had been a key direction for coffee beverage development, with brands like Benlai Buying founded in September 2021 in Huizhou, Guangdong, expanding nationwide on mix-and-match drinks such as durian latte and banana coffee. It also became an entry point for tea beverage companies testing coffee. Now brands with hundreds of stores and city-level players alike face the same wave of closures.

Fresh fruit coffee specialty stores that once enjoyed immense popularity are now undergoing a large-scale contraction. Fruit coffee brands represented by "本来不该有" have shrunk from a peak of 725 stores to just over 140, a closure rate of nearly 80%. Other brands specializing in fruit coffee are likewise facing rapid store reductions, closures, or forced transformation. Why did this niche category, which rose to prominence around 2020, go from being favored by capital to a quiet exit in just a few short years? This article reviews the development trajectory and current state of the fruit coffee track, along with observations from Front Street Coffee on industry trends.

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Recently, many consumers have noticed that the fresh fruit coffee brands around them are closing one after another. Some brands continue to shrink their store footprint, gradually fading from public view; others shut down shortly after opening, leaving only signs that have yet to be removed. These fruit coffee brands were once immensely popular, yet now hardly a single one can be found, prompting people to ask: "Have they all gone out of business?"

As a niche category that rose rapidly in recent years, fruit coffee has always been an important direction for major brands to launch new products and seek breakthroughs. It not only spawned a batch of specialty stores but also became an entry point for many tea beverage brands to test the waters in coffee. But right now this track is undergoing drastic reshuffling — whether it's a leading fruit coffee brand with hundreds of stores or players operating only in select cities, none seem able to escape the wave of closures.

When it comes to "fresh fruit + coffee," many people immediately think of "本来不该有," one of the earliest brands to focus on new-style fruit coffee. With mix-and-match products like durian latte and banana coffee, the brand once frequently went viral on social platforms and became well known among consumers.

Image source: 红餐网

According to official information, "本来不该有" was founded in September 2021, with its first store in Huizhou, Guangdong. Leveraging its positioning as creative fresh fruit coffee, the brand quickly expanded nationwide. Public reports show that its total number of stores nationwide once exceeded 700, covering Guangdong, Beijing, Shanghai, Hefei, and many other provinces and cities. In 2022 alone, it opened over 500 new stores, averaging more than 1.3 openings per day.

However, starting in the second half of last year, news of store closures at "本来不该有" kept emerging. Although there were no exact closure figures at the time, videos posted by second-hand equipment recyclers frequently showed the brand's store equipment being packaged for disposal.

According to 红餐网, on February 22 of this year, the founder of "本来不该有" posted a video on his social media account revealing that the brand had closed a large number of stores over the past six months, dropping from a peak of 725 to just over 300 at that time (February 22), a shrinkage of nearly 60%. He himself was operating at a loss and even sold two sports cars because of it.

As recently as now, the closure momentum at "本来不该有" has still not stopped. Data from 红餐网 shows that as of May 10, only just over 140 stores nationwide were still available for ordering on the brand's mini-program. In other words, over the past year, "本来不该有" closed nearly 600 stores, with its total store count plummeting by about 80%.

Looking at other brands specializing in fruit coffee on the market, their situations are much the same as "本来不该有" — either their store numbers have shrunk drastically or they have shut down entirely; or they have made remedial adjustments to their product structure, or simply pivoted to a different track.

Image source: 红餐网

In fact, the fruit coffee trend can be traced back to 2020. At that time, all kinds of seasonal fruits — durian, coconut, green grape, strawberry, and even niche varieties like guava, navel orange, and avocado — as long as developers could think of them, would be put into coffee, creating various "new combinations" that became popular categories online. Over the following two years, a large amount of capital poured in rapidly, and products built around the selling point of fresh fruit coffee emerged one after another.

As competition in the coffee market became increasingly fierce, mainstream brands accelerated store expansion on the one hand, while continuously launching new items on their menus on the other. Besides fruit coffee, they also frequently rolled out various "little sweet drinks" with new elements, giving consumers even more choices. Brands relying solely on the single selling point of fruit coffee, however, lacked brand recognition while also having to cope with brutal commercial warfare.

Clearly, this business has now fallen into a downturn.

Image source: Xiaohongshu screenshot

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