Why did Luckin Coffee discontinue its alcohol-free beer drinks?

Luckin Coffee has fully discontinued its Triumphant Wheat Series, a limited-edition line of non-alcoholic beer drinks launched in July with the animation Havoc in Heaven. Stores were required to destroy their remaining beer ingredients before September 30 after weak consumer feedback and low repurchase rates left inventory piling up.

Each cup was marketed as containing 90ml of non-alcoholic beer, using vacuum low-pressure distillation to keep alcohol below 0.5%vol. The launch trended on Weibo, but the collaboration sold poorly and even free merchandise went largely unclaimed. The episode shows how alcohol and coffee concepts can struggle to hold repeat customers in chain beverage product lines.

Luckin Coffee's "Triumphant Wheat Series" non-alcoholic beer drinks, launched in collaboration with the classic animation "Havoc in Heaven," has been declared fully discontinued after a brief market trial. This limited-edition product, once marketed for "containing 90ml of non-alcoholic beer" and briefly trending on Weibo, ultimately led to massive inventory pile-ups in stores due to lackluster consumer feedback and low repurchase rates. Before September 30, all stores were required to destroy their entire stock of beer ingredients on their own, and social media once again witnessed the spectacular scene of employees collectively pouring out drinks. This article reviews the entire journey of this series from its high-profile launch to its quiet exit, analyzing the challenges and helplessness fast-moving consumer chain brands face in product lifecycle management.

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Recently, a product under Luckin Coffee was fully discontinued nationwide, and store employees across the country once again staged scenes of pouring materials en masse in front of the washing sinks.

In July of this year, Luckin launched the limited-edition "Triumphant Wheat Series" in collaboration with the classic animation "Havoc in Heaven." At launch, the topic #Luckin Beer# trended on Weibo, sparking widespread discussion.

According to Luckin's official introduction, this series "contains 90ml of non-alcoholic beer" and is another drink emphasizing an alcohol flavor concept, following the Sauce-Flavor Latte and Mulled Wine Americano. The term "non-alcoholic," as Luckin explains, refers to the use of vacuum low-pressure distillation technology, keeping each cup's alcohol content below 0.5%vol.

Although the selling point of "added real beer" attracted many curious consumers to place orders during the movie's promotional period, actual feedback and complaints show that compared to other flavored drinks Luckin launched this year, the market performance of this beer series was indeed rather lackluster.

From the perspective of workers, it was also observable that not only did the collaborative coffee sell poorly, but even the "free" merchandise was largely ignored, with large quantities of materials ultimately left to pile up in warehouse corners.

A couple of days ago, many store employees received internal notices that Luckin had decided to completely discontinue the non-alcoholic beer series, and all stores' beer inventory had to be entirely destroyed by September 30 (i.e., yesterday).

Perhaps because the delisting notice came too suddenly, or perhaps due to store managers' earlier "misjudgment" that the "Triumphant Wheat Series" would sell well and their large-scale stocking, actual results fell far short of expectations. Repurchase data at many stores was less than ideal, leading to severe unsold inventory of raw materials.

Those familiar with fast-moving consumer chain brands like Luckin know that a large number of products are launched and delisted every year, and this beer series is just one of them. For store operators, no matter how much stock was hoarded earlier, once a product is announced as discontinued, any unconsumed materials must be scrapped without exception.

To complete the assigned task on time, shortly after closing work began, employees hurriedly brought out box after box of ingredients needing to be reported as losses, stood in front of the three-compartment sink, opened each bottle, and poured them out until everything was cleared.

"Has it started?" The task of pouring beer seemed to officially kick off with a single command. The "wheat juice" inside the cans gurgled into the drain, and social media once again saw a "grand scene" of Luckin employees gathered to dispose of delisted ingredients.

As more and more staff posted their "battle results," a new wave of creative misery-sharing flooded the comments: "My fingers are about to blister from opening so many," "I'm going to throw up from the sink's smell," "Tonight Luckin's drains all smell like alcohol," "Not a single rat will walk straight tonight," "The light boat has already crashed into the beer mountain," "Getting drunk together with the three-compartment sink and not going home until wasted"...

Watching cans of ingredients being poured into the drain one after another, multiple employees said the reason stores now have to destroy large amounts of raw materials is mainly because this beer coffee, created by Luckin's R&D team, is "simply too awful-tasting."

In their view, compared to coffees that highlight mainstream dairy products, products that mainly rely on other beverages for pairing attract the public only through novel flavors. Once the response is poor, they easily become unsellable and are therefore more suitable for short-term sales. Otherwise, once consumer enthusiasm fades, products will stagnate, raw materials will pile up unconsumed, and these materials will end up expired and poured down the drain.

Image source: Internet screenshots

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