Why Coffee Enthusiasts Are Watching Peet's and Ora

A new shop called ora coffee opened on the first floor of Beijing Fortune Shopping Center, and its certified entity is Peet's Coffee (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. That places the mid-to-high-end brand in the affordable coffee track. The store is minimalist with few seats and focuses on takeout, and drinks use beans from the Peet's lineup at roughly half the price, with an Americano at 9.9 yuan on weekdays.

What drew discussion among coffee enthusiasts was the equipment: two fully automatic coffee machines instead of the semi-automatic models common at Peet's. Some see the move as a way to capture the mid-to-low-end market, while others call the positioning awkward, caught between Manner above and Luckin below. The Beijing store is open, and a Xi'an MixC World location is in preparation.

Recently, a new coffee shop called ora coffee appeared on the first floor of Beijing Fortune Shopping Center, and its certified entity behind it is Peet's Coffee (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., namely the Chinese entity of Peet's Coffee. This means that Peet's Coffee, which has long positioned itself in the mid-to-high-end segment, has officially tested the waters of the affordable coffee track. The overall design of ora coffee is minimalist, the store space is compact, there are not many seats, and it focuses on the takeaway scenario. The mini-program shows that its drinks use coffee beans from the entire Peet's lineup, yet the prices are nearly half cheaper than those at Peet's stores, and on weekdays an Americano can be purchased for 9.9 yuan. The store is equipped with two fully automatic coffee machines rather than the semi-automatic models commonly seen at Peet's, which has sparked heated discussion among coffee enthusiasts. Some are optimistic that Peet's can use this to seize the mid-to-low-end market, while others believe ora's positioning is awkward, as it struggles to compete upward with Manner and has little price gap downward with Luckin. The first Beijing store has already opened, and a store in Xi'an MixC World is also in preparation.

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Recently, some netizens reported that a new coffee store called "ora coffee" has opened on the first floor of Beijing Fortune Shopping Center.

Judging from the store's appearance, it takes a minimalist route, and its overall visual style is somewhat similar to Manner and Mstand. The store area is not large, and there are relatively few dine-in seats, making it overall more like a coffee kiosk mainly oriented toward takeout.

It is worth noting that after opening the brand's ordering mini-program, the enterprise certification information column reads "Peet's Coffee (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.," and this is precisely the main company of Peet's Coffee in China. In other words, this newly appeared ora coffee is most likely a new sub-brand incubated by Peet's Coffee.

Because of this relationship between ora and the "grandfather of Starbucks," many coffee enthusiasts have developed a strong interest in it, and after opening, people have successively gone to visit and check in. A netizen who has already been there shared that all the coffee produced in the store uses coffee beans from the Peet's system, but drink pricing is nearly half lower than at Peet's own stores, and he personally judged that this "should be benchmarked against Manner."

In addition, this store's product line is not limited to coffee, and it also offers baked foods such as bagels and paninis. Customers can buy them separately or choose more cost-effective combo meals. Combined with the current promotional activities in the store, on weekdays a cup of Americano priced at 15 yuan can be bought for 9.9 yuan. From this, it is not hard to infer that the brand hopes to use a affordable strategy to win over office workers who "rely on coffee to keep going," encouraging them to make repeat purchases.

However, observant check-in fans also noticed a detail: the coffee machines configured in this store are not the semi-automatic models commonly seen in Peet's stores, but two smaller fully automatic coffee machines.

In most people's perception, Peet's has always been a mid-to-high-end coffee brand, and the baristas in its stores are all professionally skilled, with products and service that make consumers feel they are worth the money, which is precisely why it has accumulated a group of loyal users. But on the other hand, the coffee market is becoming increasingly involuted, and many mid-to-high-end brands have long been unable to hold back and have begun adjusting their strategies according to market changes. From this perspective, the sub-brand ora is very likely a trial by Peet's aimed at the affordable coffee market.

However, in the eyes of some netizens, ora, which uses fully automatic coffee machines, is somewhat "not good enough to compare with those above, yet better than those below."

If compared with Luckin, which also uses fully automatic coffee machines to produce drinks, ora's overall price does not show an obvious gap; and if compared with Manner, which is close in pricing, ora's fully automatic setup may make some coffee enthusiasts hesitate and instead continue to choose Manner, which insists on semi-automatic coffee machines and also offers a bring-your-own-cup discount.

"Manner is a bit more expensive, right? I feel this positioning is a little awkward, more expensive than Luckin, but not cheap either." "Even a 10-yuan latte with a bring-your-own cup can't beat Manner..." "It seems to be fully automatic machines, so how can it compare with Manner? It's only fit to fight a price war with Luckin." "There's nothing much to compare between fully automatic coffee machines and Manner."

At present, ora's first Beijing store has officially opened to customers. And recently there has also been confirmed news that the brand will soon enter Xi'an MixC World, and the boarded-up storefront can already be seen on the outer side of the mall.

Although netizens who value cost-effectiveness are not very convinced by this affordable sub-brand launched by Peet's, some optimistic views hold that Peet's, now shifting to 9.9 yuan, is not without a chance of winning, and perhaps with this new brand it can secure a place in the extremely fiercely competitive mid-to-low-end market.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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