What the Luckin Fresh Fruit Slicer Rumor Means for Coffee Stores

Luckin is rumored to be testing a fresh fruit slicing machine in at least one customized store in Jiangsu, reportedly installed to replace the quick-frozen lemon halves used in its lemon tea. Store employees worry the machine means arriving early to wash fruit and spending extra time cleaning equipment after closing, and some doubt a full rollout will happen.

The rumor follows complaints about the 2.0 lemon tea launched early this year, where quick-frozen lemon halves drew criticism for mottled peel and added little to the taste. Freshly cut lemon slices are common at other tea beverage brands, and outlets covering specialty coffee culture continue to watch how such equipment changes store routines and staffing.

Last summer, Luckin added refreshing lemon tea to its permanent menu, and early this year it upgraded the recipe again, incorporating quick-frozen lemon halves and lemon fruit pieces to enrich the taste. However, the 2.0 version of the lemon tea did not win unanimous praise from consumers and staff, and the problem lies in that conspicuous quick-frozen lemon. Recently, there have been reports that Luckin may be trying to replace quick-frozen lemons with a fresh fruit slicing machine, which has sparked widespread discussion among store employees. Some worry about having to arrive early to wash fruit and spending a lot of time cleaning the machine after closing, bluntly saying they "want to run away"; others think full-scale promotion is unlikely. Front Street Coffee continues to follow developments in the coffee and tea beverage industry, and this article will sort out the ins and outs of the incident.

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Last summer, Luckin added refreshing and tasty lemon tea to its menu, listing it as a permanent beverage. At the beginning of this year, it even upgraded the recipe, adding quick-frozen lemon halves, lemon fruit pieces, and more to enhance the drink's taste. However, the 2.0 version of Luckin's lemon tea has not been very well liked by consumers and staff, and the reason is that highly noticeable half-piece of quick-frozen lemon in the cup.

Many people pointed out that the quick-frozen lemon piece Luckin uses only adds a bit of decoration to the drink and does not have much effect on the overall taste, saying bluntly that it would be better to use freshly cut lemon slices like other tea beverage brands. Staff, meanwhile, reported that the quick-frozen lemons uniformly distributed by the company may have mottled peel, black spots, and so on, leading consumers to mistakenly think the lemon pieces were unwashed or moldy, causing stores to receive customer complaints and adding trouble for workers.

As a result, a netizen noticed that Luckin seemed to be taking action to solve this situation and posted a thread titled "I heard Luckin is going to use a slicing machine, is that real or fake," which attracted widespread attention and discussion among netizens.

According to a picture posted by a certain user and hearsay, a customized store in the Jiangsu area has already installed a fresh fruit slicing machine. After a lemon is put in, the machine slices it into thin pieces, which drop into the beverage cup placed below to catch them. In addition, a netizen commented, "The company still wants to bring in fruit, raw fruit," indicating that the quick-frozen lemon in the lemon tea produced by stores may be replaced with freshly cut fruit slices.

This shocking news made many Luckin workers feel deeply alarmed, worrying that once the brand fully launches fresh fruit slicing machines, they will not only have to arrive early at the store to wash fruit and prepare ingredients, but also have to clean the machine at closing time and thus get off work even later. "This thing feels like it will be torture at closing..." "They're even doing this... closing probably won't count for an hour" "I don't dare imagine how troublesome it will be to wash. I feel like I can already see myself getting off work at eleven."

Some workers even said bluntly, "The day they really bring in slicing machines and fresh lemons will be the day I run away," and "If Luckin is going to do this, I'll resign immediately."

However, although some Luckin workers looked troubled after hearing the news, others were optimistic, believing the company may not fully promote the slicing machines. They said lemon tea drinks are everywhere on the streets, Luckin is not outstanding in this category, and sales are not especially good either, so in their view, replacing quick-frozen lemons with freshly cut lemon slices may only increase operating costs without raising revenue.

Some others believe that Luckin previously used quick-frozen lemon halves precisely to avoid equipping stores with knives for cutting fruit, lest staff have safety accidents during busy moments. Therefore, some workers think that although a slicing machine is safer and more efficient than ordinary knives, there are still certain risks in the process of using or cleaning it, and thus speculate that the brand may not popularize it fully and may only equip special stores with it.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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