During peak periods of exploding orders at tea beverage stores, staff inevitably make small mistakes such as forgetting to include straws, failing to affix expiration date labels, or knocking over tea containers, which are usually addressed with internal reminders or minor penalties. However, after employees at some Gu Ming stores filmed mocking videos featuring staff wearing placards around their necks, which were shared on social media, they sparked strong backlash from numerous netizens due to scenes involving employees having "crime" cardboard signs hung on their chests and their hands being cuffed with cup holders. The controversy centers on whether this form of imitation public shaming respects workers and whether it was appropriate for the official account to participate in posting it. Gu Ming subsequently responded that the video borrowed from a popular platform meme, has taken down the related content and apologized, and also distributed a thousand free drink vouchers. [more…]

Recently, a meme about iced Americano has been trending on Douyin, inspiring many people to walk into cafés and try this drink. However, some have noticed that the iced Americano they get has a sour taste, which is quite different from the rich, bitter flavor they remember from Starbucks. In fact, a citrus or berry-like acidity in iced Americano is perfectly normal, as long as it isn't a rancid or harshly astringent sourness. Different cafés use different espresso beans: light-roasted single-origin beans have a more pronounced acidity, while dark-roasted blends lean toward a solid, bitter finish. This article will analyze the sources of acidity and bitterness in iced Americano from the perspectives of roast level and origin blending, introduce Front Street Coffee's approach to crafting it, and finally discuss the life philosophy behind this drink. [more…]

Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style) For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex Hushang Auntie, a fresh fruit tea brand with 5,000 stores, recently posted ten consecutive "I don't want to work anymore" themed posters on its official Weibo. From frontline employees to management, from operations to design to customer service planning, various departments expressed their "throwing in the towel" sentiments, sparking heated discussion among netizens. Was this wave of operations a collective slacking off, or was there something else behind it? On November 11, the mystery was revealed—it turned out to be hype for the new product "Freshly Stewed Pear Series." This article will take you through the whole story of this suspense marketing campaign and explore how tea beverage brands can leverage young people's popular memes to get closer to consumers. [more…]

With over 600 million daily active users and the powerful momentum of livestream e-commerce, Douyin is becoming a new battleground for major beverage brands competing for online traffic. From Luckin and Starbucks to Manner and Tims, and further to Heytea and Nayuki, almost all well-known beverage brands have launched ultra-low-priced group-buy packages on Douyin, with prices far lower than ordering in stores or via mini-programs. Luckin's "male model squad" livestream once sparked heated discussion, with group-buy deals for Coconut Latte at only 14.5 yuan; Starbucks' 19-yuan breakfast package sold over 860,000 cups; Nayuki's 9.9-yuan single-item coffee surpassed one million orders. Behind this online price war is brands' deep strategic push for local exposure and secondary in-store consumption. This article gives you a full picture of this Douyin beverage battle. [more…]

Recently, news that ByteDance applied to register the trademarks "ByteTea" and "ByteTea" has sparked widespread speculation. As the parent company of Douyin, does this move by ByteDance mean it intends to enter the milk tea industry? This article reviews ByteDance's trademark activity, the background of slowing advertising revenue growth, and Douyin's massive user base and marketing capabilities, and analyzes the possibility of its entry into the tea beverage market. At the same time, the article also points out that competition in the current tea beverage industry is fierce, and product quality is the foundation for standing firm. [more…]

In the third quarter of 2022, Luckin Coffee delivered a remarkable report card: its total store count reached 7,846, surpassing Starbucks in one stroke to become the brand with the largest number of chain coffee stores in China. From filing for bankruptcy protection to completing its turnaround, Luckin took only a little more than a year. Behind this was not only the sustained pull of hit products such as coconut latte and cheese latte, but also the combined efforts of social media marketing, reverse holiday co-branding, refined user operations, and a youthful R&D team. This article will analyze Luckin's store data, product logic, marketing tactics, and user strategy, while also exploring the significance of the affordable chain model for the popularization of coffee consumption in China. For readers who follow developments in the coffee industry, Luckin's path to breaking through is undoubtedly a sample worth studying. [more…]

Coffee chain giant Starbucks has once again become the focus of public opinion, this time due to a Douyin platform promotion offering coupons for two Flat White coffees for 0.01 yuan. After grabbing the coupons, many consumers were told they could not be redeemed and the system automatically refunded them, sparking widespread dissatisfaction. Starbucks subsequently issued an apology, explaining that an internal test link had been mistakenly activated. However, the incident did not die down, as legal experts pointed out that the merchant's unilateral cancellation of the contract may constitute a breach. Meanwhile, Starbucks is accelerating expansion and adjusting its marketing strategy in the Chinese market, frequently launching promotional offers. This article reviews the course of the incident, the reactions of various parties, and Starbucks' recent moves. Front Street Coffee also continues to follow developments in the coffee industry. [more…]

Manner Coffee has been thrust into the spotlight of public opinion due to three incidents of conflicts between staff and customers that occurred over two consecutive days. The brand issued an apology statement through its official Weibo in the evening, pledging to make improvements, but netizens did not accept the content of the statement, especially expressing dissatisfaction over the lack of a clear response to the incident in which "a customer broke into the bar area and assaulted a staff member." At the same time, the content of Manner's two official Douyin accounts has been completely cleared, sparking further speculation. Behind the incidents, media investigations and revelations from former employees have exposed that under Manner's rapid expansion, frontline baristas face high-intensity work, heavy psychological pressure, and an unreasonable compensation system. As one of the few brands in the industry with a thousand stores that still insists on using semi-automatic espresso machines, how Manner can strike a balance between efficiency, quality, and employee rights has become an urgent issue to be resolved. [more…]

520 was a great opportunity for merchants to promote sales through livestreams, yet Good Tea's Douyin livestream room sparked widespread consumer dissatisfaction after orders were automatically refunded by the system following a rush to grab coupons, and the topic quickly trended on Weibo. Although the company issued an apology and promised compensation, many netizens still said they were not buying it. The next day's livestream had to be postponed, and the system recovered slowly. Notably, this was already Good Tea's third brand trust crisis in 2022, after earlier exposures and penalties over food safety and tax evasion. Consumers are still waiting for a satisfactory answer on how the incident will develop further. [more…]

Coffee brand T97 has recently shot to fame with a wildly unconventional Douyin livestream: instead of the usual sales patter, it features a host and voiceover trading rap-style lines, along with the signature "chong chong chong" (charge, charge, charge) move that viewers call "Big Mouth." Founder Li Xiao has publicly said it will "definitely surpass Luckin in the future," yet T97 currently has only 43 offline stores, a sharp contrast with Luckin's thousands of locations. From lackluster viewership in its first broadcast in May this year to a peak of 2.6683 million viewers in September after switching to a rap-style selling approach, T97 is using oddly addictive content to drive traffic. This article will sort through key information including T97's brand positioning, its path to online virality, the pace of its offline expansion, and the doubling of franchise inquiries, while also examining whether this chant-style way of selling coffee can keep working and offering readers who follow coffee industry trends a useful perspective. [more…]

An "Important Notice" bearing the name of a Nayuki store has been circulating on social media, prominently stating "If you can drink milk tea, don't drink water," and calling on people to leave water for children who cannot drink milk tea. The store claimed this was imitating an internet meme, meant only as a joke, but with the black-and-white A4 paper sitting on the counter, many consumers felt it had gone beyond a joke and could easily mislead the public. As the topic trended on social media, Nayuki's headquarters responded that it was the action of an individual franchise store and had ordered the removal of the related content. Why do meme-based marketing campaigns frequently backfire? And where exactly lies the management boundary between brands and franchise stores? [more…]

In recent years, the price war in the coffee market has intensified. While brands use prices as low as 9.9 yuan or even lower to attract new customers, they also allow various money-saving guides to circulate freely on social platforms. However, a media investigation found that Luckin Coffee offers vastly different prices to users based on their consumption frequency—high-frequency consumers actually end up paying more. This article sorts out the common channels for money-saving guides, the phenomenon of Luckin's low-price coupons on platforms like Douyin, and a detailed month-long process in which reporters used multiple phones to test pricing differences in the Luckin mini-program, revealing the opacity of the system's recommended discount plans. For coffee lovers, understanding these pricing tricks may help you save a considerable amount of money. [more…]

Recently, employees at some Luckin Coffee stores, while debugging new label printing devices, unexpectedly discovered that the machines could connect to mobile phones to print photo album images. They then began printing funny memes and custom designs on takeout cups and aprons, drawing attention and enthusiasm from netizens. However, the good times did not last long. Management quickly issued a ban, requiring the label machines to be used only for printing order codes and expiration date strips, and asked employees to delete related social media posts. This "abstract label" uproar sparked by a cup of coffee not only reveals the potential of personalized service but also reflects the tension between standardized brand management and employee creativity. Front Street Coffee breaks down the whole story for you. [more…]

Recently, a video of a Chagee employee handling tea drinks with bare hands spread rapidly online, sparking widespread public concern about food safety issues at chain tea beverage brands. In the video, the employee, without wearing gloves, directly grabbed ice cubes and lemons and reached into a shaker cup to pound and stir the drink, prompting netizens to exclaim they were "disgusted." Although the poster explained that the footage was filmed after closing hours using damaged inventory to mimic the "Indian milk tea" meme, public opinion did not subside. Subsequently, netizens discovered that employees of several other brands, including Luckin Coffee, Yidian Dian, and Goodme, had also posted similar meme videos. Chagee officially issued an urgent investigation notice, imposing an indefinite suspension and rectification on the store involved, dismissing the employee involved, and demoting managerial personnel. This article will review the sequence of events and responses from all parties, and explore the boundary between food safety and entertainment-oriented marketing in the tea beverage industry. [more…]

Starbucks China recently launched its first brand-customized short drama on Douyin, titled "I Opened a Starbucks in Ancient Times," telling the adventure story of a barista who travels back to ancient times to open a "Starbucks inn." The series consists of 6 episodes, with one episode updated daily, sparking heated discussion among netizens who find it "cringeworthy yet addictive." In recent years, short dramas have risen rapidly thanks to their concise format and fast pace, becoming a new frontier for brand marketing. Tea beverage brands such as ChaPanda and Mixuebingcheng have also dabbled in producing their own short dramas, weaving products and brand concepts into the storyline. However, naturally incorporating advertising into fast-paced narratives without annoying viewers remains a major challenge for brands. Whether Starbucks can tell its brand story well through short dramas this time remains to be tested by the market. [more…]

Recently, an amusing new meme has popped up online—by combining the names of three brands, McDonald's, Luckin Coffee, and Mixue Bingcheng, you get "Mai Rui Mi" (marry me). This pun quickly spread across social media, sparking plenty of discussion and remixes among netizens. For coffee and tea drink enthusiasts, such a combination is not only fun but also brings to mind how frequently these brands appear in daily consumption. So, how exactly did this meme take off? What kind of brand marketing phenomenon does it reflect? This article takes you behind the scenes, and don't forget to follow our daily specialty coffee culture content. [more…]

Luckin Coffee's recent collaboration with singer Tengger has officially launched, with "Coconut Joy Song," a birthday tribute to the Coconut Latte, playing on loop in stores, and the accompanying Tengger real-person meme stickers sparking a buying frenzy among fans. However, these stickers encountered an unexpected awkwardness in offline stores—many customers took their coffee and left the stickers in the pickup area, with one store accumulating as many as 20 unclaimed stickers in a single day. While fans are frantically ordering just to get the stickers, some consumers bluntly say they're "too cringe" or "don't know where to put them." Why has this collaboration merch received such polarizing reviews? This article will walk you through the whole story and discuss the gains and losses behind Luckin's collaboration strategy. [more…]

In an era of information overload, quality alone is no longer enough for a coffee shop to stand out—mastering the traffic code is the key to survival. From the earliest Instagram-style décor, to the contrasting scenes of coffee being sold in temples and breakfast shops, to novelty drinks like chili Americano and soy sauce latte, the coffee industry's traffic tactics keep escalating. Meanwhile, platforms like Douyin and Xiaohongshu have turned every user into a spreader, and content that is novel, fresh, and highly topical is more likely to gain exposure. This article sorts out several typical paths for coffee shops to gain traffic, analyzes the logic behind spontaneous user sharing, and recommends related products from Front Street Coffee, offering coffee lovers a new perspective on the industry. [more…]

Not long ago, the incident of an employee badge being found in a Luckin drink drew public attention to that little silver deer badge for the first time, and recently it has gone viral again—Luckin has required employees to replace their old badges and adopt English names or pinyin, along with unified font specifications, which the QC department will strictly inspect. Some people honestly use pinyin or proper English names, while others have turned their badges into a comedy show: the handmade group, the phonetic group, the weird word group, the undercover group, and the ultimate god-tier group all take turns stepping up. This article compiles these wildly creative badge names, showcasing the humorous daily lives of coffee workers while also reminding stores of the importance of compliant naming. At the end, Front Street Coffee-related recommendations are kept for coffee enthusiasts' reference. [more…]

T97 Coffee quickly rose to fame with its rap-style livestreams and its iconic big-mouthed host, gaining over 1.5 million followers in just over two months. Founder Li Xiao seized the moment to make bold claims, declaring that he wanted to be "the man who beats Luckin," and repeatedly made remarks in the livestream challenging Luckin and Starbucks. However, T97 has only 48 offline stores, and the founder sells courses while selling coffee. The high popularity did not translate into actual sales. How far can this coffee brand, which became famous through traffic, really go? This article sorts out T97's path to fame and the focal points of controversy. [more…]