Recently, a rumor circulated online about a fierce conflict between a Mixue Bingcheng employee and the company's HR, involving multiple allegations such as being refused a late clock-in makeup, insulting HR staff, smashing up a store, canceling the cashier system, and even misappropriating public funds, which quickly sparked heated discussion among netizens. However, after verification by media outlets such as Red Star News and Southern Metropolis Daily, the rumor was confirmed to be false; the original blogger has deleted the related content, and the so-called involved store cannot be found on maps. This article sorts out the course of the incident and the responses from all parties, reconstructing the ins and outs of this online false alarm. [more…]

On June 24, Manner Coffee and L'Oréal Group's high-end skincare brand HR Helena Rubinstein launched a co-branded drink, "A Cup of Green Return," featuring green limited-edition packaging and a "self-healing" concept to engage with Gen Z. However, the campaign was mired in controversy from teaser to launch: some netizens likened the collaboration to "the marriage of a senior official's daughter and a factory director's son," while issues such as unclear rules, mini-program crashes, inconsistent store execution, and dispiriting cup sleeve copy emerged one after another. Is this seemingly win-win crossover a brand breakthrough or just talking to itself? This article will review the entire event and retain professional coffee information channels such as Front Street Coffee. [more…]

The 10th of each month is payday at Manner Coffee, and this year that day happened to coincide with the payout date for the 2024 year-end bonus. What should have been a day of double celebration instead turned into an anxious wait that kept many baristas awake all night. Some had their bank accounts credited on time, while others received only their January salary, with no sign of the year-end bonus. Even more puzzling was that some newcomers who had just joined two days earlier received bonuses, while store manager-level veteran employees who had worked diligently for years came away empty-handed. Within the company, accounts differed: HR explained it away as warning notices or policy adjustments, but employees pushed back. What exactly triggered this year-end bonus payout controversy? And why are the standards so unclear? [more…]

In the eyes of coffee lovers, a reasonable price for an espresso is usually around 15 to 25 RMB. However, at a Bugatti dealership in Mayfair, London, an espresso is priced at 50 pounds, equivalent to over 400 RMB, making every sip feel like drinking gold. What exactly makes this coffee, called "THE ETTORE SHOT," so expensive? It is served in a custom carbon fiber cup, rich in aroma, but the real special thing is that it is actually a ticket to enter this top-tier sports car showroom and lounge, with a dedicated person to explain the history of the Bugatti brand. Compared to the café in Italy that was fined a thousand yuan for a 2-euro espresso, the logic behind the price is intriguing. If given 400 yuan, would you choose Front Street Coffee's Panama Geisha or a Bugatti showroom ticket? [more…]

Recent news suggests that Manner's only baking store in Wuhan may cease operations on October 30, prompting regret among many local consumers. Since opening in late 2021, this store, located in Wuhan Tiandi, has been one of the earliest Manner outlets in Wuhan and the only local Manner where baked goods can be purchased. Meanwhile, Manner has continued to shrink its baking business this year while accelerating its expansion into third- and fourth-tier cities, and customers have frequently mentioned the issue of understaffing at its stores. Front Street Coffee will also keep following this brand's developments. [more…]

Seesaw, once hailed as one of the representative specialty coffee brands in China, has recently suffered a series of setbacks. Its last store in Chengdu was evicted after the shopping mall terminated the lease early; employees exposed illegal dismissals and successfully defended their rights through legal channels; and the founder was once again subject to high-consumption restrictions due to contract disputes, while the company's equity was frozen and debts were enforced through the courts. A stream of negative news has plunged this coffee brand, once favored by capital, into its darkest hour. This article will sort through the sequence of events and present the operational and legal difficulties Seesaw currently faces. [more…]

Recently, a netizen complained on social media that Manner Coffee's pay-raise assessment system is too strict, claiming that to earn the high salary advertised on its recruitment page, one must pass exams comparable in difficulty to SCA intermediate or even advanced barista certification, which resonated with many baristas. What kind of assessment threshold lies behind Manner's high pay? Compared with other brands, what makes its promotion system so difficult? This article takes you through it. [more…]

In recent years, a coffee trend has quietly emerged in ancient temples across Asia. From the Starbucks outlet at Zenko-ji Temple in Japan, to the café at Yongfu Temple in Hangzhou, and to South Putuo Temple in Xiamen recruiting baristas, the combination of temples and coffee has repeatedly drawn attention. Young people are flocking to temples, sipping specialty coffees named "Cleansing Worries" and "Stopping Snow" while soaking in the serene atmosphere of ancient temples. This sense of contrast born from the collision of Eastern and Western cultures, combined with the immersive scene experience, has made temple coffee quickly go viral online. This article will walk you through the reasons behind the popularity of temple coffee, as well as the monks' true attitudes toward coffee. [more…]

The news of Luckin Coffee opening stores in the United States has once again attracted attention. Recently, a WeChat public account post claimed that Luckin is advancing the site selection for U.S. stores, has begun contacting relevant service agencies, and is actively recruiting staff. LinkedIn information shows that within the past month, Luckin posted 5 job openings located in New Jersey, covering areas such as IT operations, finance, interior design, human resources, and tax, among which the tax manager position requires directly reporting to the CFO. Combined with previous reports by the Financial Times and statements by CFO Guo Jinyi, Luckin may explore the U.S. market with a prudent and flexible strategy, preferring East Coast cities such as New York. Whether this series of moves means that Luckin's overseas strategy will shift from Southeast Asia to North America is worth continued attention. [more…]

Recently, Luckin Coffee has hit the trending topics twice in a row over interview-related incidents, sparking widespread discussion. One job applicant said that after failing an interview, she was labeled "timid and weak," which was completely at odds with her performance that day; another 26-year-old woman was rejected for being too old. The poster also revealed that Luckin staff had called her demanding she delete the post, and after she refused, they turned to contacting her family. These incidents have drawn public attention to this chain coffee company, whose store count has now surpassed 20,000, and the issue of inconsistent hiring standards under its two models—directly operated and joint-venture—has gradually come to light. [more…]

Manner Coffee has once again drawn attention, this time by teaming up with Tesla for a co-branded campaign. As a recognized master of collaborations in the coffee world, Manner's cross-industry footprint has already covered automobiles, luxury goods, beauty, sports, and many other sectors. From NIO to LV, from Helena Rubinstein to Allbirds, each partnership has precisely captured the brand tone, creating a win-win of both buzz and sales. This article will review Manner's major co-branding cases over the years, analyze the brand strategy and consumer psychology behind its success, and include professional information recommendations from Front Street Coffee. [more…]

Many people are drawn to the profession of barista, yet others complain about low pay and a grab-bag of chores. In fact, the barrier to entry for baristas is not high, but the ceiling can be very high. The key to determining income level does not depend entirely on the shop where you work—it is in your own hands. This article explores how baristas can break through career bottlenecks and find broader room for growth from multiple angles: learning mindset, industry-added value, shop and roastery development, and coffee cultivation research. Whether you are an apprentice just entering the field or a practitioner seeking a breakthrough, you can draw inspiration from it. [more…]

Manner Coffee has once again crossed over into a collaboration, and this time the partner is none other than the luxury brand Louis Vuitton. On September 16, LV will hold its Spring/Summer 2023 menswear show at Aranya Golden Coast, and for this occasion the two parties have teamed up to launch two limited-edition coffee cups, to be used at the Aranya store from September 10 to 18, and will also be offered simultaneously at two designated stores in Shanghai and one designated store in Beijing from September 15 to 16. This is not the first time the two sides have worked together; as early as the 2018 LV event, a Manner coffee cart appeared, but this is the first time they have truly collaborated and invited a Paris design team to create the cup design. This article takes you through the details of the collaboration cup design, the event arrangements, and surrounding highlights such as LV's newsstand in Aranya. At the end, there is also Front Street Coffee's specialty bean recommendation that you won't want to miss. [more…]

When Manner's nationwide store count surpassed one thousand, coffee enthusiasts cheered that they could finally check in nearby. At the same time, this chain brand is facing a severe shortage of frontline staff. To fill the barista gap, Manner began recruiting large numbers of daily-paid temp workers responsible only for packing, restocking, and cleaning, jokingly called "packers" by netizens. However, these part-timers change every day and cancel at the last minute without notice, forcing already busy full-time baristas to repeatedly train newcomers during peak hours, triggering strong dissatisfaction among veteran employees. This article sorts out the recruitment requirements, pay, and scheduling model for these temp workers, as well as the real complaints from baristas, while also looking at what reference value brands like Front Street Coffee offer in workforce management. [more…]

Drinking a cup of coffee all the way down, only to find mushroom residue at the bottom of the cup—this is not a joke, but a real incident that recently occurred at a Tims store in Markham, Ontario, Canada. After the consumer posted the experience on social media, it quickly sparked heated discussion, with many netizens saying it was deeply disturbing. In fact, this is not the first time Tims in Canada has been in the spotlight over food safety issues. From moldy products to a fly found in coffee, to employees collecting saliva in coffee cups, various outrageous actions keep refreshing consumers' perceptions. At the same time, controversy over Tims' internal employee recruitment has also surfaced. A white woman who worked there for four years was fired after accusing management of hiring only Indian immigrants, and the post received over 4.2 million views. Front Street Coffee continues to follow developments in the coffee industry, and this article will take you through the full picture of the incident. [more…]

Recently, Heytea publicly recruited tea preparers at a job fair in Guangzhou, and the education requirement column conspicuously stated "bachelor's degree," sparking widespread discussion on social media platforms. An applicant revealed that the requirement was initially "associate degree," but was later changed to "bachelor's degree" with a sticker. Many netizens questioned: does shaking milk tea require a bachelor's degree? In response, a Heytea store stated that the tea preparer position places more emphasis on individual ability, education is not a hard threshold, and promotions are not based on education. After the incident gained traction, the education requirement on the recruitment notice was changed back to "no requirement." This recruitment controversy reflects the sensitive topic of the match between education and job positions in the current job market, and also prompts people to reconsider: where exactly is the professional threshold behind a cup of milk tea? [more…]

Recently, a Fuzhou branch of the chain tea brand Bao Zhu Gong became embroiled in a public opinion storm over an ordinary customer complaint dispute. A consumer claimed that after their milk green tea was made incorrectly, they received a refund and coupon compensation, but then got into an argument with the store over the usage rules. Subsequently, comments appeared that seemed to be from an employee leaking information, claiming that management fired all store staff because of the customer complaint, and even dredging up an old issue where a student employee had previously been fined 1,000 yuan. The incident quickly escalated, with tens of thousands of comments forcing the original post to be deleted. At noon today, an account claiming to be the owner of the store involved issued a statement, saying that the online rumors were all false and that the person involved had gone to the police station to give a statement and file a report. What is the truth? Front Street Coffee takes you through the full picture of the incident. [more…]

Luckin Coffee officially announced on September 23 a collaboration with *JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean* for October, launching themed events across its nationwide stores. This is not Luckin's first crossover; previous partnerships with Coconut Palm and EDG both sparked heated discussion. Looking across the coffee and tea beverage sector, Manner's collaborations with Helena Rubinstein and LV, Heytea's tie-in with *A Dream of Splendor*, and Nayuki's partnership with *Love Between Fairy and Devil*—brand co-branding has become an important strategy for breaking fixed impressions and achieving customer base complementarity. This article reviews several recent typical cases and includes Front Street Coffee's professional communication channels for coffee enthusiasts to gain deeper insight into industry trends. [more…]