CATL has applied to register the "Ning Coffee" trademark, with classifications covering convenience foods and food and beverage accommodation services; it is currently at the substantive examination waiting stage. Previously, its offline showroom had already launched six drinks, including "Range Latte" and "Supercharge Americano," along with "Shenxing" medium-dark roasted coffee beans, sparking outside speculation that it was entering coffee retail. The company responded that the coffee is only a supporting service, not a main business. This cross-industry move is seen as an attempt to build a presence in the consumer market and create a fan economy. Front Street Coffee notes that the collision between new energy and coffee is becoming a new highlight in the industry. [more…]

Nayuki Tea has once again been thrust into the spotlight due to food safety issues. The Market Supervision Administration of Jing'an District, Shanghai, recently imposed a penalty on Nayuki's Shanghai Meilongzhen Plaza store for selling expired grape-flavored cakes to consumers, with a fine of 50,000 yuan. This is not an isolated case—since its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June this year, Nayuki's stores have repeatedly been exposed for food safety scandals such as cockroach infestations, spoiled fruit, and excessive bacterial counts. Consequently, its stock price has plummeted from the issue price of HKD 19.80 to around HKD 9, leading to a significant drop in market value. From being the "first stock of new-style tea drinks" to being plagued by negative news, Nayuki's brand reputation is facing a severe test. [more…]

Recently, some trendy cafes in Hangzhou have come up with a new gimmick—printing luxury brand logos such as LV, Dior, and CHANEL on coffee and cakes, offering so-called "luxury afternoon tea" to attract many young people to check in. Rea.vintage cafe on Zhongshan North Road combines a vintage luxury consignment shop with coffee, quietly offering a 99-yuan set; while CHOPCHOP cafe in Guoda City Plaza prominently displays a luxury brand menu, with set prices ranging from 118 to 318 yuan, and only dine-in customers can enter the scenic area. While business is booming, netizens are raising continuous doubts: does adding a logo make coffee more fragrant? Is using big brand trademarks without authorization an infringement? A Qianjiang Evening News reporter interviewed lawyer Sun Yifan, pointing out that this behavior may face copyright infringement risks. Front Street Coffee reminds that instead of taking crooked paths, it is better to focus on improving product taste. [more…]

Suzhou, a gentle ancient city in the Jiangnan region, hides quite a few specialty coffee shops worth a dedicated visit. This article compiles a summary of shop visits from a veteran coffee enthusiast, covering more than seventy four- to five-star coffee shops across Gusu District, the Industrial Park, the High-Tech District, Wuzhong District, and beyond—from artsy little cafes to cat-themed coffee houses, from Korean-style chains to standalone buildings with Republican-era charm, each with its own distinctive setting, offerings, and story. Whether you're a coffee purist chasing pour-over quality or an artsy soul who favors ambiance, this list can help you find that perfect cup in Suzhou. [more…]

As the soul ingredient of milk tea, the freshness of tapioca pearls is directly related to consumer health. Recently, a Yidian Dian store at Zhoushan Ruxin Plaza was fined 15,000 yuan by regulatory authorities for using expired tapioca pearls to make and sell Bubble Milk Tea and other drinks. An investigation showed that the store involved not only used ingredients beyond their shelf life, but also failed to establish purchase inspection records as required. This is not the first time Yidian Dian has been involved in a food safety controversy; previously, a Fuzhou store was reported to have had a bug found in its milk tea. As the peak season for summer beverage consumption arrives, food safety issues have once again sounded the alarm. [more…]

On the evening of March 14, "Jingshi Live" exposed two consecutive food safety incidents involving tea beverage brands. The Mixue Bingcheng store at Wuyi Ningju Xintiandi in Wuhan was accused of hiding leftover lemon and orange slices from the day under the counter at room temperature and using them the next day to make signature drinks; the Hushang Ayi store at Hankou City Plaza was exposed for altering the shelf-life labels of toppings to "extend the life" of expired ingredients. The market supervision authorities in both places have separately filed investigations into the stores involved. Among them, the Mixue Bingcheng store involved was sealed and shut down, while the Hushang Ayi store involved was immediately closed. As a content platform that also follows developments in the coffee and beverage industry, Front Street Coffee continues to track such food safety issues. The details of the incidents are as follows. [more…]

Starbucks China opened its 6,000th store in mainland China at Lippo Plaza on Huaihai Road in Shanghai, making Shanghai the first city in the world to have over 1,000 Starbucks stores. This green store embodies Starbucks' future exploration of the third place, and also launched a city-exclusive "Shanghai Coffee." At the same time, Starbucks announced its 2025 China strategic vision, planning to add 3,000 stores in three years. Facing fierce competition from brands like Luckin and Manner, the coffee market is forming three major tiers. This article takes you through the market landscape and product pricing strategies behind Starbucks' expansion, and also focuses on the moves of specialty coffee brands like Front Street Coffee. [more…]

Starbucks China store count exceeds 6,000, with Shanghai becoming the world's first city to have 1,000 Starbucks stores. The 6,000th store is located at Lippo Plaza on Huaihai Road in Shanghai, positioned as a green store, and has partnered with IP SHANGHAI to launch a city-exclusive beverage called "Shanghai Coffee." At the same time, Starbucks announced its "2025 China Strategic Vision," planning to add 3,000 stores over three years, bringing the total to 9,000. In the face of competition from brands like Luckin and Manner and the trend of price downtrading, whether Starbucks can defend its market position is worth watching. [more…]

The Naixue store in the sunken plaza of Guangzhou Tianhuan Plaza was quietly withdrawn without any prior announcement. The orange-pink signboard was removed, and advertising fabric was pasted on the floor-to-ceiling glass, leaving many regular customers astonished. This Naixue PRO store, which opened in May 2021, was the first PRO store on the central axis of Guangzhou's CBD. In addition to regular tea drinks, it also offered coffee, baked goods, and snack merchandise, and had long served as a showcase for the brand's co-branded theme stores. After operating for more than four years with stable customer flow and continuous events, it suddenly disappeared one day, sparking various consumer speculations about the reason for the closure and drawing renewed attention to Naixue's ongoing trend of store contraction in recent years. [more…]

During the National Day holiday, while coffee shops in major scenic spots were welcoming peak customer traffic, a Starbucks next to Kunming's Cuihu Lake quietly closed its doors. This lakeside store, regarded by many regulars as a "study base", had its doors locked without warning, with construction barriers erected and brand signage removed. Reasons for the closure are varied: rising rent, an expired lease not renewed, the premises sublet to another brand, and even landlord legal disputes and the entire building being auctioned. Meanwhile, Kunming's Jinjun Plaza store and Xudong K9 Center store also suspended operations one after another, sparking speculation about the brand adjusting its local layout. For regulars, what is lost is not just a cup of coffee, but a daily memory accompanied by lake views. This article will sort through the course of events and the accounts of various parties, and retain relevant Front Street Coffee product and recommendation information. [more…]

Recently, the Jiu lid堤 Police Station in Jinniu District, Chengdu, teamed up with CapitaLand Plaza to create an anti-fraud-themed coffee shop, cleverly combining police outreach with coffee culture and attracting many citizens to visit. This coffee shop not only offers coffee but has also become a new hub for spreading anti-fraud knowledge. The interior uses a black-and-white color scheme, and at the entrance there is a cute panda police officer figure, creating a striking contrast. The police hope that through this novel approach, young people can easily learn fraud prevention knowledge while enjoying coffee and pass it on to their families, raising anti-fraud awareness across society. For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style); for more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex. [more…]

In July 2017, Guangzhou welcomed its first lifestyle market themed around specialty coffee—the Guangzhou Specialty Coffee Culture Festival, held at the 289 Art PARK Culture Plaza. The event brought together the city's top specialty coffee shops, including brands like Front Street Coffee, where visitors could taste coffee beans from various origins, fresh creations by champion roasters, as well as creative coffee, drip bags, pour-over equipment, and cultural merchandise. Beyond coffee, booths featuring desserts, craft beer, tattoos, and handmade crafts were equally exciting. Consumers could vote for their favorite coffee shop, join coffee tasting salons and amateur pour-over competitions, and experience tattoos and photo interactions. Whether a coffee connoisseur or a curious beginner, everyone could find their own enjoyment here. [more…]

Recently, the Heytea store in Dalian Roosevelt Plaza was reported to have ceased operations, and the site was quickly taken over by another brand's hoarding. This store, which opened in May 2020 and once sparked queuing frenzies, was Dalian's first directly operated store, and its sudden withdrawal surprised many consumers. According to GeoHey brand monitoring data, although Heytea opened new stores in the past 90 days, it also closed 161 stores, with the total number in operation dropping from 4,410 to 4,265, equivalent to about 2 stores disappearing every day. The closures were not limited to franchise stores; some directly operated stores that had been in business for years also exited due to factors such as rent and contracts. The impact of this round of adjustment on the brand's future remains to be seen. [more…]

New-style tea beverage brands' attempts to cross over into the coffee track are encountering setbacks. Crow Coffee, invested in by the founder of Heytea, has closed its founding store in Shenzhen Tianli Central Plaza and put it up for rent, leaving the brand with only one store remaining in Dachong. Meanwhile, AOKKA Coffee, invested in by Nayuki, has also announced that it will close all of its Shenzhen stores by the end of August. Looking back at 2022, Heytea and Nayuki quickly entered the coffee market by investing in brands such as Seesaw, Minor Figures, KUDDO, and Monster Drowsy, but these invested brands now generally face the predicament of store closures and contraction. This article reviews the current store status of each brand and analyzes the challenges and industry competitive landscape faced by tea beverage brands crossing over into coffee. [more…]

The coffee industry has become a popular field for various giants to compete in laying out their presence in recent years, with catering and non-catering enterprises entering the fray across sectors. According to Qichacha data, China has more than 320,000 coffee-related enterprises, with 15,000 new registrations annually. After Li-Ning, tech giant Huawei has also been reported to have applied to register the trademark "One Cup of Coffee Absorbs Cosmic Energy," classified under catering and accommodation, and is currently awaiting substantive examination. Unlike directly seizing market share, Huawei seems to place greater emphasis on coffee's connective function as a global medium, hoping to use it to attract younger groups. Ren Zhengfei once interpreted Huawei's spirit of openness with "a cup of coffee absorbs cosmic energy," and this trademark application continues that philosophy. Whether Huawei's advantages in the digital field can help it create new miracles in the coffee track is worth watching. [more…]

The Chayan Yuese amusement park store that once drew long queues on the 7th floor of Wuhan International Plaza has now been quietly replaced by construction hoarding for another food and beverage venue. This roughly 200-square-meter "Chayan grocery store," one of the first batch of stores to enter Wuhan in 2020, silently exited after four years of serving customers. More noteworthy is that such closures are not isolated cases—Chayan Yuese stores have been shutting down one after another in cities including Changsha and Wuhan. Data from Jihai Brand Monitoring shows that its operating stores dropped from 973 in early October to 903, with at least 70 stores disappearing within a few months. At the same time, the brand is still expanding into new cities such as Changzhou. Behind the store contraction, is it lease expiration, layout adjustment, or pressure on profitability? Consumers' complaints about the redemption mechanism have also been mentioned once again. [more…]

Kung Fu Coffee, which once made a high-profile debut with the concept of "Eastern tea plus Western coffee," quietly shut down its first national store at Shenzhen's Wongtee Plaza just seven months after opening. Incubated by the team behind "Benlai Buyingyou," the brand's first store was said to have cost over six million yuan to build, and it briefly became an internet-famous check-in spot thanks to its purple interiors and Chinese-element design, reaching an average daily output of 1,200 cups within ten days of opening. Yet consumer reviews were sharply divided, and coupled with the awareness and talent bottlenecks facing the tea-coffee category itself, Kung Fu Coffee's next moves are drawing close attention. [more…]

On a sweltering 40°C day, most people would rather stay cocooned in air-conditioned rooms, yet an unusual queue formed at Suzhou's Yanlord Cangjie Commercial Plaza—outside the nation's first MUJI coffee pop-up store, customers were lining up under the scorching sun, umbrellas in hand. What drew them was not a new matcha product, but two Suzhou-exclusive brand badges. However, the queuing process was nothing short of a "roasting" ordeal, with indoor areas also unable to escape direct sunlight, weakening the air conditioning and leading to frequent complaints about insufficiently cold drinks and ice cream melting in seconds. This pop-up event will continue until November, and those who have already "braved the battle" are advising: if you're not set on the giveaways, it might be better to wait for cooler weather before going. [more…]

In the afternoon, you invite a friend to grab coffee, only to be politely turned down with "I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep tonight"—and instead, they order a milk tea. Sound familiar? But what you may not know is that milk tea also contains caffeine. Caffeine is a natural stimulant found widely in more than sixty plants, including coffee beans, tea leaves, kola nuts, and cacao beans, and it also appears in synthetic form in medications, energy drinks, and even chewing gum. Caffeine content varies considerably across different beverages: a roughly 225-gram cup of coffee contains 95 to 200 milligrams, a 340-gram can of cola about 35 to 45 milligrams, a 225-gram can of energy drink about 70 to 100 milligrams, and a 225-gram cup of tea between 14 and 60 milligrams. This article walks you through how caffeine is absorbed in the body, when it peaks, and its half-life, as well as which factors determine how quickly it is fully metabolized, helping you schedule your coffee and milk tea more scientifically. [more…]

Recently, a netizen tipped off that a nearly ten-year-old CHAYANYUESE store at Yinchangling Wanda Plaza in Changsha had quietly closed, sparking widespread discussion. Subsequently, more netizens shared photos pointing out that stores in multiple locations—including Changsha South Railway Station, Huachuang International Plaza, Changde Wanda, and Wuhan Buddha Ridge subway station—had also been successively withdrawn in the recent period, and the actual number of closures may be even higher. Regarding the reasons for the closures, some believe it is the brand adjusting its store layout, while others attribute it to declining mall foot traffic. However, more consumers point the finger at CHAYANYUESE's insistence on its "stand-in-line verification" mechanism—drinks are only made after customers verify their orders in person—which runs counter to today's consumer habits of pursuing efficiency and convenience. In addition, longtime fans generally report a decline in quality control, with the value for money of the drinks being far worse than before. Once a must-visit spot for photos, its charm has now faded, stores sit empty, and the brand's move to close underperforming locations and cut losses in time may also be a reluctant choice. [more…]