A smartphone launch event unexpectedly caused a sudden surge of group orders at nearby Luckin Coffee stores in the evening, catching staff off guard and keeping delivery riders constantly on the move. It turned out that the Honor CEO demonstrated an AI ordering feature on stage, buying 2,000 cups of Light Jasmine from Luckin with a single sentence. Because of the limit on the number of items per order, the AI spread the demand across multiple stores, causing Luckin outlets near the convention center to be flooded with orders at once. This move showcased Honor's intelligent AI interaction and also, unintentionally, gave Luckin a round of publicity for its efficient order fulfillment. [more…]

The food delivery platforms have once again kicked off a subsidy war, with Meituan and Alibaba distributing large numbers of milk tea redemption vouchers to users, triggering a collective surge in orders at chain stores such as Mixue Bingcheng, Chabaidao, Goodme, and Shanghai Auntie. On the night of July 5, orders flooded into tea beverage stores in many places like a tidal wave, receipt printers nearly collapsed, and employees kept busy from the evening shift until the early hours of the morning yet still could not clear the backlog of orders. Some stores urgently called back off-duty employees for support, while delivery riders and customers surrounded the stores so tightly that not a drop could get through. While consumers got milk tea for 0 yuan, the workers behind the counter experienced a night comparable to "doomsday." This game between platforms ultimately shifted the pressure onto the frontline tea beverage workers. [more…]

Staying up late on New Year's Eve, exchanging New Year's greetings on the first day of the lunar new year — most workers can finally set aside their jobs and take a break. But in the coffee industry, there are still a group of people standing behind the bar, facing the morning rush of overwhelming orders, advance delivery orders, and the fluctuating customer flow after office buildings close for the holiday. Some are full of energy, driven by triple pay; some hold out on instant noodles in their posts until the New Year bell rings; and some set off on the road home well before New Year's Eve. This article records the real situations of coffee workers during the Spring Festival, taking a look at who is busy, who is slacking off, and who is secretly treating themselves to a latte during this holiday. [more…]

The subsidy war among food delivery platforms continues to heat up, with large-value coupons frequently being thrust at consumers, and the pressure on in-store production has surged accordingly. Recently, Meituan released a batch of delivery coupons for Heytea that can be expanded to "18-18," meaning a drink priced at over twenty yuan costs only a few yuan after the discount, and can even be made nearly free by stacking red envelopes. As soon as the news came out, netizens rushed to place orders, and Heytea stores in many parts of the country saw orders surge in a short time. Delivery rider capacity could not keep up, and delays, stuck orders, and no one accepting deliveries occurred one after another. Some stores, facing shortages of both materials and staff, could only temporarily close and reopen after all the backlogged drinks had been made. At the same time, frontline employees poured out their daily experiences of order explosions on social platforms, busy from morning to night, with no time even to eat or drink. [more…]

The arrival of the Start of Autumn solar term has once again sparked a consumer frenzy with the annual "first cup of milk tea in autumn" promotion. This year, driven by large-scale distribution of tea voucher and discount coupons on platforms such as Meituan, Ele.me, and JD.com, combined with brands' own promotions, order volumes have far exceeded previous years. However, behind the order surge is extreme pressure on store operations: receipt piles are mountainous, rider capacity is severely insufficient, delivery delays and wrong drink deliveries occur frequently, and customer complaints have surged. To ease the pressure, some stores of brands such as Starbucks, Luckin Coffee, Heytea, and Chagee have had to temporarily close or shut down delivery channels, leaving consumers unable to use the coupons they hold. This annual carnival, while bringing huge challenges to workers, has also exposed the fragility of the instant delivery system under extreme peaks. [more…]

A new round of subsidy battles on delivery platforms has once again ignited the tea beverage market, with Meituan handing out large numbers of tea drink vouchers, while Ele.me and Taobao Flash Sale fight back with hefty discounts. However, after claiming the vouchers, many consumers found that Goodme stores in Shenzhen, Xi'an, Chengdu, Nanning, and other places showed as "resting/closed" or out of stock on third-party platforms, making it impossible to redeem normally. Interestingly, the same stores were still open on the official mini-program, and products included in the promotion, such as lemonade, could still be ordered. The contradiction between stores actually being overwhelmed with orders and appearing "closed" online has led many to speculate that this is a measure taken by the brand to ease order pressure. Consumers have expressed dissatisfaction over the chaotic promotion, orders being automatically canceled, and no stock upon arrival at stores. Front Street Coffee continues to follow industry developments and brings in-depth observations. [more…]

An unannounced JD.com platform subsidy campaign plunged CoCo milk tea stores across many parts of the country into chaos. Four drinks originally priced at 9.9 yuan were suddenly cut by the platform itself to 1.9 yuan, instantly triggering a surge of online orders. Stores had prepared staffing and supplies for a normal day, yet within an hour they were hit with more than half a day's worth of drink output. Employees were thrown into a frenzy, delivery riders swarmed to grab orders, customers received drinks that did not match what they ordered, and even delivery workers had their pay docked for being late. What seemed like a promotion benefiting consumers ultimately turned into a lose-lose-lose situation of complaining staff, quarreling riders, and disappointed customers. Just what went wrong with the communication mechanism between the platform and the stores? Why did the sudden traffic become such a hot potato? This article reconstructs the entire incident and explores the operational hidden risks behind food delivery promotions. [more…]

How much can you actually lose by opening a coffee shop? Many shop owners have shared their real earnings on delivery platforms: a cup of coffee originally priced at over twenty yuan, after deducting various discounts and commissions, may leave them with only a few cents, or even result in negative-order losses. Knowing they are losing money, they still force themselves to stay on delivery platforms, simply because if they do not join the promotions, they get no orders all day. At the same time, coffee shop transfer listings have surged on social platforms, from big cities to small towns, from large stores of several hundred square meters to tiny shops of just over ten square meters, all in a hurry to offload. Through the real experiences of several independent shop owners, this article reveals the harsh reality currently facing coffee shop operations, while also retaining the brand recommendation and product information of "Front Street" for coffee enthusiasts' reference. [more…]

Recently, the buzz around the "Ne Zha 2" collaboration swept through the coffee world, and Cotti Coffee seized the moment to launch themed limited-edition drinks and merchandise, drawing a large crowd of consumers to its stores. Yet just three days into the campaign, some locations saw delivery riders swarming the pickup area, merchandise running out, and staff so swamped they could barely catch their breath. The reason: JD Instant Delivery rolled out hefty subsidies the same day, letting users get takeaway coffee for just a few yuan—or even barely over one yuan—causing order volumes to explode instantly. Caught between collaboration fans and deal-hunters, Cotti stores were severely understaffed, and production efficiency couldn't keep up with demand. Customers waited one to two hours only to leave empty-handed, and negative reviews and complaints poured in. Why did this seemingly lively marketing tie-in turn into a nightmare for frontline employees? Front Street Coffee walks you through the whole story. [more…]

Holding a cup of hot coffee can warm your hands, quench your thirst, and serve as a great prop for photos, making it a standard item for many people when traveling. However, recently some consumers have reported that after ordering at Manner, they had to wait over an hour just to get a hot latte. During the Spring Festival, some Manner stores in large supermarkets had only one barista on duty, who single-handedly handled everything from taking orders, adding beans, making drinks, explaining refunds, to packaging and handing out orders, staying busy non-stop. Customers arrived at the store based on the estimated time in the mini-program, only to find their drinks still queued up, with scenes of delivery riders crowding and customers urging frequently occurring. Although regulars sympathize with the staff, they also express dissatisfaction with the brand's staffing arrangements during holidays, believing that feedback on long serving times should be taken seriously to improve the consumer experience. [more…]

Right after the May Day holiday, the "three-way battle" among food delivery platforms sent tea beverage stores into another order explosion frenzy, and Heytea's move to drop the price of some drinks to single digits drew in a flood of orders. Yet for back-of-house staff, this was a nightmare—the newly switched imported green grape "Sweet Globe" variety has firm flesh and is extremely hard to peel. Employees peeled until their gloved fingers wore through, their right hands covered in medicated patches, and some even felt nauseated at the sight of fruit with skin on. Although some tried using peelers or small round spoons to improve efficiency, the output speed still could not keep up with store demand. Why not equip stores with peeling machines? Employees admitted frankly that the high loss rate and difficulty of cleaning make them worse than peeling by hand. This article takes you into the real daily life of Heytea's peelers, along with Front Street Coffee's attention to industry trends. [more…]

The collaboration between Gu Ming and the hit game "Honkai: Star Rail" ignited a consumer frenzy as soon as it launched, with over 1.2 million people queuing in the mini-program, and the topic quickly shot to the top of trending searches. Store orders poured in like snowflakes, and the limited-edition drinks were all fresh fruit smoothies with complex preparation processes. Under high-intensity operation, multiple smoothie machines were overwhelmed, emitting white smoke and even exploding on the spot, while staff were so busy they didn't even have time to drink water. To deal with equipment failures, some stores prepared backup machines in advance, while others had to borrow juicers from neighboring Shu Yi Shao Xian Cao and Luckin for emergency use. Behind this collaboration frenzy, issues such as excessively high thresholds for obtaining merchandise and enormous pressure on stores were exposed, also triggering discussions on optimization measures such as selling drinks and merchandise separately and cup storage services. [more…]

Manner is teaming up for another collaboration, and this time the partner is no small name—Wedgwood, a British porcelain brand with over two hundred years of history. As soon as the news broke, social media exploded. Some people are looking forward to the image of sipping coffee from an exquisite bone china cup, while others are already worrying: how many cups of coffee will they have to drink to get this cup? Looking back at Manner's past collaborations, most of the merchandise required purchasing a limited-edition drink set to obtain, which left many consumers feeling troubled. Whether this collaboration with Wedgwood can change the rules has become the issue everyone cares about most. [more…]

Manner recently launched a two-cup set promotion for its roasted nut latte, offering a lilac ceramic cup, which attracted a large number of merchandise enthusiasts to snap it up. However, during the promotion, store orders surged and service speed dropped sharply. Some customers only got the cup but never received their drinks, and regulars switched to other brands as a result. Employees, suffering under intense workloads, complained that promotions were too frequent and staffing was insufficient, while the company's feedback channel was described as virtually useless. This article sorts out the chain reactions triggered by the promotion, presenting the dual plight of employees and customers. [more…]

Manner Coffee has entered Changchun for the first time, opening a three-month pop-up store in MixC, with operating hours consistent with regular stores. The opening day coincided with a weekend, and on-site order volume far exceeded expectations. The mini-program was forced offline due to the surge in orders, materials were once in short supply, and even milk ran out. Some customers waited more than three hours to get their coffee but still felt it was worth it, and they hope the store can become a permanent location after the event ends. [more…]

Cantonese people often say they "get internal heat from just drinking water." Although herbal tea can reduce internal heat, it is bitter and hard to swallow. The Guangzhou-based tea beverage brand Tea Save Planet took a different approach by combining bitter melon with lemon tea, creating the first bitter melon lemon tea, which unexpectedly ignited the market. In just one year, Tea Save Planet sold more than 1 million cups of tea beverages, with stores covering 16 cities nationwide and the number of stores exceeding 180. This brand, which began planning in 2019, after a quiet period in the early days of the pandemic, expanded rapidly starting in March 2020. Front Street Coffee believes that Tea Save Planet's success is inseparable from local cultural identity, differentiated innovation, and distinctive brand design. This article will analyze in detail the rise of this phenomenal tea beverage brand. [more…]

Making siphon coffee may seem complicated, but once you understand the operating principle and the correct steps, it is actually easy to master—you may even find it fun. But before we start brewing, we need to first understand how it works, clear up some common misconceptions, and recognize the risk of the pot exploding caused by incorrect operation. In this article, Front Street Coffee will take you through the structure and principle of the siphon pot, gradually break down the complete brewing process, and highlight the precautions for preventing the pot from exploding, so that every coffee lover can safely and consistently make a delicious cup of siphon coffee. [more…]

The flavor of a cup of coffee isn't just about sour or bitter—it also includes aroma, sweetness, body, mouthfeel, and finish. When choosing beans, first decide whether you want floral and fruity notes, nutty and cocoa notes, or a balance between the two, then match that to the corresponding origin, processing method, and roast level. The moka pot is a steam-pressure extraction device. [more…]

The flavor focus shifts with the roast level: light roasts play up floral and fruity notes and bright acidity, medium roasts put sweetness and balance at the center, and dark roasts finish with nuts, cocoa, and a full body, with each also requiring a different extraction rhythm. A way of drinking that suits you is more worth valuing than the roast level itself. The extraction logic of a moka pot revolves around steam pressure. [more…]

Manner stores nationwide recently launched the Wampee Tonic Americano and Wampee Tonic Special Drink, priced at 15 yuan, available only via the mini-program and in-store ordering. Because they contain tonic water, stirring can easily cause a foam eruption, and social media has been flooded with "victims" sharing their embarrassing experiences—takeaway cups and personal cups alike are hard-pressed to escape. This article breaks down the science behind the splashing, baristas' coping techniques, and netizens' summarized anti-eruption tips, along with Front Street Coffee's related recommendations, to help coffee lovers safely enjoy this new product. [more…]