Heytea has recently made another subtle adjustment to its brand logo, just over three months after the last logo change, sparking widespread discussion on social media platforms. Many netizens, when faced with side-by-side comparisons of the old and new versions, exclaimed that they could see no difference, while sharp-eyed users listed the细微 changes in the ears, face shape, bangs, and facial features one by one, jokingly calling the Heytea boy's "medical aesthetic微调". From the golden line figure to the return of the classic "black-haired A-xi," and now to the current detail adjustments, the intention behind Heytea's frequent logo changes has sparked much speculation: Is it a statement of returning to its original aspirations, or an optimization to cater to current aesthetics, or simply a carefully planned brand hype marketing? [more…]

The Starbucks app icon has recently returned to the classic "double-tailed siren" image, after the close-up half-mermaid face logo launched last month sparked widespread criticism. The new design zoomed in on the crown and yellow five-pointed star, intended to coincide with the "Starbucks Rewards" member star-collection campaign, but users described it as "too ugly," "very sneaky," and some even thought it was a knockoff app. After the official reversion to the old version, an employee revealed that the main reason was that the one-month Diamond Star member upgrade campaign had ended. This logo controversy reflects the delicate relationship between brand visuals and user emotions, and also brings to mind the steady strategies of brands like Front Street Coffee in shaping their image. [more…]

Starbucks recently filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against a cannabis company called Starbuds Flowers, accusing it of intentionally imitating its classic mermaid trademark and misleading consumers by exploiting the Starbucks brand's reputation. In the complaint, Starbucks compared the similarities between the two logos point by point, noting that Starbuds not only used the similar design on its mobile sales trucks and official website, but also printed it on cigarettes and cannabis products. Starbucks is asking the court to prohibit the other party from continuing to use the logo, destroy the related products, and disgorge the profits obtained from the infringement. In fact, Starbucks had already sent a cease-and-desist letter as early as last August and subsequently sent multiple takedown notices, but received no response. As of July 2, Starbuds' sales trucks and website were still in operation. [more…]

After Starbucks exited the Russian market, its assets were acquired by a local company and rebranded. On August 17, 2022, rapper Timur Yunusov revealed the new name "STARS COFFEE" and its logo on Instagram, and the official website went live simultaneously. The new brand replaced the mermaid logo with a girl wearing traditional Russian headwear, and officially opened in Moscow on August 18, with all 120 stores planned to resume operations by the end of September. The new stores no longer write cup names by hand, switching to thermal printing, and food has also become pre-made and heated. Marketing experts pointed out that the new owners are striving to maintain continuity between the old and new brands, but the effectiveness of the rebranding still needs to be tested by the market. Russian netizens have been discussing it extensively. [more…]

After the change of ownership of Starbucks' assets in Russia, the naming of the new brand has drawn attention. On August 12, the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) received applications for Sturbucks (not a typo) and three other trademarks, with the final name yet to be determined. Previously, rapper Timur Yunusov, along with Anton Pinsky, owner of the catering company Pinskiy&co, and the Syndicate company under Senator Arsen Kanokov, jointly acquired and managed Starbucks' assets in Russia. The new brand is planned to open in mid-August and will be open to the media on August 16. They had considered using a Lego bear as the logo and incorporating the singer's signature, but later switched to thermal printing due to the workload. This article reviews the sequence of events, trademark options, and netizen reactions. [more…]

The NAIXUE store in Bao'an Uniwalk, Shenzhen, debuted as the "second NAIXUE Tea · green light drinks and light meals store nationwide," but customers noticed that the wording on the light sign had changed from "by NAIXUE" to "by Naisnow NAIXUE." On social platforms, some netizens also shared that two stores had adopted the "Naisnow NAIXUE" name and a new snowflake-shaped logo, sparking widespread discussion. NAIXUE was originally called "Nayuki," but because it was often mistaken for a Japanese brand, it gradually changed to "NAIXUE" in 2023. Tianyancha shows that its parent company submitted 8 trademark applications in March this year, including "Naisnow NAIXUE." Netizens have mixed opinions on the new name. Some speculate that it is paving the way for overseas expansion, while others think it is neither Chinese nor Western, hard to remember and hard to pronounce. The new logo has also been said to resemble a biotech company or a software icon. Whether frequent brand name changes affect brand awareness has become a point of concern. [more…]

In 2021, Coca-Cola carried out a new round of visual packaging upgrades for its product line, with Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, and Coke Zero all receiving more minimalist new looks. This redesign continues the "One Brand" strategy introduced in 2015. The most noticeable change is that the logo has been moved upward, and the classic ribbon element has been removed, giving the overall style a clean and crisp feel. In terms of color schemes, the classic version retains the red-and-white combination, the Diet version adopts red and silver, and the Zero version forms a high-contrast look with a black logo against a red background. At the same time, at the end of last year Coca-Cola also launched an eco-friendly paper bottle prototype called "Adez," jointly developed by its Brussels lab and the Danish company Paboco. It uses a paper shell with a plastic liner and a recyclable plastic cap, further conveying the concept of sustainable development. This article will compare the old and new packaging changes in detail and review these two noteworthy developments. [more…]

Sexytea has recently announced the removal of the English logo "Sexytea" from its newly opened stores and promised that future stores will no longer use the name, with existing stores' English logos also being gradually replaced. The brand explained that "Sexy" was intended to mean "charming," hoping customers would feel surprise in every cup of tea, but due to the word's multiple meanings causing controversy, they deeply apologize. The statement also mentioned that the team had discussed optimizing the English name during a mid-year review, but progress was slow, and this online discussion served as a wake-up call. Additionally, netizens dug up past incidents where Sexytea had apologized twice—once for a mug with the phrase "pick up leftovers" and once for tea bags labeled "Officer, I want it"—sparking renewed discussion about the boundaries of brand creativity. As a representative of Changsha's local guochao tea beverage scene, how Sexytea balances creativity and values is worth watching. [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…]

Heytea recently officially announced the launch of its first "A-Xi Full-Body Portrait Collection Contest," inviting fans to participate by drawing the Heytea logo—the full-body portrait of A-Xi—with the top prize worth over 9,999 yuan. The submission period ended on October 15, and thousands of entries have been received across various platforms. The total views of related topics on Weibo and Xiaohongshu have exceeded 10 million, and the grand prize will be announced on October 31. Interestingly, on the eve of the event's launch, the Heytea logo quietly went "bald"—the black hair was removed, and the fingers holding the cup disappeared, sparking a frenzy of complaints from netizens. This article reviews the iterative journey of the Heytea logo from its founding to the present, including last year's viral full-body portrait creations by netizens and the April cross-border collaboration with Hiroshi Fujiwara that saw the logo struck by lightning into an afro, analyzing how the brand interacts with consumers through its logo to accumulate brand equity. For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex. [more…]

Have you ever heard the term "frog bean"? It doesn't refer to green coffee beans that look like frogs, nor to the "goat hoof" beans caused by Indonesia's wet-hulling process, but rather to coffee beans that have received Rainforest Alliance certification—because the logo of this certification is a red-eyed tree frog. The Rainforest Alliance was founded in 1987 and is an international non-profit organization operating at the intersection of agriculture, forestry, and business. Its certification focuses on whether farms adopt sustainable agriculture and natural resource management practices, with a particular requirement that coffee be grown under the shade of native forest trees using traditional farming methods. Coffee beans that pass certification may use the Rainforest Alliance logo and gain priority sales channels. However, certification does not necessarily mean the flavor is outstanding; it mainly evaluates the growing environment. The Blue Mountain coffee currently sold by Front Street Coffee is the only bean it offers with this certification, and within the Blue Mountain region, only Clifton Mount Estate holds the certification. Let's now take a closer look at frog beans, the Rainforest Alliance, and the flavor performance of Front Street Coffee's Blue Mountain. [more…]

Open a food delivery app and search for coffee shops, and you're greeted by a flood of abstract symbols in black on white, making you wonder: how are these shop names even pronounced? Some netizens have discovered that by simply taking punctuation marks and mathematical symbols from a keyboard, bolding them, and putting them on a white background, you can mass-produce brand logos. The comments section is full of people sharing images confirming this, with commas, question marks, double quotation marks, multiplication signs, the mathematical constant π, the infinity symbol ∞, and even the # and * on a phone's dial pad all becoming visual identifiers for coffee brands. This trend of minimalist black-and-white symbols, represented by %Arabica and Mstand, is it a form of individual expression or a case of blindly imitating what others do? When consumers can't even name the symbols, how are brands supposed to be remembered? [more…]

The fate of Starbucks in Russia has finally been settled. From suspending operations in March of this year to announcing its exit from the market in May, 130 stores were once at a standstill. At the end of July, Russian rapper Timati announced via social media that the local catering company Pinskiy&Co had successfully completed the acquisition of Starbucks' assets in Russia. The new brand name and logo have not yet been determined, but the first store is scheduled to open in August, and the number of stores will exceed 200 by September. What are the details behind this acquisition? How will the new brand make a fresh start? This article takes you through the entire course of events. [more…]

Nayuki Tea recently quietly changed its store signage at a new outlet in Nanning, Guangxi, with the original "奈雪の茶" becoming "奈雪的茶," and the English logo also changing from NAYUKI to the pinyin NAIXUE. The company officially responded that this is an upgrade move for the brand's seventh anniversary and will be rolled out gradually nationwide. This new tea beverage brand, founded in Shenzhen in 2015 and listed in Hong Kong in 2021, is turning a new page in its eight-year brand history through a visual rebranding that removes Japanese-style elements. Since June this year, its parent company has intensively applied for multiple NAIXUE trademarks, and the signage replacement work at nearly a thousand directly operated stores nationwide has already begun. [more…]

In the specialty coffee world, the term "frog bean" may be niche, but it points to a rigorous environmental certification system—Rainforest Alliance certification. Coffee beans bearing the green red-eyed tree frog logo mean that everything from cultivation to processing meets ecological protection and social responsibility standards. This article will walk you through the origins of the Rainforest Alliance, its merger with UTZ, the specific contents of the certification criteria, and why the red-eyed tree frog was chosen as the logo. We will also introduce the rare coffees currently on the market that have obtained this certification, including Front Street Coffee's Panama Diamond Mountain and Jamaica Clifton Mount Estate Blue Mountain No. 1, to help you understand the flavor and value behind "frog beans." [more…]

At the end of 2021, a counterfeit Starbucks appeared in Caracas, Venezuela, with a logo highly similar to the real one, sparking widespread discussion. Now, a similar logo has appeared on the campus of Glenville State University in West Virginia, USA. Is this the spread of counterfeit behavior, or is there another story behind it? This article will help you clarify the essential difference between "We Proudly Serve Starbucks" and counterfeit Starbucks, and review the whole story of the counterfeit store in Venezuela. At the same time, we continue to follow coffee industry trends, and at the end of the article, we have included contact information for Front Street Coffee; coffee enthusiasts are welcome to join the discussion. [more…]

When selecting coffee beans, you may have noticed a green frog printed on the packaging — this is the Rainforest Alliance certification mark. Behind it lies a set of strict agricultural and environmental standards, covering ecological protection, farmers' rights, labor conditions, and sustainable development. Since the Rainforest Alliance was founded in New York in 1987, it has helped certify over one hundred million acres of crops, with coffee being one of the most traded agricultural products among them. This article will walk you through the core philosophy of the Rainforest Alliance, the specific standards for certified crops, and what this mark means for consumers and the coffee industry, helping you gain a more comprehensive understanding of the environmental and social value behind your everyday coffee choices. [more…]

In recent years, luxury brands branching out into coffee shops has become an undeniable trend. From Vivienne Westwood to Coach, from Dior to Tiffany, numerous high-end consumer brands have opened cafés or launched limited-time pop-ups in cities such as Shanghai and Beijing. These venues sell themselves on exquisite décor, branded-logo tableware, and photogenic desserts, with prices ranging from twenty yuan to over a hundred, attempting to close the distance with the general public through a cup of coffee. Yet consumer reviews are mixed: some find it worth the money, while others see the products as perfunctory and the pricing as artificially inflated. This article will examine the market logic and consumer response behind this phenomenon. [more…]

What is the identity of the bearded, mule-leading figure on the packaging of Juan Valdez, the well-known Latin American coffee brand? How was this brand born? This article will guide you through the origins between the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (FNC) and the Juan Valdez brand, and share a tasting experience of a FINCA selected estate coffee. From the founding of the FNC in 1927, to the official launch of the brand in 1960, and to this UTZ-certified 100% washed Arabica bean, the article also introduces the terroir characteristics of Colombian coffee origins, as well as Front Street Coffee's recommendations for high-value Colombian beans. [more…]

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 When a brand changes its avatar on social platforms, it often signals the start of a new round of marketing moves. Recently, Mixue Bingcheng's iconic Snow King image went from chubby and white to a golden version, sparking heated discussion among netizens. This change is not simply to build momentum for overseas expansion, but to tie in with the "Drink Mixue Bingcheng, Get a Golden Snow King Necklace" campaign. In fact, Mixue Bingcheng has long treated its avatar as ad space, having previously launched looks such as the "Darkened Snow King" and the Winter Outfit Snow King. Brands such as Heytea and McDonald's also frequently create buzz by changing their avatars for a limited time. This article will analyze the logic and effects behind this marketing tactic. [more…]