Luckin Coffee recently piloted a new scheduling system in cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chengdu. The system can predict peak hours based on store sales data and arrange minimal staffing accordingly. While the new system improves efficiency, it has also sparked discussions about the distribution of work between full-time and part-time employees, responses to unexpected situations, and labor cost control. At the same time, as Luckin's store expansion slows and sales decline, the problem of redundant staff is gradually emerging, and this system upgrade is seen as an important measure to reduce costs and increase efficiency. As coffee lovers, it is worth learning about the impact of this change on store operations and employee experience. [more…]

Manner Coffee has won the favor of many consumers with its high cost-performance and thoughtful service. Bringing your own cup and ordering ahead via the mini-program have become daily choices for many office workers. However, recently, complaints about slow order fulfillment at Manner stores have been increasing. The completion times shown in the mini-program are severely inconsistent with actual wait times, and waits of twenty minutes or even an hour during peak hours are common. What dissatisfies consumers even more is that some stores are staffed by only one employee, who is overwhelmed when orders surge, causing customers and delivery riders to be stranded for long periods. Some netizens left bad reviews due to slow order fulfillment, but received a reply from the store saying that "the employee involved has been seriously dealt with," sparking widespread controversy. This article will sort out the course of the incident, netizens' views, and the actual situation of Manner employees, and explore how the brand can balance efficiency and employee care amid rapid expansion. [more…]

Recently, multiple part-time employees at Manner have reported on social media that shifts they had originally selected were canceled by stores at the last minute before work on the grounds of sufficient staffing, and some even had this happen several times in a row. At the same time, some full-time employees have also revealed that stores adjust shifts at will according to how busy they are, arranging long continuous shifts when busy and cutting hours when quiet. Some analysts believe that because part-time hourly wages are higher than full-time ones but the work is more oriented toward packing and cleaning, stores may be more inclined to reduce part-time positions in order to control labor costs. As of now, Manner has not yet responded officially, and this series of scheduling chaos is chilling many young people who are interested in joining. [more…]

Employees at more than 100 Starbucks stores across the United States held a joint strike on the annual Red Cup Day, demanding higher wages and improved staffing. This strike, the largest in the union's history, pushed Starbucks to the forefront of labor relations. As a coffee chain giant with more than 32,000 stores worldwide, Starbucks claims that its pay and benefits lead the industry while facing the dual pressure of a sharp decline in net profit and growing employee dissatisfaction. This article will sort through the course of the strike, Starbucks' global layout and latest financial report data, and analyze the deeper reasons behind the pay dispute, providing coffee lovers with a complete observation of the事件. [more…]

The February that just passed put many office workers through a chaotic whirlwind—rushing to finish work before the Spring Festival, relaxing fully during the holiday, and then facing the return-to-work wave, pulled back and forth by piled-up tasks and post-holiday burnout. However, for frontline employees at Luckin Coffee stores, March brings not a breather but an even harsher round of adjustments. Controlling effective working hours, implementing a single person to open early and close the store, freezing full-time hiring and restricting promotion channels—a series of measures to cut labor costs have led employees to mock themselves as not even "Luckin slaves," but more like tireless "Luckin robots." At the same time, after the 9.9 promotion shrank, store sales clearly declined, and March happens to be the off-season, putting both sales and profits under pressure. With revenue growth blocked, the company can only push on the cost-cutting side. Employees are full of complaints, the user experience is being tested, and whether brand influence will be weakened as a result has become a focus of outside attention. [more…]

Recently, many consumers have noticed that whether during the morning rush or in the afternoon, some chain coffee brand stores often have only one employee busy behind the counter. Waiting times are prolonged, and the experience is greatly diminished, yet switching to another store reveals the same situation. What exactly is happening behind this? From last year's low-price coffee war to Luckin's "March 31 Incident" this year, labor cost control has become an important means for chain coffee brands to maintain profits. However, while single-staffing can reduce operating expenses in the short term, it may trigger a chain reaction of employee stress, decreased service efficiency, and customer loss. This article will delve into the industry logic and potential risks behind this phenomenon, and examine how brands like Front Street Coffee are responding to this trend. [more…]

Manner Coffee, known for its minimalist white design, has recently sparked consumer discussion due to store hygiene conditions. Some customers have reported that tables and chairs in certain stores show obvious signs of wear, with leftover trash from previous customers on tabletops, while the single-staff model leaves employees no time to attend to front-of-house cleaning. Is this phenomenon an isolated issue or a widespread problem? Does the white decor style amplify the visual impact of stains? How should consumers balance the pursuit of efficient service with a pleasant dining environment? This article reviews perspectives from multiple parties to explore the operational challenges chain coffee brands face amid rapid expansion. [more…]

Recently, many consumers have noticed that Manner coffee shops near them have suddenly closed their doors, showing "resting" on the mini-program, with no clear notice and no timetable for resuming business. It is understood that this phenomenon is closely related to Manner's internal personnel adjustments: baristas with excessive working hours are arranged to take leave, while those with insufficient hours are transferred to other stores for support, resulting in some stores having to temporarily close. At the same time, the brand has also shortened the operating hours of some stores, with morning shifts starting later and evening shifts ending earlier. Whether this adjustment can allow Manner to find a balance between chain expansion, specialty quality, and affordable positioning has become a focal point of industry attention. [more…]

Behind the busy bar of a coffee shop, baristas inevitably face moments when they need to temporarily leave their post. For most chain brands, colleagues covering for each other can resolve this, but at Manner, this has become something that requires scheduling down to the second. Some customers have noticed that when Manner staff leave their posts, they leave handwritten notes and countdown timers informing customers of their return time, even down to the second. What this reflects is the widespread reality of tight store scheduling and single-person staffing. Baristas have no choice but to get creative, using small blackboards, ordering tablets, and even timers to communicate with customers. This article walks you through these amusing yet helpless daily store routines, and also recommends checking out Front Street Coffee's related products. [more…]

Luckin Coffee recently launched an internal AI-based store scheduling system that collects historical business data to predict the daily staffing and working hours needed at each store, attempting to allocate existing manpower more efficiently. However, this seemingly scientific automatic scheduling has drawn widespread complaints from many Luckin employees. They point out that the system uses hourly cup output as its core reference only, completely ignoring a large amount of invisible work such as cleaning, ingredient preparation, and expiration checks, leaving baristas working alone exhausted and even forced to work unpaid overtime just to finish up. Some employees say outright that they feel like they have become a machine that never stops behind the bar, with even eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom becoming luxuries. This efficiency reform driven by algorithms is pushing frontline baristas to the brink of physical and mental exhaustion. [more…]

A silent coffee shop in Shanghai, staffed mainly by hearing-impaired baristas, published an article titled "Please rest assured, we are still alive. But..." on June 14, quickly gaining over 80,000 views. Under the impact of the pandemic, dine-in service was suspended, delivery communication was hindered, and masks obscured lip-reading, plunging the shop into a situation of zero revenue and zero foot traffic. The baristas hand-drew 12 touching moments from those months into illustrations and launched an original themed drip-bag coffee set as a self-rescue effort. The article reviewed the real difficulties this special coffee shop faced, its self-rescue methods, and business adjustment ideas that coffee shops could draw on during the pandemic, including joining delivery platforms, ensuring product quality, designing offline discounts to bring customers back, and developing peripheral products such as drip bags and coffee beans to meet consumers' shifting demand from "going to the shop" to "having it at home." [more…]

Recently, a video of a Mixue Bingcheng employee crying while making drinks due to a flood of orders spread rapidly online, drawing widespread attention. The incident occurred in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, where a delivery rider picking up an order found that only one employee was handling order labels several meters long alone, emotionally breaking down yet still not stopping work. After the video was posted, many netizens expressed sympathy for the plight of tea beverage workers, while some pointed out the contradiction between delivery platforms' price wars driving surging sales and staffing not increasing. Mixue Bingcheng later responded that the employee was the store manager and that the crying was due to family conflicts rather than work pressure. Behind the incident, it reflects the operational difficulties and employee mental health issues in the tea beverage industry under low-price competition. [more…]

Recently, videos of physical conflicts between Manner Coffee employees and customers have been exposed one after another, sparking widespread social concern. One of the incidents occurred on May 22 at a store in a shopping mall, where a customer, after arguing with a barista over drink pickup, entered the bar area and assaulted the employee. After police mediation, the customer paid 1,000 yuan in compensation, but there were reports that the brand required the employee to return the compensation and apologize. Behind these successive conflicts are deeper issues exposed by Manner's rapid expansion, including insufficient staffing, excessive work intensity, and a mismatch between pay and effort. This article reviews the course of the incidents and the responses from various parties, and explores the contradiction between the coffee industry's rapid expansion and employee management. [more…]

Recently on social media, complaints from Manner baristas have been steadily rising. Many current or former employees have posted that even during promotional rushes, stores are only staffed by one person, making it difficult for baristas to even eat or use the restroom, and some ultimately choose to leave. What is striking is that multiple baristas say the concern from regular customers feels warmer than the company’s rules. At the same time, consumers also frequently encounter the awkward situation of arriving at a store with no staff present and being unable to refund or modify orders. From high-value specialty coffee to rapid, capital-driven expansion, Manner’s staffing gap is gradually coming to the surface. This article compiles complaints from multiple sources to present the dual perspectives of baristas and customers. [more…]

Recently, some consumers have reported encountering inconvenience when using cash to pay at Luckin Coffee stores. Staff repeatedly guided them to place orders via mobile phone, and only after a long wait did another employee accept the cash and operate the order on their behalf. Similar situations have been mentioned by netizens before, with one elderly customer left at a loss in front of the counter because they were unfamiliar with mobile ordering. In response to the difficulty of paying with cash, Luckin's official customer service stated that stores can accept cash, and after customers arrive at the store, staff can assist them in placing orders through the app or mini-program, and they can pay in cash after confirming the information. Some analysts believe that Luckin's adoption of a small-store, low-staff operating model, with no dedicated order-taking personnel, is based on efficiency considerations, but there is still room for improvement in terms of service awareness. [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…]

As coffee consumption demand continues to climb after the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic, Starbucks employees in the United States are facing multiple pressures, including a surge in workload, understaffing, and aging equipment. Against the backdrop of a unionization wave sweeping across more than a hundred stores nationwide, Starbucks announced that it will close a unionized store in Ithaca, New York, on June 10. The union immediately filed a lawsuit, accusing the decision of violating federal labor law and constituting retaliation against union activity. Starbucks denies any connection, attributing the closure to facilities, staffing, and attendance issues. Both sides hold firmly to their own accounts, and the conflict continues to escalate. [more…]

Recently, two intense disputes between staff and customers occurred at Manner Coffee stores in succession, drawing widespread attention. In one incident, due to slow service, an emotional staff member threw coffee powder at a customer, while another escalated into a physical conflict over order催促. The brand responded by dismissing the employees involved, but the issues reflected behind the incidents—such as understaffing at stores and excessive pressure on employees—have become the focus of discussion among netizens and loyal customers. As coffee enthusiasts, we can't help but ponder: while pursuing efficiency, how can we ensure service quality and employee rights? Front Street Coffee has always followed industry trends, advocating rational consumption and humanistic care. [more…]

Recently, a post about Luckin Coffee employees being forced to accept cash sparked heated discussion on social media. Because Luckin stores are not equipped with cash register systems or equipment, employees can only accept cash from customers first, then use their own phones to scan codes and place orders on their behalf. This practice not only leaves employees with large amounts of loose change that are difficult to handle, but also brings a series of problems such as difficulty making change, the risk of accidentally accepting counterfeit bills, and customers being unable to enjoy online discounts. Especially when stores are overwhelmed with orders and short-staffed, cash orders become an even heavier burden for employees. Although mobile payment has become mainstream, some consumers still rely on cash, and whether brands should improve their cash register facilities has become a focal point of concern for both employees and customers. [more…]

In recent years, tea beverage brands have been adding fresh fruits and vegetables to their fruit tea products in pursuit of genuine ingredients. Luckin, however, has long relied on fruit concentrates and quick-frozen dried fruit due to the limitations of its store conditions, making many tea beverage peers envious. Recently, though, some Luckin stores in Guangdong, Chengdu, and other regions have successively received new materials such as muddling sticks, cut-resistant gloves, and labels for fruit washing machine storage areas, while internal order forms also list equipment including dicers and strawberry hullers. These tools have no direct connection to the drinks currently on sale, and the appearance of a bitter melon light-body fruit and vegetable tea and a bitter melon fruit and vegetable Americano—neither of which is on the menu—in the mini-program coupons has sparked employees' speculation that Luckin may introduce fresh-cut fruit. Once freshly cut fruit enters the production process, whether Luckin stores staffed by a single person can withstand peak-hour pressure has become the most anxiety-inducing question for workers. [more…]