Coffee takes off in China
Wind, waves and war in China's hottest crossover sector
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‘Coffee hot’, or 咖啡热 kā fēi rè, is best translated as ‘coffee craze’ or ‘coffee fever’.
It’s nothing to do with the temperature of the drink; It’s one of the big consumer trends to look out for in China in 2023.
Starbucks and Luckin Coffee are the two main players with thousands of outlets across the country.
The offline market is still dominated by coffee brands such as Starbucks and Luckin. These traditional brands have considerable advantages in terms of brand influence, channels, supply chains, and core products.
线下市场仍被星巴克、瑞星等咖啡品牌主导，无论是在品牌影响力、渠道、供应链掌控力还是核心产品方面，这些传统品牌都有着相当优势
There are new competitors too, some we’ve discussed previously in this newsletter:
Since 2020, China's local coffee brands have mushroomed. The coffee market in 2021 saw even faster growth. Investor enthusiasm was still high.
Manner, M Stand, NOWWA, Time Cui and other coffee brands have all achieved at least two rounds of investment per year, with some even completing one round in a month. Sequoia China, Qiming Venture Partners, Gaorong Capital, Tencent Investment, Temasek, Meituan Dragon Ball, ByteDance, Heytea, and Mogujie are all investing.
自2020年以来，中国的本土咖啡馆如雨后春笋一般大量涌现。2021年的咖啡市场，更是肉眼可见的火爆，资本的热情更是居高不下。Manner、M Stand、NOWWA、时萃等咖啡品牌的融资节奏起码1年融2轮，有的甚至可以1个月就融上1轮。红杉中国、启明创投、高榕资本、腾讯投资、淡马锡、美团龙珠、字节跳动、喜茶、蘑菇街等纷纷出手
According to 36kr, a tech blog, China’s coffee sector is also hot because of ‘cross-sector’ (跨界 kuà jiè) brands entering from the most unlikely places:
Li Ning registered coffee-related trademarks in May 2022 and has soft-launched its own coffee products in several physical stores. State companies including China Post, PetroChina, and Tongrentang have also entered the coffee industry, crossing over from their own sectors.
李宁于2022年5月申请注册咖啡相关商标，并在多地的实体店内陆续试水自家的咖啡产品。中国邮政、中石油、同仁堂等企业也纷纷跨界入局咖啡
Wind, water, waves and even a bit of war, are the main metaphors used to describe this phenomenon:
The battle in coffee, the most trending “wind vent” sector, is heating up. But when the tide recedes, how much sand will remain, how many songs of war will still be sung? The market will have to wait and see.
Maybe when the tide has gone out, what’s left will just be a total mess.
这场咖啡风口的混战变得愈发热闹非凡，但当潮水退去后，又有多少沙石能够屹立在浪潮之外，有多少战歌能唱到最后，或还需要市场拭目以待。
也许潮水退去，落得一地鸡毛
So, will the coffee cross-over be a mess, or will the innovations pay off?
That’s what we explore this week.
In the member’s podcast
Today’s member podcast episode is 40 minutes in total, with 34 minutes of excellent native content from our editor, Zoe Qian:
Discussion about top phrases @ 6 min (7 mins) - This week we go on a deep-dive about some of our cross-over phrases.
Word list and example sentences @ 12 mins 34 secs (7 mins) - Zoe reviews all words and phrases here including example sentences.
Full article in Chinese @ 18 mins 20 secs (25 mins) - Full audio of the main article we refer to this week (see links section at the end).
Become a member and access the audio and loads of other resources!
Favourite Five
1. 混战 hùn zhàn
a chaotic battle that involves many parties
在多方涌入的混战之后，咖啡领域也即将迎来内部系统优化的下半场 - After the influx of many players, the coffee sector will usher in a new phrase of consolidation.
2. 气氛组 qì fèn zǔ
people whose job is to warm up the crowd
连接星巴克Wi-Fi，戴着Air pods耳机，点一杯热咖啡，看起来非常忙碌的样子，这被人调侃为“星巴克气氛组” - Those that are using Starbucks wifi, wearing AirPods, drinking a cup of coffee and looking very busy are called the ‘Starbucks atmosphere creators’.
Note: An internet slang term which has become popular in the last three years. Starbucks have cleverly used it to their advantage in their marketing.
3. 图个新鲜 tú ge xīn xiān
try something new
当市场以为中国邮政只是图个新鲜时，9月21日，位于江阴市的中国邮政苏锡杭生鲜超市正式开业运营 - When the market thought that China Post was just looking for something new, the China Post Suxihang Fresh Food Supermarket in Jiangyin City officially opened on September 21.
Note: You'll almost always hear tú ge xīn xian.
4. 僧多粥少 sēng duō zhōu shǎo
too many monks and no enough porridge; too many players in the market
看起来利益可观的市场规模下，是各大茶饮品牌僧多肉少的窘境 - It looks like the market is big enough, but the big F&B brands are finding themselves in a crowded market.
Note: Here, the idiom has changed to include 'meat' but the original should be 僧多粥少 since monks are not allowed to eat meat.
5. 醉翁之意不在酒 zuì wēng zhī yì búzài jiǔ
A drunkard drinks not for the liquor
醉翁之意不在酒。企业不是要通过卖咖啡赚多少钱，这只是一个服务体系，让消费者的黏性更强 - 'A drunkard drinks not for the liquor'. Companies sell coffee not to make money. It's an add-on to their existing services to make their customers ‘stickier’.
Note: See more in The China Project Phrase of the Week to learn about the Song dynasty origins of this phrase.
Consuming the Conversation
Useful words
跨界 kuà jiè
crossing over into another sector
跨界在近年来一直是一个火热的话题 - Crossing over into new sectors has been a hot topic in recent years.
破圈 pò quān
breaking through; going mainstream
从2018年伊始至今，咖啡带给市场的是新的破圈话题 - Since the beginning of 2018, there have been discussions about how the coffee market has gone mainstream in different ways.
Note: This is normally used in the content of unknown celebrities going big, which we've discussed previously in xxx newsletter. Here it means something slightly different: become successful in a new market.
猛将 měng jiàng
fierce general
对于中石化来说，其对新零售的布局再添一枚猛将 - For Sinopec it’s added another segment that can generate aggressive growth in the new retail sector.
微醺 wēi xūn
tipsy
市场上也涌现了不少“微醺”生意 - There are plenty of companies that have entered the alcohol market which targets consumers who prefer low alcohol drinks.
Note: ‘tipsy’ refers to low alcohol here.
渡劫 dù jié
overcoming a hardship
2022年对于苏宁来说也是渡劫的一年 - For Suning, getting through 2022 has been tough.
Three-character phrases
香饽饽 xiāng bō bo
someone or something popular
2022年新茶饮、咖啡、预制菜、酒水等赛道依旧是香饽饽 - In 2022, new tea, coffee, prepared dishes, drinks and other sectors are still popular.
不失为 bù shī wéi
can still be considered to be
跨界不失为一条捷径，对现在市场上正火热的赛道进行跨界，是企业在当前经济环境下的惯性反应 - Going into new sectors can still be considered a shortcut option. Crossing over into a currently very hot sector is a natural reaction to the current economic conditions.
主战场 zhǔ zhàn chǎng
main battlefield
2022年苏宁将以马鞍山为主战场，同步发展江浙沪 - In 2022, Suning will focus on its store in Maanshan, while simultaneously growing its market share in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.
Related: 主力军 zhǔ lì jūn - main force, or main player in a market
Idioms
风靡一时 fēng mí yì shí
all the rage; very popular at the time
风靡一时，确实在一定范围内收获了不小的话题热度 - It’s all the rage right now. Quite a lot of people are indeed talking about them.
Related: 昙花一现 tán huā yí xiàn - fleeting (one of our top phrases of 2021)
门可罗雀 mén kě luó què
so quiet not even a sparrow is there; completely empty, no one is there
娃哈哈再次低调上线其童装品牌，但从销量看，目前依旧是门可罗雀 - Wahaha launched its children's clothing brand again in a low-key way, but judging from sales volume, customers weren’t buying.
争先恐后 zhēng xiān kǒng hòu
scrambling for fear of missing out
非食企业和饮品巨头都争先恐后的挤占到风口C位处 - Non-food companies and beverage giants alike are scrambling to gain a foothold in this new sector.
Related: C位 means central or core position. An internet slang word from 2018.
跑马圈地 pǎo mǎ quān dì
claiming markets by making pre-emptive investments
砸钱铺市场的战争没有停歇，专业的咖啡品牌仍在跑马圈地 - The battle of throwing in money to enter the market has never stopped. Traditional coffee brands are still investing heavily in the sector.
Note: another of our faves from 2021.
卷土重来 juǎn tǔ chóng lái
making a comeback
狗不理想卷土重来，这可能也是无奈之举 - Goubuli wanting to make a comeback is probably because they have no other option.
Phrases
站稳脚跟 zhàn wěn jiǎo gēn
stand on steady legs; get established
其未来究竟能否在两元赛道站稳脚跟，或还需要静待其走出河南 - Whether it can gain a firm foothold in both industries remains to be seen. We’ll have to wait to see what happens if they go beyond Henan.
隔行如隔山 gé háng rú gé shān
if you are not in this industry, you will not understand how it works
虽然咖啡经营的门槛较低，但“隔行如隔山”的道理在这里依然适用 - Although the barriers to entry are low, the coffee sector is still completely different.
不得已而为之 bù dé yǐ ér wéi zhī
as the last resort
公司转而发展其他业务，进行新的布局也是不得已而为之 - The company developed a new line of business as the last resort.
反其道而行之 fǎn qí dào ér xíng zhī
do the opposite of someone else
针对星巴克的价格贵，可以反其道而行之，降低价格销售 - They can take the opposite approach of Starbucks, who have high prices, and sell at a lower price.
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