☕ But first coffee...♨️
FOODTECH Confidential #001
📣 A kind reminder, at the end of this publication, if you liked what you received, please leave a little 💟 “like” at the top of the post below the title. This will definitely be helping me understand what you like and what you don’t 🤯 !
FOODTECH CONFIDENTIAL
I’m Greg, founder of NextStep [F&B] Studio. FoodTech Confidential is a bi-monthly newsletter to share innovations, trends, and big news about the Food and Beverage industry with F&B professionals, FMCG experts, tech entrepreneurs, and investors.
I will mostly focus on news from China, and Asia, but will be keeping an eye on what’s happening elsewhere that could have an impact on our business anyway.
I believe that by looking at what’s happening in Products, F&B, and Restaurant Tech, we can help our portfolio companies, future projects, and investors, in doing a better job.
I thought this could worth be sharing with you to spark inspiration and innovate in your business too.
🔴 WHAT’S NEW IN CHINA?
1 - ☕ Luckin Coffee is back?
Once called “the Starbucks killer”, Luckin Coffee suffered a massive accounting fraud scandal in 2019 (they basically created $300m US in sales), and got delisted from the US stock exchange.
But 2020 had a few good wins for the 5,000 outlets Chinese coffee-chain (with the launch of a successful coconut milk latte, some good profits, ... and as well additional lifesaving $250m US round of investment). and it looks like now Luckin Coffee could consider making a come back to the US Nasdaq.
2- 🥱 Nighttime coffee in Macau, the growing trend!
A new trend in Macau called yefe (夜啡), where young people opt for a casual social chat after work with a cup of coffee instead of a boozy night out is rapidly growing. While coffee shops are usually closed before 8 pm, those ones will open from 7.30 pm till 2 am or will be announced as “semi-open, as they may or may not open simply depending on their mood”.
3- ⚡️Coffee in a Flash⚡️
Flash Coffee is a trendy fully digital and tech-enabled coffee chain that is gaining momentum and making its grand debut in Hong Kong. Thanks to Rocket Internet who recently backed them up in the latest Series-A round of investment led by White Star Capital, to help them roll out across Asia, expanding soon in Japan and South Korea, after successfully operating over 100 stores in Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and Taiwan. Flash Coffee is widely following Luckin Coffee's digital approach with pre-order pick-up, delivery, and gamification.
🟡 WHAT’S NEW IN ASIA?
1- 🇮🇩 Starbucks launches Coffee Experience Center in Bali
The Starbucks Dewata Coffee Sanctuary, a 1,900 sqm store, recently opened in Bali. ”The store pays tribute to the important role that Indonesia, the fourth largest Arabica coffee growing region in the world, plays in bringing Starbucks customers the highest quality coffees,[…]since 1971.”
2- 🇮🇳 India’s first coffee-infused gin is here to keep you partying from dusk to dawn
Nao Spirits’ “Greater Than GIN” and “Sleepy Owl Coffee”, believe it’s never too early for something boozy and never too late for a sip of coffee, so they collaborated to make the first Indian coffee-infused gin which elevates the usual Negroni or the Espresso Martini.
3- 🦾 Robot barista to the rescue!
“A customer walks in. We punch the order into the system; we collect money; we place a cup (on the coffee machine) before passing the coffee to you … There was a lot of pick and place movements,” Keith Tan recalled. It didn’t take him long to replace this with a robotic arm and launch Ella in 2015.
Now, in a location in 🇯🇵 Japan, Ella takes no breaks, works 24 hours a day, and can make up to 200 cups of coffee in an hour. Even though the ride was difficult, the market is now looking good.
But will Robot baristas enter the Fully Automatic Coffee Machine market which is estimated at $1.1 Billion in 2021 for the US, and forecast to reach $343.1 Million by 2026 in China?
4- 🇸🇬 Freshly roasted coffee subscription to your doorstep
« Perk Coffee is pretty much a one-stop platform for all things coffee. It offers different coffee options (whole beans, ground coffee, drip bags, pods), as well as a range of coffee equipment and accessories. […] In an effort to help customers bring the coffee experience to the comfort of their own homes, Perk also offers coffee subscription services so customers can enjoy freshly roasted coffee delivered directly to their doorstep. Subscribers can easily pause their subscription, reschedule their next roast date, or change coffee types with just a few clicks. They also don’t lock down customers by charging in advance as they only bill you on the day of roasting. » Their first 500 customers were acquired organically via word-of-mouth, but check Perk Coffee’s story here.
🔵 WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE WORLD?
1- 🇺🇸 US coffee-drinkers are falling for the Vietnamese robusta!
« Rich, nutty, chocolatey, slightly smoky, baritone in flavor with a powerful jolt of caffeine. » Over the last few years, Vietnamese craft coffee shops have sprung up in cities such as Seattle, Austin, Portland, Philadelphia, Chicago and Kansas City, many of them run by first- and second-generation immigrants spreading Vietnam’s unique coffee culture, showcasing specialty roasts and reimagining traditional drinks for a local audience that is thirsty for both creativity and authenticity.
2- 🇬🇧 Is the coffee love-in is dying? - Understanding coffee drinking among Gen Z in the UK
Slightly less than half (46%) of Gen Z say they never drink coffee at work or home, with only a minority (10%) drinking multiple times a day… 😮 Does that mean the coffee love-in is dying?
That’s it!
I guess this is it for our first publication. Now, it is your turn!
What was the one piece of news you never heard about?
What would you like to start exploring for your business?
If you are already working on one of those topics, any feedback you could share with our community? We will keep it confidential…🤫
Also, as you can imagine, by putting this newsletter together, I am finding a lot more things that didn’t make the cut here. Let me know if you’d like to know more and drop me a comment 💬, or just reply to this email directly.
Thanks for reading Food Tech Confidential! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Hi Greg, what about what imported food products could be sold in China?
Great! Serious but fun! One topic is also a good idea!