Starbucks’ China rival Luckin Coffee opens 10,000th shop amid fight for expected 1 trillion yuan market
- Luckin Coffee opened 1,137 stores in the first quarter, beating Starbucks, which opened 153 and trails the domestic chain by more than 3,700 locations
- Luckin recorded first-quarter revenue of 44.4 billion yuan, with a net profit of 564.8 million yuan
Chinese coffee giant Luckin Coffee opened its 10,000th store in the country on Monday, expanding its lead over American rival Starbucks as the two chains battle for caffeine-addicts’ loyalty in a market expected to consume 1 trillion yuan (US$140 billion) worth of coffee a year by 2025.
Located in the centre of Luckin’s headquarters city of Xiamen, in Fujian province, the store is billed as the brand’s first flagship store. It covers more than 600 square metres across two floors.
The company, which was formerly listed on the Nasdaq before a scandal forced it to delist, accomplished the 10,000-store milestone within six years. It had already surpassed Starbucks in terms of total stores in China in 2021.
Luckin Coffee opened 1,137 mainland China locations in the first quarter of this year, and also added stores in Singapore as it steps up efforts to expand internationally with Southeast Asia as a priority.
The coffee chain’s first-quarter revenue reached 44.4 billion yuan, with a net profit of 564.8 million yuan. The company achieved full-year profitability for the first time last year, with 1.15 billion yuan.
