GREYBOX COFFEE, which opened opposite the Starbucks Zhenxuan store, received a financing of 100 million yuan.

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GREYBOX COFFEE completed round A financing, and Junzi Capital invested 100 million yuan, with a valuation of 100 million US dollars.

In December 2016, GREYBOX COFFEE opened its first coffee shop in the Kerry Center of Beijing International Trade CBD, right across from Starbucks' high-end Zhenxuan store. In the following year, 16 coffee shops were opened in Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Nanjing and other cities.

The third wave of boutique coffee is sweeping across Asia, and China's existing coffee market has begun to reshuffle. "

It is generally believed that China's boutique coffee started in 2012, when the number of cafes exceeded 30,000. However, the independent cafes in Shanghai are mainly lane shops and mom-and-pop shops, and the impression of boutique coffee in Beijing is still in the hutongs. The domestic boutique coffee industry as a whole is hovering in the stage of fragmented, independent minority cafes. And the quality of coffee is too dependent on individuals, the product is not stable.

GREYBOX COFFEE challenges Starbucks

GREYBOX COFFEE believes that it is necessary to have international competitive strength in order to stand out from Beijing and Shanghai, where high-end brands compete in the world. In addition to being the forerunner of Chinese boutique coffee, they hope to become the top three in the world in 3-5 years and the number one boutique coffee brand in the world in 5-10 years. They are planning to develop overseas cities such as Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, New York, Silicon Valley and Tokyo. Some people in the industry even directly pointed out that the first wave of coffee is in Europe (Nestle), the second wave of coffee is in North America (Starbucks), and the home of the third wave of boutique coffee is in Asia (GREYBOX COFFEE).

Now, GREYBOX COFFEE's iconic gray box can be seen in the highest-end shopping malls and office buildings in first-tier cities. It is reported that its first store is in the Kerry Center in Beijing, and the 80-year store is opposite the high-end Zhenxuan store of Starbucks.

At present, it has achieved daily sales of more than 10,000, which has successfully attracted customers who have higher requirements for coffee in Starbucks Zhenxuan. GREYBOX COFFEE believes that the market will be even bigger, because national consumption levels are rising, and high-end customers are always the first to know what is better, and when they know what really good coffee is, they will no longer be satisfied with Starbucks coffee.

GREYBOX COFFEE's core customers are also focused on coffee enthusiasts, business elites, artists, returnees, stars, and the richest people in China. Like a glass of fine wine, these people are willing to pay a higher price for a better cup of coffee because they want to pursue a higher quality of life.

Optimistic about the high-end boutique coffee market, rapid expansion in China, and access to 100 million yuan of capital, GREYBOX COFFEE also hopes to build its own brand and promote boutique coffee culture, so that more and more people know what fine coffee is.

Australian boutique coffee + light dessert

In this context, with the belief of "Life is too short for bad coffee", GREYBOX was founded in 2016, opened its first store in Beijing Kerry Center, and is now a popular boutique coffee brand in Beijing CBD.

Founder Perry's coffee enlightenment originated in Australia. He studied in Australia for a period of time when he was a university. GREYBOX's menu has the most pure Australian flavor. GB latte and GB cabbage are the classic coffee in the store. The milk used in espresso is also Jonesy Josie milk imported by air every week from Australia's 100% pastures, as well as Wonder milk customized by fresh farms.

In terms of product price, the general price of coffee is about 30-40 yuan, including 68 yuan for boutique hand-brewed coffee and signature GB latte, and 108 yuan for the most expensive Rosa coffee.

GREYBOX coffee beans are collected directly from manors around the world, such as Panama, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Yunnan Xiaomi, Guatemala, Kenya AA and so on. Each boutique coffee bean will have its own flavor card, and customers can learn about its variety, origin, producing area, processing method, baking degree and other information.

In addition to coffee, there are decaffeinated drinks, cake desserts and light meals, including the famous Australian dessert Lamington cake, brunch, salad, waffles, baked fresh bread and so on.

Advanced gray minimalist style + top luxury configuration

GREYBOX's stores are small and beautiful, and the location is the same as that of luxury brands. The open coffee space uses high-grade gray as the main color, and the overall style of metal-feeling "gray box" takes the high-end simple route, which is mainly divided into island operation area, slow drinking area and exhibition area.

The 180-degree omni-directional display bar can shorten the distance between the customer and the barista, and clearly observe the seasonal coffee bean business card, the operation of the coffee machine, as well as the barista's hand flushing, flower drawing and other production process.

Greybox is equipped with more than three professional grinders for different varieties of coffee beans, the introduction of Rolls-Royce Florence hand-made La Marzocco in the coffee machine industry, as well as the global annual production limit of 20 pure hand-made ash coffee machines Kees Van Der Westen, German Mahlkonig bean grinder, Japanese ice drop coffee equipment and other standard configuration.

The team of professional baristas is responsible for the whole process from baking, grinding to hand flushing. Each store is equipped with two senior baristas and three intermediate baristas. For hand-brewed boutique coffee, the three elements are water temperature, water injection mode and time. The dosage is accurate to 0.1g and the temperature is accurate to 0.1 degrees Celsius to ensure that the coffee brewed from different stores has the same taste. "geek cooking, one drop into the soul" is also the simplest and most important demand of the brand.

■ they choose coffee beans with a SCA score of more than 90 (SAC's standard for boutique coffee beans is more than 80), and all coffee beans are roasted within 48 hours, which is said to be expensive but with a more guaranteed flavor and taste.

■ store specializes in hand-made coffee and espresso. There are 7 kinds of coffee beans with different flavors, such as Rose Summer, Guatemala, Yega Chuefei and so on. Italian coffee can choose Australian flavor and Nordic flavor. Australian Italian style will be paired with fresh milk from Australia, and a large number of customers come into the store to ask for Australian flavor.

■ 's current barista is the 2016 World Coffee Brewing Competition champion Tetsu Kasuya, who mainly trains and produces coffee beans for selection, grinding and brewing.

■ in addition to coffee desserts, the store also has convenient to take away cold coffee, hanging ear coffee, and mugs, coffee pots around all kinds of coffee, convenient for customers who like boutique coffee to enjoy at home. You can buy it in stores and on the online website.

■ they also have a boutique coffee college, coffee classes every weekend, coffee enthusiasts, enthusiasts come to class, strong coffee culture atmosphere.

The monthly flow reaches 30-500000, and the repurchase rate is 70-80%.

Many independent boutique coffee brands in China have begun to move from a minority to a dense core business district. GREYBOX also chooses to open stores around boutique high-end shopping malls and high-end office buildings. GREYBOX is aimed at elite white-collar workers, who believe that business people are more receptive to boutique coffee culture and can form the habit of spending during office breaks.

GREYBOX currently has six stores, located in Beijing Kerry Center, Chengdu Yintai Center in99, Chengdu IFS, Shenzhen Yitian Holiday Plaza, Hangzhou Kerry Center and Shanghai World Trade iapm.

It is understood that since the opening of the Beijing Kerry Center store with an area of 80 square meters at the end of December last year, the monthly flow of GREYBOX is about 30-500000, the gross profit margin is 70-80%, and the repurchase rate is 70-80%.

Relying on Roseonly's own luxury genes and operational experience, GREYBOX has a great channel advantage:

Baidu founder Pu Yi

Mr. Pu Yi, male, famous venture capitalist. Degree in accounting from the University of Melbourne; partner in capital risk in Dentong. Prior to joining Detong Capital, Mr. Pu was the chief resident representative and executive director of Citigroup Nikko Antfactory Fund (Ant Capital Partners) in China, and served as a director, supervisor and management committee member of a number of invested companies and joint venture funds. During this period, Mr. Pu invested in industry leaders, including Dianping and Infield Electronics. And jointly launched a joint venture RMB fund with Tianjin Teda Investment Holdings Co., Ltd., and participated in the agricultural fund led by Cofco Group.

Baidu took another look at Roseonly Group

Since the establishment of Roseonly's beloved florist on January 4, 2013, it has focused on the unique concept of "only one person in a lifetime", initially insisting on selling only top Ecuadorian giant roses and roseonly gray iconic boxes that are "closest to heaven".

In a short period of more than a year, we have constantly set new sales records on major festivals such as Valentine's Day, Qixi Festival and Christmas, and achieved monthly sales of more than 10 million and net profit of more than 1 million a few months ago. On Valentine's Day in 2014, production capacity expanded 300 times compared with last year, preparing 30,000 boxes of flowers, production personnel, customer service personnel and logistics personnel totaling about 600 people, while sales in more than 300 cities online on the official website reached a hundred times that of the same period in 2013. It set a record of more than 10 million online sales on February 14 Valentine's Day and more than one million daily sales in Sanlitun brick-and-mortar stores.

Four rounds of financing in a year and a half, with a valuation of more than 100 million US dollars, will make the future development direction of roseonly clearer. It is no longer a florist, but a high-end fashion e-commerce company.

According to a person familiar with the matter, GREYBOX COFFEE continues to expand after receiving the funds, hoping to expand 30 to 50 stores next year to ensure that they are also opening up some stylish street cafes outside high-end shopping malls and office buildings, hoping to increase the tone and artistry of the brand.

At the same time, they plan to build a GREYBOX coffee factory. On the one hand, they are preparing to acquire the world champion boutique coffee factory, on the other hand, they are looking for an excellent location. The coffee shop before and after the establishment of the factory, in addition to the coffee college, also hopes that in this way, customers who drink boutique coffee can see the coffee roasting and making process, and learn more about the culture of boutique coffee.

Editor's comments

Opening a coffee shop is not a simple formula for technology + equipment = making money. From financing to Internet coffee, or to some pop-up cafes, there have been frequent appearances in the past two years. Various forms and cross-border cafes give us more thinking. Blue bottle was acquired by Nestl é and financed by GREYBOX COFFEE, but I don't think this is a bad thing for the development of boutique coffee, because it shows that boutique coffee is gaining momentum and is being noticed by more and more capital.