It is still difficult for small shops in China's coffee market to survive.

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The rise of the Chinese mainland middle class and the change in consumption patterns can be seen in Shanghai's fast-growing coffee market. In recent years, Starbucks and other chains are optimistic about the Shanghai coffee and dessert market, but under the current market structure, it is still dominated by large chains.

As an international commercial city, the eating habits of Shanghainese are constantly changing. Economic development has produced more middle classes, who pay attention to the real taste of life and lead to a wave of experiential consumption with more "small luck" feelings. Coffee is one of them.

Starbucks, the leader of the global coffee chain, declared its confidence in the Chinese coffee market at the end of last year. In December 2017, Starbucks opened its 30,000 square foot flagship store, Starbucks boutique Bakery, in Shanghai, which is Starbucks' first roaster outside the United States and the largest Starbucks store in the world.

Johnson, chief executive of Starbucks, said at the opening ceremony: "for Starbucks, there is no other market in the world that has the ability to grow new stores in China."

As the Chinese mainland coffee market is developing, Taiwan businessmen will certainly not miss the opportunity. However, compared with the past, the "Taiwan" signboard is no longer a niche for entering the mainland's catering industry. Now, when Taiwan businessmen develop brands on the mainland, apart from putting more emphasis on meticulous and innovative products, the exhibition store plan is also much more cautious than in the past.

There are four stores in Taiwan. Kafana, which sells French desserts such as Schufflee, recently partnered with Tianren Group, the mainland trademark Tianfu Group, to show its stores in Shanghai. Choosing Shanghai as the first branch of Chinese mainland, Kafana focuses on authentic French Schuffley. the store is decorated in the library style, claiming to have a collection of 6000 books, which customers can borrow at will.

Li Jiande, associate manager of Tianfu Holdings Co., Ltd., said that the Chinese mainland catering market has continued to improve, and people are paying more and more attention to quality and taste rather than price, especially Shanghai as an indicator. With people's preferences ranging from West Point to the present Dharma Point, from Italian coffee in the past to manor coffee at present, the industry must understand the market and follow consumers.

The Chinese mainland coffee market is big and growing fast, with 10 to 15 per cent room for growth each year, he said. Based on the current market size of RMB 70 billion (about NT $300 billion), it is estimated that it can reach 300 billion yuan within five years. Although the market structure and demand are changing rapidly, there is still much to be done for Taiwan businessmen to pursue refinement and quality, and to be closer to the needs of the people of Shanghai.

The scale of the market is large, and there are many people who want to get a piece of the pie. The China News Service has reported that there are about 6500 coffee shops in Shanghai, among which small chains, independent coffee shops and bakeries are also trying to carve up the cake, while the number of small brands and independent coffee shops is also growing at an explosive rate.

A Taiwanese businessman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the Shanghai coffee and dessert market is shuffling cards at a fairly rapid rate. "the market seems to be saturated, but shops are still open one by one."

Korean coffee shops, which became a trend in Shanghai a few years ago, are now left with larger chains such as diffuse Coffee. The Taiwanese businessman said that in addition to coffee and desserts themselves, consumers here also care about the decoration of the store, pay attention to whether or not to create the atmosphere they want, and also demand innovation. "these all need capital, even if the market is large, but in the short term, it is still very difficult for small stores to have room for survival."

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