Guangzhou coffee is moving from the minority to the public.

Guangzhou Cafe

A brief history of development

● in 1989, Luyinge Cafe, the first local brand coffee shop chain in Guangzhou, opened in Yuexiu District Education Road.

From the 1990s to the beginning of the 21st century, Taiwanese brand cafes such as Shangdao, Honolulu and Diou flourished from ● to early 21st century.

● in 2003, Starbucks, a large American coffee chain, opened its first store in Guangzhou's good World Plaza, demonstrating the landing of foreign coffee chain brands in Guangzhou.

● from 2008 to 2012, British brand Costa, Hong Kong brand Pacific Coffee, Australian brand Cafe, etc., as well as various independent cafes erupted

● from 2013 to now, Korean cafes such as Man Coffee, Zoo Coffee and Coffee accompany you have joined the market competition, which has not only enlarged the coffee consumption market in Guangzhou, but also intensified the competition in the coffee catering industry.

Pragmatic Lao Guang'ai Shangyang Coffee

For the local food market in Guangzhou, "drinking coffee" has been a "non-mainstream" for a long time. Even the Taiping Restaurant, which provided coffee in the early days, is also a food-based western restaurant, and coffee is only a supporting role.

However, in the past year, there has been a sudden upsurge of cafes in Guangzhou, among which Korean-branded cafes are particularly outstanding. Large chain brands such as Mann Coffee, Zoo Coffee and Caffe Bene set up in Tianhe, Yuexiu or white-collar offices have become the destination of many "hipsters". Some time ago, the Korean TV series "you from the Star" swept Yangcheng and contributed to the popularity of Korean cafes.

"the success of Korean cafes in Guangzhou is inseparable from the invasion of Korean dramas. Just like the stars of Korean dramas, Korean cafes create dreams for real consumers through symbols connected with the fashion elements and quality of life in the play." Zheng Kun, director, screenwriter and cross-media creator of the post-80s generation in Guangzhou, told reporters, "for example, Korean coffee attaches great importance to brand renewal, doing some themes, image endorsements, mascots and so on, but less emphasis on coffee itself."

Miss Wu, a white-collar worker, also believes that the coffee shop blowout is an "interesting phenomenon." For a long time, pragmatic people in Guangzhou are not interested in the fancy forms embodied in catering, but the recent rise of all kinds of cafes has broken the past. It may be that the consumer group has changed and the urban culture has become more diversified. Going to a cafe seems to turn the simple food of drinking coffee into an experience, and this experience is contagious. Office colleagues will say when they go and come back, or if everyone goes to post Wechat, friends will follow. Only in this way can we keep up with the pace of the new topic. "

Korean Cafe takes root in Guangzhou

Perhaps because of the similar Asian culture, there are not too many Korean brands who are not accustomed to entering Guangzhou.

With the lacklustre of spring, the reporter walked into the coffee near Lin he Zhong Road. Du Xiumin, director of operations of Guangzhou Manwu Food and Beverage Management Co., Ltd., told reporters that the brand entered the Guangzhou market in 2013 because "there are no comfortable cafes in the city, and there are not many places to drink and read books. We introduced diffuse coffee. The founder's idea is to want guests to have a comfortable space to sit here and drink coffee, juice and enjoy a slow life. Therefore, diffuse coffee has the dual meaning of romance and slowing down.

The first coffee shop attracted attention before it opened. "our store has many different styles of stools alone, adapting to the 'sitting needs' of different guests; the lamp is a luxurious crystal chandelier and the table is a simple wooden table, which are mixed together to cause visual impact and give customers a new feeling. Before the shop opened, a guest came in to inquire. It is even more popular after opening the store. " Du Xiumin believes that the purpose of diffuse coffee is not to promote coffee, but to bring a new way of life to Guangzhou people. "Korean afternoon tea likes to eat muffins very much. Besides coffee, muffins and bread are our main products. There are so many cafes that only making coffee doesn't highlight your own characteristics. "

"when it's a holiday, just take the kids out to play." On the weekend afternoon, the Sirena couple and their 3-year-old daughter took photos with various animal dolls while drinking coffee in the zoo cafe. "as a post-80s generation, we have some understanding and recognition of coffee culture, but after having children, we can't go around alone so freely. 'hea', meets the needs of us and our children all at once."

The reporter noticed that nuclear families like Sirena are the main customers of Korean cafes on weekends. "our customers are mainly young people because the cafe is unrestrained and does not interfere with each other. There are mainly business people from Monday to Friday, and there are more parent-child family gatherings on weekends. Of course, there are also many groups of college students. " Du Xiumin said.

The developmental process of the atmosphere of drinking coffee

However, the reason why coffee culture has gradually become a new phenomenon of food culture is not just Korean cafes alone. On August 29th, the first Starbucks coffee in Guangzhou opened its store in Jianliu good World Plaza and expanded rapidly. after that, Western-style coffee chains began to pour into Guangzhou market, including Hong Kong Pacific Coffee, British Costa Coffee, Australian coffee customers and so on. These strong brands have emerged collectively, together with the original "older generation" coffee shops, such as the Green Pavilion Cafe, to expand the coffee leisure consumption market, but also form a fierce competition.

"in 1989, the first Green Pavilion opened near Education Road. At that time, there was no coffee shop, so it was very popular. It was a small business owner during the day and tourists from the nearby business district at night." Wang Xin, vice president of Guangzhou Luyin Pavilion Catering chain Co., Ltd., recalled the scene when the first store of Luyin Pavilion was newly opened.

Although Luyin Pavilion is more in line with the image of "western restaurant" in the eyes of consumers, Wang Xin stressed that its more than 20 stores in Guangzhou are called "coffee shops". "the ordinary western restaurant is not like us to have a special coffee bar. In fact, the quality of our coffee has always been very good and we have won many awards." He said.

Wang Xin said that before Western-style coffee chains entered the market on a large scale, the Guangzhou market competed with Green Pavilion and Taiwan-branded coffee shops. "in the 1990s, Taiwanese came to open a number of coffee shops, such as Shangdao Coffee, Tan Island Coffee, and so on, but almost all of them withdrew from the Guangzhou market. This has something to do with opening up to join without a plan. By 2005, such desktop cafes were in decline. But they participated in the cultivation of coffee consumer groups, laying the groundwork for today's Guangzhou coffee culture. "

"nowadays, the humanistic composition of Guangzhou is different from that of the past. Many post-80s and post-90s people choose to study abroad, and their recognition of the way of life abroad, especially coffee culture, has also affected the living habits of returnees after returning home. Coffee culture can begin to rise in the teahouse culture handed down from generation to generation. Moreover, with the increasing openness of Guangzhou, there has been a substantial increase in the number of business travelers from all over the city, prompting cafes to form an indispensable food atmosphere in the city. " Mr. Chen, a British student, said.