It is difficult to survive in a coffee shop that only sells coffee

It is a very common phenomenon that many customers choose Chinese food in a coffee shop on Furong Road in Changsha. Photo taken by reporter Tong Di

Of the 10 people who came here, 7 came to eat. Where is this? A restaurant? Wrong! This is the coffee shop in Changsha.

"if you open a coffee shop in Changsha and you don't sell Chinese food, especially without Changsha home-cooked food, you can't survive at all." Wu Bin, chairman of Changsha Shandi Catering Management Co., Ltd., expressed the embarrassing situation of "eating in western food" in Changsha coffee shop.

In recent years, coffee shops have sprung up rapidly in Changsha. Embankment, Theo, Shangdao, Magpie. According to conservative estimates, there are more than 200 such cafes in Changsha at present. However, although these are called "coffee shops", they are actually in the "home restaurant business".

Only 20% of the people in the coffee shop drink coffee.

Once upon a time, the petty bourgeoisie described life like this: I was either in a coffee shop or on my way to a coffee shop.

Now, the owners of Changsha coffee shop all use this phrase to "tease": you either eat in the coffee shop or drink tea in the coffee shop.

The reporter visited Changsha Mountain Embankment, Milo, Magpie and other major coffee shops and found that people who come to spend money either eat or drink tea and chat, and those who really go to drink coffee are very rare. On the menu of the Shandi Coffee News Store, the reporter saw that in addition to coffee, beverages and western food, there are business packages, boiled rice and other restaurants, as well as Hunan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Southeast Asian cuisine, and so on.

"in fact, in the coffee shop, Chinese food has become the main sales." Wu Bin told reporters that in a Shantai coffee store, the monthly sales of coffee is less than 30,000 yuan, accounting for only 20% of the total sales, while the sales of Chinese food is at least double that of coffee.

Lu Shufeng, head of Magpie Coffee, admitted that monthly sales of Chinese food in Magpie Cafe accounted for 50% of total sales, while coffee accounted for only 10%.

"not many people drink coffee, basically they come to eat, and the sales of Chinese food account for 50% of the total sales." Diou Coffee Changsha Furong store manager Wang Huating introduced.

It is difficult for a coffee shop to survive if it only sells coffee.

"almost all the cafes in the country sell Chinese food." Ma Jing, general manager of Diou Catering Management Co., Ltd., said.

It is a coffee shop, why should Chinese food be allowed to enter the room? "how to build a bridge between coffee culture and Chinese culture? That's our Chinese food. " Ma Jing said that the coffee shop in Changsha cannot apply the European model because it does not have a wide range of coffee drinking groups and cultural acceptance.

Ma Jing said that coffee shops that simply sell coffee have not yet been found in China. Wu Bin also holds the same view: there is no simple coffee shop in Changsha, so it is difficult to survive and develop simply by selling coffee.

Wang Huating believes that it is not surprising that Chinese food has become the main consumption target of the coffee shop, and any foreign food should launch a series of local products according to the consumption habits of local citizens. "even KFC is selling rice and soybean milk. Why can't coffee shops sell Chinese food?"

Drinking coffee and chatting may become a way of life

Starbucks will also open its third store in Changsha. In the face of the surging giants in the industry, how will the local coffee shop deal with it?

The emergence of Starbucks is an opportunity for the coffee market in Changsha. " Wu Bin believes that the coffee market in Changsha, which is strongly influenced by tea culture, has not been established, and Starbucks'"strong attack" may lead the coffee boom in Changsha.

Ma Jing is optimistic about the future Changsha coffee market. "Changsha people are very entertaining and have a very strong ability to accept foreign things." Therefore, having a cup of coffee in a coffee shop and chatting with friends may be the future way of life of Changsha people. "

Ma Jing's view of the coffee market is not unreasonable. International authoritative statistics show that: in terms of coffee consumption, since 1998, the per capita annual consumption of China's coffee consumption market has increased by 30%, far exceeding the annual growth rate of 6% of the world coffee consumption.

China Coffee Trading Network: www.gafei.com