freaking awesome! Haagen-Dazs opened the world's first coffee shop next to Starbucks.

Haagen-Dazs also wants to turn its stores into social spaces, and selling coffee is their first step.

On May 8, Haagen-Dazs opened the world's first coffee shop in Shanghai, China, further fulfilling its coffee strategy. Haagen-Dazs coffee shop is an upgrade from the original ice cream store, located at the entrance of Nanjing West Road Pedestrian Street in Shanghai City, next to a Starbucks. In the store, Haagen-Dazs changed the original palace-style style, added more coffee elements, and changed the color from red to coffee.

According to people close to Haagen-Dazs, ice cream products in coffee shops will account for only 20 to 30 percent of all goods in stores. Since mid-2014, Haagen-Dazs has begun its own coffee strategy layout. In the coffee brand, Haagen-Dazs chose to cooperate with the Italian national treasure coffee brand illy. In the first phase, Haagen-Dazs offered free coffee to its members, Starbucks and COSTA members, which not only made Haagen-Dazs loyal members aware of the company's new products, but also attracted more coffee lovers.

At the end of 2014, Rainbow Latte was launched as Haagen-Dazs's first coffee product, a blend that combines Haagen-Dazs's most popular strawberry-flavored ice cream with coffee brand illy. In addition, Haagen-Dazs also launched matcha latte, vanilla latte, macadamia nut latte, chocolate latte and extra-strong latte. This colorful coffee is served in a glass with a unique design, trying to create a different coffee experience for consumers. These coffees, with their ice cream properties, are seen by Haagen-Dazs as key to attracting young consumers aged 20 to 30 in the Chinese market. Haagen-Dazs believes that brewed coffee is better for opening up this market than latte and American coffee.

Sales at coffee chains in China more than doubled in 2013 from less than RMB10bn in 2008 and are expected to double again by 2017, according to Euromonitor, a market research firm. It is a fast-growing market and of course full of competition. Haagen-Dazs not only has to face a large number of coffee shops emerging in the Chinese market, such as Starbucks, which has more than 1500 stores in China, COSTA, a British coffee brand with more than 300 stores, but also catering companies like KFC and McDonald's and niche coffee brands in various places. Haagen-Dazs did not disclose specific plans for future stores, saying only that he was not making a small fuss. But Haagen-Dazs 'ambitions aren't just about coffee.

Haagen-Dazs brand executives told interface journalists that the company hopes to change the image of Haagen-Dazs 'single dessert shop and ice cream shop through coffee strategy into a social space where everyone is willing to spend time. Specifically, Haagen-Dazs 'target consumer is a 28-year-old white-collar young woman named Natalie, well-educated, middle-to-high income, with clear life goals, quality of life, and time with family and friends. In addition to coffee and ice cream, Haagen-Dazs is also planning to broaden its categories to attract these consumers. China is a frontier market for Haagen-Dazs, which grew 14% last year, opening 80 stores and nearly 200 stores in China, according to its parent company General Mills '2014 earnings report.

(Interface reporter Yuan Yuan Photo source CFP)