The number of cafes in China has doubled in the past five years.

Compared with the doubling of the number of cafes in China in five years, China's "teahouses" have been lukewarm, and the continuous "luxury" of tea has been criticized. As a result, consumers cannot afford to drink tea, and tea farmers and tea merchants worry about how to sell tea. It is urgent to explore the healthy development of the tea industry.

With the large-scale expansion of coffee retail giants in China and the birth of a new generation of coffee lovers, China's coffee market has ushered in an unprecedented spring.

Starbucks entered the Chinese market in 1999 and expanded rapidly at the rate of opening a new branch every day after opening its first store in Beijing. Statistics show that since it went public in 1992, its sales have grown by an average of more than 20% a year, and its profits have grown by an average of 30%. Mr. John Culver, president of Starbucks China and Asia Pacific, even said that Starbucks will open 1500 stores in China in 2015 and hopes to enter more cities, especially second-and third-tier cities in the future.

The development of Starbucks reflects the whole coffee chain industry in China. The development of Chinese brands, including Shangdao Coffee and Dior Coffee, has been going well. According to the latest market research report from British research firm Mintel, the number of cafes in China has doubled in the past five years-from 15898 in 2007 to 31783 in 2012. The number of teahouses has grown from 48842 in 2007 to 50984 in 2012, with an increase of only 4 per cent over the same period. And so far, no teahouse brand has become a competitor comparable to Starbucks. "it is very strange that China is the host country of tea." Said Matthew Crabbe, director of Asia Pacific Research at Mintel.

Coffee or tea?

Survey data on Chinese urban consumers show that more than 10 per cent (12 per cent) of Chinese urban consumers said they had been to a cafe at least once in the past year, and 1/4 (25 per cent) had been there more than twice. at the same time, a similar number (24%) have been there three or more times. 1/5 (20 per cent) of Chinese urban consumers said they had been to cafes at least five times in the past year, while only 5 per cent said they had not consumed any products in any cafe. In contrast, only 20% of urban consumers said they had been to a teahouse.

China's tea drinking culture has a long history. Although the survey data show that only 20% of urban consumers have been to teahouses, 70% of urban consumers say they have the habit of drinking tea.

"traditional teahouses lack a strong brand chain, while coffee shop chains are booming, and a few existing teahouse chains position the market as a very narrow group of high-end elderly consumers, which means teahouses are struggling to meet the challenges posed by cafes," Matthew said. At the same time, in addition to selling coffee, coffee shop chains have also begun to sell Chinese tea, which is undoubtedly even worse for traditional teahouses. This approach makes it easy for cafes to win over younger, low-income consumers who are supposed to be mid-range teahouse chains. The fact that the tea drinks sold by coffee chains have won the favor of a large number of young consumers also shows that well-known franchise teahouses actually have development potential if teahouses can try to attract a wider range of consumers. "

Coffee has become the most popular drink in cafes as international coffee retailers enter the Chinese market, with 69% of consumers saying they would definitely drink coffee if they went to cafes, the survey found. This was followed by fruit juices (39%), iced coffee (35%), tea drinks (23%) and chocolate drinks (19%).

There is no doubt that opening a coffee shop for tea is a great irony and reminder to the teahouse. Remind us: why can't we go to the teahouse for coffee?

"there are very few teahouses with their own innovations," said one tea expert. "Chinese people are used to drinking tea at home, but if there is a good place to have a cup of tea, it is impossible to refuse."

The South Korean teahouse "Windblown Island" is such a characteristic teahouse. It is located in the traditional teahouse on the second floor of the Jiangnan noodle house on the main street of Insi Dong. The sign of brush writing looks inconspicuous in the busy street. But as soon as you walk in, you will be deeply attracted by the simple Korean traditional flavor. Floors, bookshelves, stairs, tables and chairs, lamps and even potted flowerpots are all traditional dark wood colors. Korean masks hanging on the walls, occasional flowers or green plants make the layout of the store lively. If you sit by the window, you can rest and gossip while watching the crowd coming and going outside the window. If the weather is muggy and you don't want to taste tea, you can also come to the store and order some cool summer shaved ice, sweet and delicious milk red bean shaved ice or cool fresh fruit shaved ice, all of which are good choices. The price in the store is not high, a shaved ice is only 6000 won, tea drinks are mostly 8000 or 10000 won.

Research shows that for Chinese consumers, the quality of food is the primary factor, with 28% of consumers saying it is an important factor, followed by the quality of beverages, which accounts for 22%. But it is not just food and beverages that attract consumers into the coffee culture-15 per cent of consumers say they are affected by the environment and atmosphere, and 8 per cent are affected by hygiene standards. All these factors take precedence over price-only 7% of consumers think price is important. Brand names also account for 7%.

China Coffee Trading Network: www.gafei.com