One minute, tea or coffee?

Dr.drinks wants to put tea and coffee in a capsule to sell to consumers, and what it needs to do is to speed up.

Why do you only drink one cup of coffee at a time and make a pot at home?

American Peter Zhuogan and John Slivan invented KEURIG K-cup coffee to solve this problem, which is specially used to make single-cup coffee. This kind of coffee machine can make a good cup of coffee in about a minute. In June 2006, Green Mountain Coffee of the United States bought the company and began to sell capsule coffee machines, becoming a classic brand of capsule coffee machines.

Chen Xiuxing, founder of the startup Auchan Coffee, originally did not drink coffee, but in 2011, he saw a Green Mountain capsule coffee machine in a hotel in Singapore and began to study it out of curiosity.

Chen Xiuxing, who has a business school background, is not difficult to see the business logic of the capsule coffee machine-the hardware is cheap and relies on the coffee capsules consumed by later users to make a profit. "I suddenly wondered if I could make a product like this and make it more in line with the Chinese market." Chen Xiuxing told China Business Weekly. At the end of 2011, he began to study the market for capsule coffee machines. At that time, he found that in addition to Green Mountain Coffee, Nestl é had also expanded its product line into the capsule coffee maker market. From 2003 to 2011, Nespresso sales of Nestl é capsule coffee machines grew at an average annual rate of 25 per cent. Nestl é can sell about 5 billion coffee capsules a year.

This excites Chen Xiuxing because the market is in great demand and the two brands have not entered on a large scale in China. "at that time, there were basically no domestic brands making capsule coffee machines. The manufacturers on Alibaba [Weibo] produce and export capsule coffee machines, while Taobao is basically a purchasing agent for Nestle and Green Mountain machines. " Chen Xiuxing said.

In February 2012, Chen Xiuxin started her own company and called her coffee maker Dr.drinks.

Then he found some contract factories from Alibaba to buy back a batch of prototypes to explore from scratch. The existing capsule coffee mechanism is divided into two kinds, one is the drip filter coffee machine represented by Green Mountain Coffee, and the other is the coffee machine with high temperature and high pressure extraction, such as Nespresso. This difference is related to users' different tastes. Italians prefer espresso, and high pressure can extract the essence of coffee beans.

After dismantling all more than 20 capsule coffee machines, Chen Xiuxing found that they work on more or less the same principle, and this part only needs to be handed over to the contract factory for production. But if you want to realize the idea of "late-stage consumables profit", you must make your coffee capsule unique.

First of all, he realized that Chinese people are not so dependent on coffee, and people use all kinds of tea and root ingredients to brew health tea. High-temperature extraction can make the brewing time shorter, so Chen Xiuxing chose to use the same machine as Nestl é Nespresso.

At the same time, in order to achieve mixed drinks such as health tea, more than two kinds of raw materials are needed, so the capsule must be designed with two layers. The pressure of the high-pressure extraction coffee machine will reach 19 Pa-about 190 meters underwater, and the pressure of the ordinary pressure cooker is only about 2 Pa.

This puts forward high technical requirements for capsule design. Chen Xiuxing, who is not a major in science and engineering, has looked through the patents on capsules at home and abroad in recent years, not only to let himself know which technologies are now protected by patents, but more importantly, to have a better understanding of capsules.

"in fact, the circular design can withstand more pressure, and the water flow can be more evenly distributed in the process of making drinks. Double-layer design can also have more possibilities in taste. " Chen Xiuxing said. Finally, Chen Xiuxing designed the capsule into the shape of the planet-the upper half, the lower half and the middle filter. He called the coffee capsule "planet" and the coffee machine "star machine".

Chen Xiuxin and his team took the samples to the coffee machine for testing. Although the interior of the round "planet" can withstand a high pressure of 19 Pa, the filter mesh in the middle layer was torn due to too much pressure, and the seals of the upper and lower hemispheres were not tight enough. The burst of liquid and raw materials will block the machine.

Finally, a 4 cm thick hexagonal frame is added under the filter to solve the problem of strainer tearing. However, the cost of consumables increases with the increase. Chen Xiuxing, taking 0.5 cm as a unit, continues to develop moulds to make samples and then carry out experiments. Eventually, he found that the original 0.5 cm thick bracket could support the filter. With regard to the sealing problem, he has also tried several plastic sealing technologies and found that ultrasonic waves can achieve tens of thousands of frictions in a second, which can better seal the plastic. Chen Xiuxin, who used to work in a pharmaceutical factory, quickly found a pharmaceutical factory that supported the technology and ensured the safety of the capsules.

After two years of technical debugging, two important Dr.drinks products have basically taken shape. But Chen Xiuxing needs to think more carefully about this market, which has a variety of tea drinking habits. Although Dr.drinks currently sells Beverage Planet in only 12 flavors, Chen Xiuxing has tested nearly 1000 flavors. After getting his first prototype in December 2012, Chen Xiuxing began to buy all the ingredients that can be brewed and drunk from various sources for testing.

After high-pressure extraction, the taste of these materials seemed to have been soaked for more than 10 minutes, so at first he had to give up a lot of common ingredients. "Black tea, for example, is not particularly suitable because the taste after high pressure extraction will be very bitter and astringent." Chen Xiuxing said.

But he found that products with roots that need to be soaked for a long time can extract a good taste in a short time. So in addition to coffee, he focused on root ingredients that are more in line with oriental tastes, such as American ginseng and ginger tea.

After the first round of taste testing, Chen Xiuxing selected more than 50 flavors, taking into account the taste, functionality and substitutability. Then, in social networks and their own social circles, 60 people who are close to their target consumers are asked to conduct a second round of taste tests.

Through the ratings of the participants, Chen Xiuxing found that there were great differences in taste preferences between men and women. For example, women have a special preference for scented tea, while men prefer refreshing drinks. In the end, he decided to choose three tastes with the highest scores for male and female users, and three flavors that were recognized by everyone. Rose strawberry fruit tea and rose jasmine tea currently sold by Dr.drinks were the two most preferred flavors among female participants in the test.

In this way, it can maximize the radiation to the target users. These tastes are also regarded as an important way to localize Dr.drinks products. In the future, in addition to coffee, more herbal drinks will be added and special flavors will be introduced according to different seasons. This approach, similar to instant ready-to-drink products that continue to introduce new flavors to boost sales and profits, also works for Dr.drinks.

"in the early stage, in order to cultivate the market, most drinks were sold close to the cost price. The price of new products will be raised appropriately in the future. And do Internet products, with a very low entry threshold to accumulate users, when the user accumulation is large enough, users will be willing to pay higher fees for the product. Chen Xiuxing said. In order to reduce costs, Dr.drinks 's products are currently only available in e-commerce channels such as the official website and Yi Xun. Since it went on sale in January 2014, the Dr.drinks coffee maker will sell more than 1000 units a month. Chen Xiuxing saw from the background data that the model of "low hardware prices and profitable consumables" began to show its effectiveness. "now the repeat purchase rate of Planet is 40%, and the unit price of repeat buyers is about 300 yuan." He said.

But other capsule coffee brands are also entering the Chinese market. Nespresso, owned by Nestl é, has opened three boutiques in mainland China. "Entrepreneurship can either seize the opportunity to occupy the market, or raise the barriers to entry and do something that others cannot do. When every family has a Nestle or Greentown capsule coffee machine, it is impossible to start a business like this again. " Chen Xiuxing told China Business Weekly.

At present, Dr.drinks is not profitable, and financing is still under way. Chen Xiuxin plans to start with the company and give the machine to some companies at a low price or even as a gift, so as to cultivate a good impression among users before gradually entering the home market. Chen Xiuxin is still working on cold drink technology recently. He thinks that making a cold drink in a minute is also a very attractive thing for users. But in addition to technical problems, he also needs to be faster in the market for capsule coffee machines. Dr.drinks wants to put tea and coffee in a capsule to sell to consumers, and what it needs to do is to speed up.

Why do you only drink one cup of coffee at a time and make a pot at home?

American Peter Zhuogan and John Slivan invented KEURIG K-cup coffee to solve this problem, which is specially used to make single-cup coffee. This kind of coffee machine can make a good cup of coffee in about a minute. In June 2006, Green Mountain Coffee of the United States bought the company and began to sell capsule coffee machines, becoming a classic brand of capsule coffee machines.

Chen Xiuxing, founder of the startup Auchan Coffee, originally did not drink coffee, but in 2011, he saw a Green Mountain capsule coffee machine in a hotel in Singapore and began to study it out of curiosity.

Chen Xiuxing, who has a business school background, is not difficult to see the business logic of the capsule coffee machine-the hardware is cheap and relies on the coffee capsules consumed by later users to make a profit. "I suddenly wondered if I could make a product like this and make it more in line with the Chinese market." Chen Xiuxing told China Business Weekly. At the end of 2011, he began to study the market for capsule coffee machines. At that time, he found that in addition to Green Mountain Coffee, Nestl é had also expanded its product line into the capsule coffee maker market. From 2003 to 2011, Nespresso sales of Nestl é capsule coffee machines grew at an average annual rate of 25 per cent. Nestl é can sell about 5 billion coffee capsules a year.

This excites Chen Xiuxing because the market is in great demand and the two brands have not entered on a large scale in China. "at that time, there were basically no domestic brands making capsule coffee machines. The manufacturers on Alibaba [Weibo] produce and export capsule coffee machines, while Taobao is basically a purchasing agent for Nestle and Green Mountain machines. " Chen Xiuxing said.

In February 2012, Chen Xiuxin started her own company and called her coffee maker Dr.drinks.

Then he found some contract factories from Alibaba to buy back a batch of prototypes to explore from scratch. The existing capsule coffee mechanism is divided into two kinds, one is the drip filter coffee machine represented by Green Mountain Coffee, and the other is the coffee machine with high temperature and high pressure extraction, such as Nespresso. This difference is related to users' different tastes. Italians prefer espresso, and high pressure can extract the essence of coffee beans.

After dismantling all more than 20 capsule coffee machines, Chen Xiuxing found that they work on more or less the same principle, and this part only needs to be handed over to the contract factory for production. But if you want to realize the idea of "late-stage consumables profit", you must make your coffee capsule unique.

First of all, he realized that Chinese people are not so dependent on coffee, and people use all kinds of tea and root ingredients to brew health tea. High-temperature extraction can make the brewing time shorter, so Chen Xiuxing chose to use the same machine as Nestl é Nespresso.

At the same time, in order to achieve mixed drinks such as health tea, more than two kinds of raw materials are needed, so the capsule must be designed with two layers. The pressure of the high-pressure extraction coffee machine will reach 19 Pa-about 190 meters underwater, and the pressure of the ordinary pressure cooker is only about 2 Pa.

This puts forward high technical requirements for capsule design. Chen Xiuxing, who is not a major in science and engineering, has looked through the patents on capsules at home and abroad in recent years, not only to let himself know which technologies are now protected by patents, but more importantly, to have a better understanding of capsules.

"in fact, the circular design can withstand more pressure, and the water flow can be more evenly distributed in the process of making drinks. Double-layer design can also have more possibilities in taste. " Chen Xiuxing said. Finally, Chen Xiuxing designed the capsule into the shape of the planet-the upper half, the lower half and the middle filter. He called the coffee capsule "planet" and the coffee machine "star machine".

Chen Xiuxin and his team took the samples to the coffee machine for testing. Although the interior of the round "planet" can withstand a high pressure of 19 Pa, the filter mesh in the middle layer was torn due to too much pressure, and the seals of the upper and lower hemispheres were not tight enough. The burst of liquid and raw materials will block the machine.

Finally, a 4 cm thick hexagonal frame is added under the filter to solve the problem of strainer tearing. However, the cost of consumables increases with the increase. Chen Xiuxing, taking 0.5 cm as a unit, continues to develop moulds to make samples and then carry out experiments. Eventually, he found that the original 0.5 cm thick bracket could support the filter. With regard to the sealing problem, he has also tried several plastic sealing technologies and found that ultrasonic waves can achieve tens of thousands of frictions in a second, which can better seal the plastic. Chen Xiuxin, who used to work in a pharmaceutical factory, quickly found a pharmaceutical factory that supported the technology and ensured the safety of the capsules.

After two years of technical debugging, two important Dr.drinks products have basically taken shape. But Chen Xiuxing needs to think more carefully about this market, which has a variety of tea drinking habits. Although Dr.drinks currently sells Beverage Planet in only 12 flavors, Chen Xiuxing has tested nearly 1000 flavors. After getting his first prototype in December 2012, Chen Xiuxing began to buy all the ingredients that can be brewed and drunk from various sources for testing.

After high-pressure extraction, the taste of these materials seemed to have been soaked for more than 10 minutes, so at first he had to give up a lot of common ingredients. "Black tea, for example, is not particularly suitable because the taste after high pressure extraction will be very bitter and astringent." Chen Xiuxing said.

But he found that products with roots that need to be soaked for a long time can extract a good taste in a short time. So in addition to coffee, he focused on root ingredients that are more in line with oriental tastes, such as American ginseng and ginger tea.

After the first round of taste testing, Chen Xiuxing selected more than 50 flavors, taking into account the taste, functionality and substitutability. Then, in social networks and their own social circles, 60 people who are close to their target consumers are asked to conduct a second round of taste tests.

Through the ratings of the participants, Chen Xiuxing found that there were great differences in taste preferences between men and women. For example, women have a special preference for scented tea, while men prefer refreshing drinks. In the end, he decided to choose three tastes with the highest scores for male and female users, and three flavors that were recognized by everyone. Rose strawberry fruit tea and rose jasmine tea currently sold by Dr.drinks were the two most preferred flavors among female participants in the test.

In this way, it can maximize the radiation to the target users. These tastes are also regarded as an important way to localize Dr.drinks products. In the future, in addition to coffee, more herbal drinks will be added and special flavors will be introduced according to different seasons. This approach, similar to instant ready-to-drink products that continue to introduce new flavors to boost sales and profits, also works for Dr.drinks.

"in the early stage, in order to cultivate the market, most drinks were sold close to the cost price. The price of new products will be raised appropriately in the future. And do Internet products, with a very low entry threshold to accumulate users, when the user accumulation is large enough, users will be willing to pay higher fees for the product. Chen Xiuxing said. In order to reduce costs, Dr.drinks 's products are currently only available in e-commerce channels such as the official website and Yi Xun. Since it went on sale in January 2014, the Dr.drinks coffee maker will sell more than 1000 units a month. Chen Xiuxing saw from the background data that the model of "low hardware prices and profitable consumables" began to show its effectiveness. "now the repeat purchase rate of Planet is 40%, and the unit price of repeat buyers is about 300 yuan." He said.

But other capsule coffee brands are also entering the Chinese market. Nespresso, owned by Nestl é, has opened three boutiques in mainland China. "Entrepreneurship can either seize the opportunity to occupy the market, or raise the barriers to entry and do something that others cannot do. When every family has a Nestle or Greentown capsule coffee machine, it is impossible to start a business like this again. " Chen Xiuxing told China Business Weekly.

At present, Dr.drinks is not profitable, and financing is still under way. Chen Xiuxin plans to start with the company and give the machine to some companies at a low price or even as a gift, so as to cultivate a good impression among users before gradually entering the home market. Chen Xiuxin is still working on cold drink technology recently. He thinks that making a cold drink in a minute is also a very attractive thing for users. But in addition to technical problems, he also needs to be faster in the market for capsule coffee machines.

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