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Starbucks benefits from the rapid growth of China's coffee market

Published: 2026-04-06 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/04/06, SBUX-US, the world's largest coffee chain, reported on Friday that revenue in the Asia-Pacific region jumped nearly 30 per cent, the highest since the same period last year. "CNNMoney" reported that Starbucks reported bright financial results, of which the biggest cash cow was China. RJHottovy, consumer stock analyst at Morningstar Fund, pointed out that Starbucks sold

SBUX-US, the world's largest coffee chain, reported on Friday that revenue in the Asia-Pacific region jumped nearly 30%, the highest level since the same period last year. "CNNMoney" reported that Starbucks reported bright financial results, of which the biggest cash cow was China.

RJ Hottovy, consumer equity analyst at Morningstar Fund, points out that Starbucks' strong sales show that even in countries where tea is a staple drink, there is still room for coffee's competitiveness to grow.

In addition, the speed of Starbucks' exhibition stores in China is also quite amazing. In the past (2012) years alone, 500 new stores have opened in China, and Starbucks has vowed that the number of exhibition stores will exceed 1,000 by the end of this year (2013), and the strongholds of the new stores will expand to smaller cities, no longer limited to big cities. By 2014, Starbucks is expected to overtake Canada to become the world's second-largest coffee market after the United States.

CNNMoney points out that retail coffee sales across China have surged by 10 per cent in the past five years, beating Hong Kong and Japan and far exceeding the global average retail coffee sales. Starbucks said that its marketing strategy in China is actually very similar to that in Europe and the United States: deepening the high quality of its core products (food and beverages) while adjusting to the tastes of the local people.

Starbucks' history of entering the Greater China region is not long. In 1998, the first Starbucks store in Taipei first opened, and only opened its second store in Beijing after 1999 years. Although not for a long time, the coffee market in Asia has been developing at an astonishing speed in recent years. Analysts pointed out that in the next few years, more European and American coffee brands will enter the Chinese market, ready to share this attractive business opportunity pie, and the competition is expected to be more fierce at that time.

At present, there is still considerable room for growth in China's coffee market. Research firm Euromonitor reports that in 2012, the average Chinese drank 2 cups of coffee a year, a far cry from 134 cups of coffee per person in the world. At present, tea is still the bulk of China's hot drink market, with a market share of 54%, while the market share of coffee has not yet reached 1%.

However, the future development and growth of Starbucks in China remains to be seen. Analysts at Euromonitor say it is still too early to predict whether coffee will replace tea in China. After all, it will not happen overnight to change a country's beverage habits.

"News Source / Kuiheng Network"

(responsible Editor:)

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