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From McDonald's to Burger King, competing for a ride "boutique coffee concept"

Published: 2026-05-14 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/05/14, In the overall development environment is more challenging, the competition between foreign fast food is more direct and intense, this time the focus of each competition is coffee. Burger King has launched its coffee brand King Coffee in China, following in the footsteps of rivals McDonald's and KFC. Although it lost its lead in time, Burger King did not lack confidence. From December 14 to 15,

In the more challenging situation of the overall development environment, the competition between foreign fast food is more direct and fierce, this time the focus of the contest is coffee.

Following in the footsteps of competitors McDonald's and KFC, Burger King has launched its coffee brand King coffee in China. Although lost in terms of time, Burger King is not short of strength. From December 14 to 15, Burger King held an "empty cup for free coffee" event in various stores in Shanghai, challenging its competitors directly.

Burger King's strength comes from the fact that the coffee they launched this time draws lessons from the concept of boutique coffee.

The so-called "boutique coffee" was first put forward by Erna Knustsen, founder of the American boutique coffee association SCAA (Specialty Coffee Assocaition of America) in 1974. Different from commercial coffee beans used for bulk transactions, boutique coffee refers to coffee beans with regional flavor of origin cultivated in the most favorable climate and soil and water. These coffee beans generally grow in the plateau, have richer flavor, can only be picked by hand, so they are more exquisite.

In recent years, boutique cafes selling boutique coffee have also been opened in first-tier cities. If instant coffee is the first wave of coffee, coffee chains such as Starbucks are the second wave, and the concept of boutique coffee is the third wave of the coffee industry.

At present, China's coffee market is far from saturated, according to consulting firm Mintel. In the third wave of coffee, coffee is seen more as a craft or craft product, like wine, rather than just a commodity. In order to make a perfect cup of coffee, the planting, picking, baking and making of coffee beans are all very important processes. Although boutique cafes have not yet sprung up on a large scale in China, according to Jian Boyi, founder of Boxing boutique cafe, with the improvement of people's living standards and the popularity of coffee culture in China, there will be a growing demand for high-quality coffee. This year they followed Eslite Bookstore to open three new stores on the mainland. Even Starbucks is moving to the higher end of the coffee business, with Howard Schultz, the founder who announced his resignation as CEO, saying he will focus more on the high-end coffee business.

The expansion of the coffee market not only comes from independent coffee shops, but also fast food chains are constantly involved in the coffee market in recent years. McDonald's coffee business for several years, "McCoffee" has become a brand, many Starbucks customers do not reject a cup of McCoffee. When KFC launched freshly ground coffee last year, it used the ultra-low price of "10 yuan per cup" as a killer mace. Burger King's choice of high-quality coffee is not only a popular trend of the coffee industry itself, but also helps it stand out in the competition with its peers.

It is understood that at present, most commercial coffee uses deep roasting technology, and caffeine is overburnt and tastes slightly bitter. In addition to selecting high-grade coffee beans from specific producing areas, boutique coffee mostly uses moderate roasting technology, which is more conducive to retaining the aroma of various flowers and fruits of the coffee itself. Burger King King Coffee, which draws lessons from the concept of boutique coffee, uses medium roasting and different coffee beans to retain the unique flavor of imported Yega snow coffee beans and sells them in more than 600 restaurants across the country for less than 20 yuan.

For a long time, Burger King has been trying to distinguish itself from other fast food with "more refined fast food". Compared with other foreign fast food, it more completely follows the American hamburger tradition of "super large portions and rich ingredients". Since its inception, Burger King has used 370 high-temperature grilling equipment to lock up the meat flavor and juice, remove excess fat and oil, and put it into a soft bread about 13 centimeters in diameter, together with more than 8 ingredients to create a hamburger. Choosing the concept of boutique coffee is also Burger King's business philosophy that "fast food is not just a fast food, but a good product with exquisite ingredients and good taste". "King coffee is confident that it can be the best coffee in fast food, and it is also confident that it will become the best coffee in the whole coffee industry." Burger King has spread the word.

FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou China, selling freshly roasted beans from its own farm in Yunnan as well as dozens of carefully selected single-origin beans from around the world for both pour-over and espresso. The products deliver consistently excellent quality and great value, with shipping within 24 hours. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers, and the beans are now available online at the Tmall 。