China's Luckin Coffee Tries To Conquer A Nation Of Tea Drinkers
In less than two years, the Chinese brand has opened 2,300 stores — second in China only to Starbucks. The company went public on Nasdaq on Friday. And it's losing millions.
In a country identified with one warm beverage – tea – coffee is now hot. Indeed, as China catapults from its traditional past into a global future, java is jumping – and one national company is leading the way: Luckin Coffee.
Established in October 2017, Luckin Coffee has quickly become the second largest coffee chain in China after Starbucks. As of March, it has opened 2,370 stores — mostly in office buildings —across 28 cities and sold 90 million cups of coffee to more than. It went public on Nasdaq on Friday.
