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Peet's Coffee makes overseas debut in China

By Xu Junqian in Shanghai | China Daily USA | Updated: 2017-11-17 12:23

US coffee roaster and retailer Peet's Coffee opened its first overseas store on Oct 26 in Shanghai.

But unlike most of its locations back in the United States which are humble in size and decor, the new Shanghai outlet occupies 370 square meters and has 100 seats.

Tucked in a corner of the city's former French concession where some of the city's best restaurants can be found, the store also has a 360-degree coffee bar and a massive floor-to-ceiling plant wall.

The cafe has an extensive menu that includes its signature offerings like the Cortado and the traditional Italian style Cappuccino, as well as a selection of cold brews and beverages made from a special coffee bean that is exclusive to Shanghai.

Business has been brisk since the opening. During its opening weekend, some customers mentioned on Dianping.com, China's equivalent of Yelp, that they had to wait for an average of 30 minutes to get into the store. Others complained that the cakes were sold out by 3 pm.

Founded in 1966 by Alfred Peet, a Dutch coffee and tea importer who was working and living in San Francisco, Peet's Coffee is best known for introducing darker roasted coffee blends to the US. It is also considered a pioneer in the second wave of the coffee movement which saw a shift from instant or bottled coffee to freshly ground coffee.

The coffee roaster's entry into the market comes at a time when consumption in the traditionally tea-drinking country is growing rapidly. According to the US Department of Agriculture, coffee consumption in China has burgeoned nearly three-fold in the past four years. China Market Research Group also forecast that consumption in the country will grow at an annual rate of about 20 percent.

Peet's Coffee makes overseas debut in China

Jerry Baldwin, the co-founder of Starbucks, apprenticed at Peet's late in the 1970s before he started the world's largest coffee chain.

Many new cafes have sprouted in Shanghai over the past few years, but none are as ubiquitous as Starbucks. The brand currently has more than 500 stores in Shanghai, twice the number of its outlets in New York.

Starbucks, which opened its first outlet in China in January 1999, presently has about 2,800 stores in 130 Chinese cities. The company mentioned in a statement last year that it is aiming to operate 3,400 stores in the country by 2019.

During an interview with China Daily USA earlier this year, Howard Schultz, Starbucks' former CEO who bought the company from its original owner in 1987, said that the company will be opening a Starbucks Roastery and Reserve Tasting Room in Shanghai this December.

This new concept cafe will occupy 2,700 sq m on the ground floor of a sleek shopping mall in one of the city's most prime locations. The intent of this space, said Schultz, is to offer consumers an immersive, multi-sensory coffee experience.

xujunqian@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 11/17/2017 page9)

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