关注 - 一条高效通畅的开放之路让全球咖啡品牌得以深耕中国市场Attention - An efficient and smooth path of openness enables global coffee brands to deeply cultivate the Chinese market

上海从咖啡消费高地变身产业集聚码头

依托钱凯港新航道，秘鲁输华货运时长与成本大幅缩减，钱凯港成为当地咖啡品牌进军中国的关键通路。抢抓这一机遇，卡洛斯·拉福成为首批入局者。确定参加今年10月的陆家嘴国际咖啡文化节后，他迅速行动，筹备参展商品，同时在沪注册成立了外资企业碧麓咖啡（上海）有限公司。

自去年一家澳大利亚咖啡品牌在中国设立门店后，碧麓咖啡的到来，是陆家嘴国际咖啡文化节举办10年来导入的第二个外商投资项目。陆家嘴国际咖啡文化节总策划陈败告诉记者，这10年，上海咖啡市场的全球认可度大幅提升，先后有1700家国内外咖啡机构参加陆家嘴国际咖啡文化节。“众多海外品牌从参展起步，逐步在上海投资落地、扎根经营，推动上海从咖啡消费高地变身全球咖啡产业集聚码头。”今秋即将举办的第十一届陆家嘴国际咖啡文化节，海外参展咖啡馆扩容至60家以上。

目前来看，海外品牌在中国落地注册数虽然还不算很大，但意义深远——海外精品咖啡入华的产业壁垒已被打破，一条高效通畅的开放之路让全球咖啡品牌得以深耕中国市场。

从1886年首家咖啡馆落地，到上世纪30年代咖啡业态规模领跑全球，再到如今门店数破万家、持续稳居全球城市首位，咖啡在上海早已不是小众消费品，而是深深融入城市的烟火日常。

然而，很多人并不知道，上海精品咖啡馆的暴增是在过去10年里完成的。“陆家嘴国际咖啡文化节举办的第一年，精品咖啡品牌在上海的数量掰着手指数得过来，星巴克、上岛咖啡等连锁品牌是绝对的行业主导者。”白鲸咖啡创始人之一路摇回忆。举办第一届陆家嘴国际咖啡文化节时，陈败遍访全国只召集到24个独立咖啡品牌。咖啡节开幕当天伴着一场大雨，陈败的心凉了半截。“只来了几千名观众，成交也不多，拉花表演就算现场的高潮了。”

这是上海成为“咖啡之都”的前夜。之后10年间，随着manner coffee、瑞幸等国内连锁咖啡品牌的兴起，咖啡逐步浸润到下沉市场，成为和瓶装饮料一样，街头巷尾人手一杯的日常饮品。

消费品展会的蓬勃发展，更是让咖啡行业迅速建立起全国“一张网”。据不完全统计，全国各地举办过咖啡节展的城市已有数十个，吸引了各地专业人士，促进了行业之间的交流。就连远在西藏拉萨的咖啡节都能请到不少知名展商、独立咖啡馆以及世界咖啡比赛冠军的助力。

而陆家嘴，毫无疑问是这场产业盛宴的策源点之一——这里最早举起专业展会的大旗，因为有30万白领这个庞大的咖啡消费客群的集聚，成为全国乃至全球咖啡从业者的“朝圣地”。

每年10月，陆家嘴国际咖啡文化节如约而至，照见咖啡在上海从现象符号到消费产业再到城市文化的持续深化。

这两年，随着中国咖啡产业的交互走向深入，陆家嘴国际咖啡文化节策划方进一步拆解展会的母题，开始在“国际”二字上下功夫。“起初带着野心和期许，我们在仅有国内展商参加的情况下给咖啡节冠上了‘国际’二字。可现在看来，它就像藏在上海开放基因里的火种，在陆家嘴的咖啡节上闪光，注定要走向全球参与、世界共享。”陈败说。

从去年开始，咖啡节就迎来国际展商的大幅扩容，来自全球20多个国家的48家独立咖啡馆都来“摆摊”了。其中绝大多数此前在中国连经销商都没有，但背后却各有全球顶级的生豆资源或世界冠军的技术支撑，有利于在交流互动中助力上海本土咖啡产业提质升级。

今年，国际展商将进一步增加，仅法国预计就有不少于8家独立咖啡馆参展。上海陆家嘴将上演名副其实的国际咖啡博览会。

今年年初，浦东将办好陆家嘴国际咖啡文化节写进政府工作报告。显然，咖啡节已不仅是指向拉动消费的民生项目，更被作为推动本土咖啡产业集聚、发挥节展长尾效应的重要举措。

在陆家嘴国际咖啡文化节举办的第9年，陆家嘴咖啡文化产业中心在陆家嘴的一栋5层办公楼里悄然成立。产业中心人虽不多，却是上海以“咖啡”为媒，链接全球资源的重要中枢。除了带着国内品牌走出去参展，每年节展期间平均每个海外品牌80—100公斤的咖啡豆进口，以及海外咖啡师、工作人员的进出境手续，全球品牌所需的商务资源拓展均由这支团队完成。

产业中心一位工作人员告诉记者：“专业咖啡师对咖啡豆的新鲜度有苛刻要求，且随着每年节展期间的销售额持续攀升，各国咖啡展商对运输的时效和体量都提出了更高要求。”不过，得益于中国对外开放政策的持续深化，不论哪个国家的人、货从上海入境，如今都有了便利的方式和高效的流程。

前两年冰岛咖啡客商在陆家嘴5天卖出一年销售额的传奇故事还历历在目，这两年，往来的海外客商则明显对深入参与中国咖啡产业表现出更加浓厚的兴趣。陈败观察，5—7天的展会已经不能满足国外咖啡馆试水上海市场的心愿，“他们普遍希望能够有更长的在华经营时间，但又受限于前期投资和市场准备的风险。”于是，一种创新的商业模式应运而生。

COFFEE CUBE（咖啡魔方），通过“一月一品牌”的方式经营，一年可轮换12个全球精品咖啡品牌驻场运营，相比短短数日的咖啡节，它提供了长达30天的持续市场测试周期。位于陆家嘴中心绿地的首家COFFEE CUBE自2023年10月运营至今，已帮助20余家海外品牌完成驻场测试，营业额常年排在上海独立咖啡馆前列。

不久前，《小陆家嘴商务单元更新提升规划》对外公示，明确上海中心、金茂大厦等楼宇的功能提升计划，并将在陆家嘴中心绿地实施复合功能的空间优化，形成嵌入式产业服务空间。这意味着作为陆家嘴国际咖啡文化节的举办地，陆家嘴中心绿地将有望常态化承接咖啡产业落地生长。目前，为了抢抓小陆家嘴提升红利，COFFEE CUBE已筹备在金茂大厦开设门店，预计在今年咖啡节期间对外开放。

自此，陆家嘴这条完备的产业开放路径也清晰成型：海外品牌通过参与节展短期展示，有意向入华经营的品牌可租用COFFEE CUBE开展更长期的市场测试，完成前期市场评估；如果市场反响达到预期，可在陆家嘴咖啡文化产业中心的支持下完成落地注册和投资流程，在上海开出实体门店。

Shanghai transforms from a coffee consumption hub to an industrial agglomeration terminal

Relying on the new waterway of Qiankai Port, the transportation time and cost of Peruvian goods to China have been significantly reduced, making Qiankai Port a key channel for local coffee brands to enter China. Seizing this opportunity, Carlos Laford became one of the first players to join the team. After confirming his participation in the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Festival in October this year, he quickly took action to prepare for the exhibition products and registered and established the foreign-funded enterprise Bilu Coffee (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in Shanghai.

Since an Australian coffee brand set up stores in China last year, the arrival of Bilu Coffee is the second foreign investment project introduced by the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Festival in 10 years. Chen Bai, the chief planner of Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Festival, told reporters that in the past 10 years, the global recognition of Shanghai's coffee market has greatly increased, with 1700 domestic and foreign coffee institutions participating in the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Festival. Many overseas brands have started from participating in exhibitions, gradually investing and establishing operations in Shanghai, promoting Shanghai's transformation from a coffee consumption highland to a global coffee industry hub. The 11th Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Festival, which will be held this autumn, will expand the number of overseas participating cafes to over 60.

At present, although the number of overseas brands registered in China is not very large, its significance is profound - the industry barriers for overseas specialty coffee to enter China have been broken, and an efficient and smooth path of opening up has enabled global coffee brands to deeply cultivate the Chinese market.

From the establishment of the first coffee shop in 1886, to leading the global coffee industry in the 1930s, and now with over ten thousand stores and consistently ranking first in global cities, coffee is no longer a niche consumer product in Shanghai, but deeply integrated into the city's daily life.

However, many people are unaware that the explosive growth of boutique cafes in Shanghai has been achieved in the past decade. In the first year of the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Festival, the number of boutique coffee brands in Shanghai could be counted by fingers, and chain brands such as Starbucks and Shangdao Coffee were absolute industry leaders, "recalled Lu Yao, one of the founders of Baibai Coffee. When holding the first Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Festival, Chen Bai visited the whole country and only gathered 24 independent coffee brands. On the opening day of the coffee festival, accompanied by a heavy rain, Chen Bai's heart cooled halfway. Only a few thousand spectators came, and there weren't many transactions. The flower pulling performance was considered the climax of the scene

This is the eve of Shanghai becoming the 'coffee capital'. In the following 10 years, with the rise of domestic chain coffee brands such as Manner Coffee and Luckin Coffee, coffee gradually infiltrated the lower tier market and became a daily beverage that, like bottled drinks, was readily available on the streets and alleys.

The booming development of consumer goods exhibitions has enabled the coffee industry to quickly establish a nationwide "network". According to incomplete statistics, dozens of cities across the country have held coffee festivals and exhibitions, attracting professionals from various regions and promoting exchanges between industries. Even the coffee festival in Lhasa, Xizang, can get the help of many well-known exhibitors, independent cafes and world coffee competition champions.

And Lujiazui is undoubtedly one of the strategic points of this industry feast - it was the first to raise the banner of professional exhibitions here, because of the gathering of a huge coffee consumer group of 300000 white-collar workers, becoming a "pilgrimage site" for coffee practitioners nationwide and even globally.

Every October, the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Festival arrives as scheduled, witnessing the continuous deepening of coffee in Shanghai from a phenomenon symbol to a consumer industry and urban culture.

In the past two years, with the deepening interaction of China's coffee industry, the organizers of the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Festival have further broken down the theme of the exhibition and started to focus on the word "international". At first, with ambition and expectations, we labeled the coffee festival as' international 'with the participation of only domestic exhibitors. But now it seems like a spark hidden in Shanghai's open genes, shining at the coffee festival in Lujiazui, destined to move towards global participation and sharing, "said Chen Bai.

Since last year, the coffee festival has seen a significant expansion of international exhibitors, with 48 independent coffee shops from over 20 countries around the world setting up their stalls. The vast majority of them did not even have distributors in China before, but they each have world-class green bean resources or technical support from world champions behind them, which is conducive to helping Shanghai's local coffee industry improve and upgrade through communication and interaction.

This year, international exhibitors will further increase, with France alone expected to have no less than 8 independent coffee shops exhibiting. Shanghai Lujiazui will host a truly international coffee expo.

At the beginning of this year, Pudong will include the successful hosting of the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Festival in the government work report. Obviously, the coffee festival is no longer just a livelihood project aimed at driving consumption, but also an important measure to promote the agglomeration of the local coffee industry and leverage the long tail effect of the festival.

In the 9th year of the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Festival, the Lujiazui Coffee Culture Industry Center was quietly established in a 5-story office building in Lujiazui. Although there are not many people in the industrial center, it is an important hub in Shanghai that links global resources through "coffee". In addition to bringing domestic brands to participate in exhibitions, this team also imports an average of 80-100 kilograms of coffee beans per overseas brand during the annual festival, as well as handles the entry and exit procedures for overseas baristas and staff. The business resource expansion required by global brands is all completed by this team.

A staff member from the industry center told reporters, "Professional baristas have strict requirements for the freshness of coffee beans, and with the continuous increase in sales during the annual festival, coffee exhibitors from various countries have put forward higher requirements for the timeliness and volume of transportation. However, thanks to the continuous deepening of China's opening-up policy, people and goods from any country entering Shanghai now have convenient ways and efficient processes.

The legendary story of Icelandic coffee merchants selling in 5 days in Lujiazui for a year in the past two years is still vivid in my memory. In recent years, overseas merchants have shown a stronger interest in deeply participating in the Chinese coffee industry. Chen Bai observed that a 5-7 day exhibition can no longer meet the desire of foreign coffee shops to test the Shanghai market. "They generally hope to have a longer operating time in China, but are limited by the risks of early investment and market preparation." Therefore, an innovative business model emerged.

COFFEE CUBE operates through a "one brand per month" model, with the ability to rotate 12 global premium coffee brands for on-site operations annually. Compared to a few days of coffee festivals, it offers a continuous market testing period of up to 30 days. The first COFFEE CUBE located in the central green space of Lujiazui has been in operation since October 2023 and has helped more than 20 overseas brands complete on-site testing. Its revenue has consistently ranked among the top independent coffee shops in Shanghai.

Not long ago, the "Small Lujiazui Business Unit Updating and Upgrading Plan" was announced to the public, clarifying the function upgrading plan of buildings such as Shanghai center and Jinmao Building, and will implement space optimization of composite functions in Lujiazui central green space to form an embedded industrial service space. This means that as the host of the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Festival, Lujiazui Central Green Space is expected to undertake the landing and growth of the coffee industry on a regular basis. At present, in order to seize the dividends of Xiaolujiazui, COFFEE CUBE has prepared to open a store in Jinmao Building, which is expected to be open to the public during this year's coffee festival.

From then on, the complete industrial opening-up path of Lujiazui has also taken shape: overseas brands can participate in short-term exhibitions and exhibitions, and brands interested in operating in China can rent COFFEE CUBE for longer-term market testing and complete preliminary market evaluations; If the market response meets expectations, the landing registration and investment process can be completed with the support of Lujiazui Coffee Culture Industry Center, and physical stores can be opened in Shanghai.