450亿茶饮之王，开打9块9咖啡大战45 billion tea drink king, start the 9.9 yuan coffee war

Author: Xie Zhiying Editor: Tan Lu Source: Online

Tea drinking tycoon Wang Yun'an has started another coffee war.

In late May, Guming announced at its partner conference that it plans to invest 400 million yuan to focus on the coffee category. This year, it plans to increase the proportion of coffee revenue to 20% -25%, almost doubling.

The '9.9' storm is coming again.

In May, popular items such as Kuji Gan Lai Latte and Vanilla Seed Vienna were priced at 9.9 yuan. Gu Ming announced that starting from June, they will also launch a "9.9 yuan per week to drink designated coffee" activity.

Luckin Coffee and Kudi's affordable coffee market has welcomed tea beverage competitors with a market value of over 45 billion yuan.

Consumers have reported to 21CRBR that they often encounter slow coffee serving and long waiting times in the morning at Gu Ming stores owned by Chang Guang Gu.

create a hit product

I hope our track changes from milk tea to tea cafes, "Wang Yun'an said publicly.

By the end of 2025, Guming has equipped more than 12000 stores with coffee machines, and the daily sales of coffee in a single store have reached 70-80 cups.

Tea brands such as Tea Baidao and Shanghai Auntie have also opened coffee equipment in their stores, and even Honey Snow Ice City is vigorously promoting freshly brewed coffee.

Wang Yun'an

The tea beverage industry cannot sustain high-speed growth solely by expanding the number of stores

An industry insider told 21CRBR that there is a certain overlap between coffee and tea drinks in terms of consumer groups, and it helps to supplement morning sales and improve single store efficiency.

In Wang Yun'an's opinion, the gradual increase in coffee business will support the growth of same store sales this year.

He admitted that the main sales of Guming Coffee last year came from basic models, and has established a mindset of "affordable and high-quality"; This year, we need to solve the problem of 'who am I' and launch differentiated products.

Wang Yun'an did indeed harvest several big hits.

Taking "Vanilla Seed Vienna" as an example, the product combines the popular Vanilla Seed Latte from last year with the popular Viennese coffee elements from South Korea, and adds a cat cream cloud milk cap. It set off a check-in craze as soon as it was launched in April.

Tea beverage brands making coffee is a 'downgrade blow', "industry insiders pointed out. The product" Vanilla Seed Vienna "is essentially a tea beverage logic, adding a layer of milk cap on milk coffee.

These popular formulas and methods that have been validated by the market are easily favored by consumers.

At the Partner Conference, multiple limited edition new products were unveiled. Among them, 'Instant Mi Latte' is regarded as another potential explosive player.

This latte features Thai fragrant rice, combining the aroma of grains with the richness and bitterness of coffee, with a unique taste. The new product has not yet announced its launch date, and some consumers have expressed their anticipation.

fully rolled out

Wang Yun'an's team has been playing coffee for some time now.

Around 2023, Guming will conduct small-scale testing of the "coffee+baking" combination in stores in Hangzhou and other places.

Until 2025, coffee machines will become a standard feature in more stores. In the middle of the year, we also invited Daniel Wu to serve as our coffee quality partner and launched a limited time promotion of "8.9 yuan for all coffee".

The real starting point of Guming Coffee was at the end of September and early October last year.

Wang Anyun's greatest confidence comes from the supply chain.

By the end of 2025, Guming has 24 warehouses with a cold storage capacity of over 70000 cubic meters, providing cold chain delivery every two days to 98% of its stores.

This can support the entry of short-term products such as fresh milk and juice into stores. The coffee bean roasting to store usage cycle has also been reduced to 30 days, exceeding the industry average.

Wang Yun'an revealed that Guming reduces the cost of fresh milk by improving logistics efficiency, saving 0.7 yuan per cup of milk, and the quality is not discounted.

The low price strategy relies on the scale effect of the sinking market to support it. By the end of last year, the number of Guming stores had reached 13554, with 82% of stores located in second tier and below cities.

According to franchisees, the price of a coffee machine from Guming is around 80000 yuan, which can be paid in 24 interest free installments. This is a substantial investment and the price is not low.

A franchisee from Guizhou region told 21CRBR that after installing a coffee machine, their store's traffic, number of visitors, and performance have all increased, with "daily revenue increasing by about 1000 yuan

The coffee making speed is fast and does not require too much labor cost, so the efficiency is also improved, "said the franchisee.

Extend business

Sold together with coffee is breakfast.

In the past, the morning session of Gu Ming was relatively blank. Targeting the consumption needs of students, office workers, and other groups, Wang Yun'an has created a combination of coffee and baking.

Baking products include spicy beef rolls, fried sausage puff pastry rolls, etc., with prices mostly below 10 yuan.

Guming has recently announced that returning to dine in dining will be a key focus of its store operations throughout the year, with breakfast business listed as one of its key directions.

Guming has tested its breakfast business in thousands of stores in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions. Without large-scale promotion, a single store sells more than 25 baked goods per day, with an average daily turnover increase of over 200 yuan.

Wang Yun'an plans to promote ovens in 13000 stores nationwide in August, and the specific pace of implementation will depend on the wishes of franchisees.

The store type has also been changed accordingly.

Starting from 2025, Guming will launch a 6.0 store model with a larger area, significantly increased dining area, and visual design that is closer to the style of a coffee shop.

Wang Yun'an pointed out that the sixth generation stores are more suitable for coffee sales and have significantly higher performance than the fifth generation. It is expected to increase from 4000 to 10000 by the end of 2026.

Meanwhile, he plans to launch the seventh generation store model in the second half of the year.

For stores, doing coffee and baking business during the morning rush hour means opening stores earlier, stocking up and baking in advance, and placing higher demands on specific operations.

Wang Yun'an has already squeezed into the affordable coffee market, and whether he can occupy a larger territory depends on his subsequent operations and strategies.