East Asia blows $3.7bn on bubble tea, Thai operator tries luck with counterfeit Luckin Coffee store, Nespresso squares the circular economy, a new chapter for specialty coffee and Aldi gives coffee tequila a shot
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Photo credit: Moujib Aghrout
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East Asian consumers spent $3.7bn on bubble tea in 2021
The growing popularity of Bubble Tea in East Asia saw consumers spend $3.7bn on the beverage category in 2021. The report, jointly conducted by venture firm Momentum Works and payments start-up qlub, found that Indonesia’s bubble tea industry ranked first in terms of market size amongst all South-east Asian nations — with an annual turnover of $1.6bn. Thailand was the second largest market, with more than 31,000 bubble tea stores contributing to $749m sales. Vietnam racked up $362m sales while Singaporeans spent
$342m.
Luckin Coffee did not launch in Thailand
Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee has denied launching in the Thai market after images of an apparent counterfeit store emerged on social media. The tech-focused chain issued a statement on the Weibo social media platform saying the store in question had used a similar name and logo without its authorisation and that it had taken legal action to defend its brand. Images of the store show a version of Luckin’s distinctive purple deer logo across a shop front and branded coffee cups.
Nespresso launches circular economy competition
Nespresso has launched a competition calling on Australian start-ups and small businesses to submit ‘forward-thinking’ plans and inventions to bring new circular economy concepts to the mainstream. The Australian StartCup Challenge offers an AU$50,000 cash prize and an espresso machine for solutions that contribute to the reuse of materials and diversion from landfill. “The intention is not to identify solutions for Nespresso’s own circularity strategy,” said Nespresso Oceania general manager Jean-Marc Dragoli. “However, we are always exploring potential sustainable partnerships for Nespresso, and will consider the viability of investing in any relevant solutions that are presented.”
New book writes specialty coffee’s next chapter
Coffee writer Kenneth Davids has released a new book charting the history and cultural influence of specialty coffee. The author, who is the co-founder and editor of the Coffee Review website says
21st Century Coffee: A Guide brings the specialty coffee story up to date by charting the ‘game-changing new developments that have taken place over the past two decades’. The book contains 290 large-format pages, 190 photographs, and over 50 maps and infographics, and is available on Amazon.
Aldi resurrects version of beloved coffee tipple in the UK
Aldi is set to launch its own brand of coffee tequila in the UK. The German supermarket chain said the move was prompted after the discontinuation of Patrón XO Café, which led to an unsuccessful online petition to save the beloved coffee liqueur brand. Aldi’s El Toro Coffee Liqueur Tequila has now stepped in to fill the void, with the £15.99 ($13.20) bottles available at its UK supermarkets from 21 August 2022.