Filipino start-up Pickup Coffee competes on price in Mexico

Pickup Coffee’s first outlet in Mexico is in the Polanco neighbourhood of Mexico City | Photo credit: Pickup Coffee Mexico

Pickup Coffee’s beverages in the Philippines start from ₱50 ($0.90) and are capped at ₱100 ($1.80). The chain has adopted the same value focus in Mexico, with beverages starting from MXN $13 ($0.76). 
 

Founded as a delivery-focused coffee business in March 2022, Filipino start-up Pickup Coffee opened its first bricks-and-mortar store in Bonifacio Global City in June 2022 and currently operates 190 store, coffee carts and cloud kitchens across the Philippines.  

With its focus on affordability, Pickup Coffee is competing on price with market leader Starbucks, which retails espresso-based beverages from MXN $55 (£3.22) to MXN $90 ($5.27). Pickup Coffee’s beverage prices are also lower on average than other major branded coffee chain competitors in Mexico, including Tim Hortons, Dunkin’ and domestic operator Caffenio. 

Alongside its focus on accessible pricing, Pickup Coffee also operates a fully integrated mobile ordering platform to facilitate pre-orders and beverage delivery. 

In April 2023, Pickup Coffee raised $40m in a Series A funding round led by Go Ventures. 

Mexico has become an attractive market for coffee chains seeking international expansion over the last 18 months. In August 2022, Dunkin’ announced a new multi-unit license agreement for expansion across Mexico City and its greater metropolitan area, with a focus on takeaway, drive-thru and delivery trade. 

A month later Mexican restaurant operator Alsea said it would invest MXN $4.5bn ($225m) to open 200 new Starbucks stores across Mexico by 2026. Market leader Starbucks currently has 796 outlets across the country.

Meanwhile, Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons is investing $30m to open 50 stores in Queretaro as part of plans to double its store footprint in Mexico by 2025 while Colombia’s Juan Valdez is planning to re-enter Mexico early next year. The Bogota-based coffee chain closed its eight stores in the North American country in 2018 after terminating an ‘unprofitable’ franchise partnership.