YouTube star Emma Chamberlain launches first coffee shop, Mega Coffee promotes K-pop stars, Panamanian Gesha smashes records in Dubai, Blue Bottle settles down in Singapore and Swedish non-dairy brand DUG signs first Spanish retail deal
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Chamberlain Coffee at Los Angeles’ Westfield Century City shopping centre | Photo credit: Chamberlain Coffee
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Chamberlain Coffee opens first bricks-and-mortar café
California-based Chamberlain Coffee has opened its first bricks-and-mortar coffee shop at Los Angeles’ Westfield Century City shopping centre. Launched in 2019 by YouTube personality Emma Chamberlain, Chamberlain Coffee sells packaged coffee, ready-to-drink (RTD) lattes and matcha powder online and with retail partners including Target and Whole Foods. The lifestyle brand quickly gained traction among Gen Z coffee consumers, tapping into Chamberlain’s 30 million social media followers with creative digital campaigns and influencer-led brand partnerships. The LA café, which reportedly had three-hour queues on its opening day, serves a range of espresso-based and drip coffees alongside cold brew, hot and iced matcha lattes and bakery items, including matcha cake and banana sesame bread.
Mega Coffee signs K-pop promotion deal
South Korea’s Mega Coffee has signed an agreement with Seoul-based SM Entertainment to promote the entertainment agency’s K-pop artists across its 3,500 stores. The SMGC Project will see Mega Coffee outlets advertise and create interaction touchpoints, including in person events and interviews, for several of the agency’s major K-pop groups, starting with the newly formed Hearts2Hearts on 24 February 2025. A growing number of coffee brands are harnessing the global popularity of K-culture to promote their brands, with Compose Coffee, Ediya Coffee, Nespresso, Starbucks and Caffè Pascucci among those in South Korea to award Brand Ambassador roles to singers, actors and models to boost brand awareness.
Inaugural Dubai Coffee Auction sets high bar for Gesha
A Gesha-variety coffee from Panama’s Finca Sophia sold for a staggering $10,020/kg ($4,546/lb) at the inaugural Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) Specialty Coffee Auction, which took place at World of Coffee Dubai on 10-12 February 2025. The buyer, high-end Japanese online coffee trader Definitive, also purchased the second and third-highest priced lots, also from Panama, for $8,614/kg ($3,907/lb) and $2,620/kg ($1,188/lb) respectively. The event also recorded a new record for American coffee, with a Kona SL 34 from Hawaii selling for $910/kg ($412/lb), and Bolivian coffee, with a Los Rodriguez lot purchased for $350/kg ($159/lb). The current record for a coffee auction bid is $13,518/kg for a honey-processed Elida Aguacatillo Gesha from Panama’s Lamastus Family Estates, made by Korea’s Cupping Post in September 2024.
Blue Bottle Coffee to make permanent home in Singapore
California-based specialty coffee group Blue Bottle Coffee is turning its Singapore pop-up store into its first permanent café in the country, new hoarding at the location has revealed. The temporary ‘gift shop’ was launched at the LUMINE store in Raffles City Shopping Center in August 2024 and sold the boutique brand’s specialty instant coffee range alongside branded merchandise and drinkware. The café is set to open in Spring 2025, making Singapore is the US specialty coffee group’s fifth market in East Asia after Japan, China, Hong Kong and South Korea.
Dairy alternative brand DUG Foodtech enters Spanish retail market
DUG Foodtech has signed its first retail partnership in Spain, which will see its potato-based DUG Barista product available at 150 Carrefour hypermarkets. In a press release, the Sweden-based dairy alternative brand said Spain is the second-largest non-dairy market in Europe with sales of plant-based milks reaching €308m ($322m) in 2023. Carrefour is one of Europe’s largest retail chains and operates over 1,000 outlets in Spain. DUG said the retailer provides a key platform for it to reach a broader audience of health-conscious consumers and comes ahead of a planned horeca launch later in 2025. The non-dairy brand is seeking to increase its presence in Continental Europe and has also signed retail agreements in Austria, Germany and Italy within the last six months.