"Coffee World Apple" Blue Bottle Coffee or Shanghai in the future, can it continue the coffee myth?

Blue Bottle Coffee, commonly known as Blue Bottle Coffee, is a pilgrimage brand for the world's specialty coffee lovers.

Recently, the news of opening a store in the Mainland seems to be a real deal for this brand, which has been called for by specialty coffee lovers.

Following the pop-up store in Taiwan and the first store in Hong Kong, Shanghai may become the new target of Blue Bottle Coffee.

Can the long overdue blue bottle coffee create a myth in the domestic coffee market that is not what it used to be?

Blue Bottle Coffee's first store may open in Shanghai

The news that Blue Bottle Coffee opened its first store in the Mainland has been spreading for several waves in recent years.

Yesterday, this matter seemed a bit eye-catching: the cause was a screenshot from Linkedin, which showed that Blue Bottle Coffee was hiring a "brand director" and was based in Shanghai.

Subsequently, a news that "Blue Bottle is about to open a store in Shanghai" quickly sparked discussion in the coffee circle.

Brand Director of Blue Bottle Coffee in Shanghai

Image source: Linkedin

A few years ago, Bryan Meehan, CEO of Blue Bottle Coffee, said that Blue Bottle Coffee would open stores in China, including the Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The news this time, the "story" is very similar to that before the opening of the first store in Hong Kong.

In September 2019, its brand official website first recruited Hong Kong operations directors and brand managers.
In April 2020, the first store was settled in Central, Hong Kong.
Unsurprisingly, it triggered a check-in frenzy as soon as it opened.

Blue Bottle Coffee's first store in Hong Kong

Image source: Blue Bottle Coffee Hong Kong

This brand, which many domestic consumers have not drunk but heard of, is known as "Apple in the coffee industry" in the United States-there are less than 100 stores, but it has a reputation similar to Starbucks.

In September 2017, Nestlé announced that it would spend approximately US$425 million to acquire a 68% stake in Blue Bottle Coffee.
At that time, there were only 50 Blue Bottle Coffee stores with a valuation of US$700 million, making the global coffee industry astounding.

What kind of brand is Blue Bottle Coffee?

Let’s start by popularizing the development context of Blue Bottle Coffee from the timeline.

Blue Bottle Coffee was founded in the United States in 2002 and began to enter the Asian market in 2015.
The first stop was Tokyo, Japan.
There are currently 15 stores in Tokyo, Kyoto and Kobe.
After entering Seoul, South Korea in May 2019, 3 stores have been opened, and there are currently about 100 stores around the world.

Blue bottle coffee

Image source: Blue Bottle Coffee official website

Combining the interviews of many industry professionals and the "Blue Bottle Story" written by CBN, I have summarized three characteristics of the blue bottle's popularity around the world:

1.
Super marketing ability: a set of story templates are sold worldwide

Regardless of whether it is in the United States, Japan, or China, when it comes to blue bottle coffee, whether you have drunk it or not, there are a few key words that will come out: only coffee beans within 48 hours, no WIFI, popular in the United States, and apples in the coffee industry.

Create the same label and emotional expectations in the minds of consumers around the world—the ability that this Hollywood blockbuster is good at, Blue Bottle Coffee also possesses.
image

Image source: Facebook@Blue Bottle Coffee

On the official website of Blue Bottle Coffee, there is also an interesting "brand story".

In 1683, the armies of the Ottoman king Erqi occupied Vienna.
Koršć crossed the border, brought rescuers from Poland, and rescued the almost desperate city.
People found several strange bags in the trophies, which contained unknown coffee beans.
Korščić bought all the coffee with the mayor's reward and opened the first coffee shop in Europe in Vienna, named "The Blue Bottle".

319 years later, in Oakland, California, a rebellious musician who loves freedom, tired of the old and over-roasted coffee beans on the market, decided to open his own coffee shop that "only sells coffee for no more than 48 hours".
This man is Freeman.
In order to commemorate Korsch's deeds, he also named his coffee shop Blue Bottle Coffee.

Such a good story not only associates the blue bottle coffee with the history 319 years ago, but also accurately conveys that "the first cup of coffee is in a blue bottle".
At the same time, it has personality, freedom, and only sells coffee for no more than 48 hours.
The label has also stood up in the minds of consumers.

Zhuang Hongzhang, the first Chinese Italian coffee champion, once went to Japan to inspect Blue Bottle Coffee: "This is a brand with strong marketing capabilities.
"

2.
"You went to Starbucks for one reason, and there is also a reason for going to Blue Bottle"

At the beginning of its establishment, Blue Bottle was also a typical "opposite to Starbucks".
It took a different route from Starbucks in terms of location, space, and products.

For example, Starbucks is opened in business districts, communities, office buildings and other places close to consumers, while blue bottles are opened in old factories, old warehouses, opera houses, and art museums.
Whenever a blue bottle is branded, it will become hot.

Blue Bottle Coffee Nakameguro shop, formerly known as an electric appliance factory

Image source: Blue Bottle Coffee official website

For example, Starbucks uses automated equipment to make standardized products, while the baristas of Blue Bottle Coffee wear black aprons and their utensils are placed on the bar, turning the coffee brewing process that people are accustomed to, into a "ritual.
"

Another example is Starbucks, which is known for its third space.
It not only has a pleasant environment, but also has plenty of sockets and free WIFI.
Lanping is on the contrary, it does not provide Wifi, no power connection, and the tables and chairs in the store are also very limited.
Many people who have been to Lanping Coffee said that its environmental design is "more like a cup of coffee for you to experience".

Blue Bottle Coffee has not yet opened to the world, but its retail products have already hit the front.

In terms of retail products, the customer experience and visual design of Blue Bottle are especially worth learning.

On its website, if you want to buy a coffee bean, you need to do 10 multiple-choice questions first.
For example, "How do you like to make coffee at home", "What flavor of chocolate do you like", "What kind of acidity do you like", "How would you describe your favorite coffee" and so on.

To buy a coffee bean, you need to do 10 multiple-choice questions first

Image source: Blue Bottle Coffee official website

After completing 10 multiple-choice questions, the system will automatically recommend a coffee bean that suits you, without having to know the origin, flavor, production method, etc.

The design of retail products is also very recognizable.
Blue Bottle Coffee's New Orleans iced coffee launched in the United States looks like a bottle of milk on the supermarket counter.

Compared with most retail coffee in glass bottles on the market, such a carton design is more eye-catching.

Although innovations have been made in business model, space, products, retail, etc.
, can Blue Bottle Coffee still create a myth when entering the Chinese mainland market at this time?

Can the Blue Bottle Coffee acquired by Nestlé still create a myth in China?

In 2015, Zhuang Hongzhang went to Japan to inspect Blue Bottle Coffee, and wanted to see if its model could be used for the coffee brand he was about to join.

After checking in with 4 Blue Bottle Coffees, he found that "Although each business is very good, and the space and products are also distinctive, we decided to give up.
"

Because Zhuang Hongzhang judged that the blue bottle model is only suitable for the "less and refined" route.
Starbucks has more than 10,000 stores around the world, and Blue Bottle has fewer than 10 stores in Asia, which is not a model they can refer to.

Japan's Saruta Hiko Coffee, which is very similar to the blue bottle model, opened its first store in Taiwan and its business was booming.
However, the second and third stores opened in Taichung in the following years have quickly cooled down.

This makes Zhuang Hongzhang more firm.
The blue bottle coffee model is easy to trigger punch-in consumption in cities with fierce coffee competition, but it is difficult to get into the daily life, and it is difficult to have the ability to "let consumers go every day".

From another perspective, in terms of coffee products, space, gameplay, retail product innovation, etc.
, it is no exaggeration to say that the domestic beverage market already has the world’s richest and most diverse gameplay, and even leads the world in many respects.
.

When it comes to "the fun of the soul", there are already Seesaw and fisheye in China; when it comes to "creativeness of space", both Heycha and Naxue can fight each other; when it comes to digital exploration, Starbucks China's coffee game has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
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