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Specialty coffee in the era of Chinese fad

The fusion of specialty coffee and traditional Chinese
elements has really been flourishing in the past few years. The
cases above show how some time-honoured Chinese brands
are seeking to restore their former glory through coffee. A
similar story has also been happening at specialty coffee’s side.
Chinese fad is one way of brining coffee closer to poten-
tial customers. Being both considered as part of the lifestyle
of young people makes them a natural pair, and the outcome
of their union is satisfying.
Taking Shanghai as an example, compared to 2019, the
search volume of “Chinese Fad Coffee” on Dazhong Dianping,
China’s top online lifestyle business review platform, has seen
a 10-fold growth, reaching nearly 280 million in 2021.
Chinese elements mainly work with coffee in two ways,
it either looks Chinese, or tastes Chinese, or both.

Chinese on your eye

In the current stage, a Chinese influenced design is sim-
ply combining traditional Chinese elements in anything com-
ing into your eyesight when you encounter a coffee brand.
This can be architectural. While coffee still stays a distance from a typical Chinese
A traditional building, or at least a Chinese style shop- lifestyle, a cafe that looks and feels familiar is more likely to
front, is chosen by many coffee shops, including international bring non-coffee drinkers in.
chains and independent cafes. Starbucks is well known for This can be interior.
different exterior designs in different areas to echo the local The interior design is without doubt an important part
character. The best examples of traditional architecture applied in forming customers’ perception of a brand’s image and cul-
in Starbucks’ shop design include the one in Kuanzhai Alley, ture. If a cafe aims to create a Chinese culture influenced
Chengdu; the few around West Lake in Hangzhou; the newly concept, the inside of a cafe can provide a much fuller sensation
opened store on Yitian West Street in Yangshuo; and many than the exterior alone as here is where people would stay.
more. The inside of Café by the Forbidden City continues un-
folding the grand exterior once entered. Apart from some
typical Chinese furniture like traditional partition screens, the
country’s national treasure, the famous painting “A Thousand
Li of Rivers and Mountains”, is also found in the pattern of the
soft decorative fabric hanging on the ceiling and the wallpaper.
This can be products (and anything else you can see in
the shop).
Your cappuccino is served in a paper cup with Palace
motifs based on the design of the collection; the decorations
on top of a coffee drink might be ginseng or goji berries; the
names in the menu might all be inspired by Chinese ancient
poems; the barista behind the bar might be dressed up in tra-
ditional Chinese gowns.
However, when it comes to products, appearance is not
everything. The effort to really try make a cup of coffee more
Chinese has never stopped with the army of innovative coffee
magicians.

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