Introduction
As a country whose traditional diet culture is monopolized by tea culture deeply, coffee’s history in China is not very long. It is difficult to change its custom to drink coffee. So, unlike other countries, in the first few years coffee came to China, there were few people went to cafés for drinking coffee, while with the development of China the coffee industry in China is changing, more and more customers go to cafés, not only for coffee, but also for service there.
The development of coffee culture in China is extremely slow, and coffee history in China went back to 19th century. A French missionary brought coffee to Yunnan province, marking coffee beans' introduction to China( ). Since then, the coffee industry experienced through three waves: the first wave of coffee, a revolution in instant coffee. At that time, consumers' pursuit of coffee was an essential element of efficiency and convenience, without particular care. The coffee industry entered the second wave as people fermented the knowledge and understanding of coffee flavor. At this stage, the demand for coffee is both good and healthy, and Starbucks is one of the leaders of the wave. Now, the coffee industry has come to the third wave, the concept of boutique coffee is sought-after, and the coffee industry is overlooking the invariance and monotony of the flavor of the cheap formula beans. The unique "regional flavors" come from different coffee producing areas. pursuing the ultimate experience, and are not sensitive to price.
Nowadays, changes in the concept of consumption and gradual acceptance of western goods consumption habit scale up the coffee proportion in beverage in China market. However, to get a coffee custom in China still need a period of time. According to Starbucks figures show, it is $8000 the per capita GDP up to and then there is a chance for new stage of development in coffee industry, while before the chance comes, the entertainment industry of cafés will continue to expand. According to latest data, although coffee production in China is much less than in Western countries, the annual growth rate of coffee consumption in China (15%) is much higher than average growth rate of other countries in the global (2%).
Starbucks Corporation’s development is a typical successful case succeeds in a country which traditionally favors drinking tea. And before Starbucks continue to enter the Chinese market for larger investment conditions, surveying about urban residents for some opinions about the direction of Starbucks' main expansion is helpful, and the highest supported direction can be a reference for expanding the Chinese market.
Unlike pizza and hoagies, coffees’ history in China is little longer and has better prospect for development.