Where is Four Cats Cafe - Is Yunnan Four Cats Coffee Good, Is the Price Expensive, How Much is a Pack of Four Cats Coffee

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International Chains Enter Lijiang While Local Brand "Four Cats" Rises

As national per-capita consumption rises, more and more leisure and light-catering brands are pushing into third- and fourth-tier cities and popular tourist destinations like Lijiang and Dali. Starbucks opened its first Lijiang store on the 19th in the 5596 commercial district, and ZOO COFFEE has also signed to enter Xianghe Commercial Plaza. But even as these foreign giants began their Lijiang expansion, the local chain "Four Cats" had already risen and laid out its own store network. According to Winshang Network, Four Cats' third store has entered Hanzi Street at the north gate of Lijiang's Shuhe Ancient Town, officially opening on September 20.

Building an Internet Coffee Brand on Yunnan's Coffee Resources

Four Cats was founded in Lijiang, Yunnan, jointly established by four ambitious founders: Xu Zhengxiong, Xie Wenzhang, He Jing, and Chen Sha. Each had run their own brand before joining forces to create the coffee experience brand on the basis of Hemei Coffee Company — hence the name "Four Cats Coffee."

While many retailers, squeezed by e-commerce, have rushed to build omnichannel strategies, Four Cats is a brand that grew out of the internet itself. Thanks to Yunnan's resource advantages in coffee history and quality, Hemei Coffee Company — led by major shareholder Xu Zhengxiong — established a one-stop industrial chain covering cultivation, production, processing, and sales as early as 2010. In 2012, after Xu met three partners interested in e-commerce — Xie Wenzhang, He Jing, and Chen Sha — they joined forces to enter the online market, and the "Four Cats" brand was born. From the start, the four founders identified young people as the main consumer group, in line with the e-commerce customer base.

Future Plans: Chain Stores in the Core Commercial Properties of Yunnan's Famous Cities

On May 20, 2015, Four Cats' first experience store settled in Mixi Lane off Xinyi Street in Lijiang Ancient Town. Two months later, the second opened opposite Longtan Square on Huama Street. With the Shuhe North store opening on the 20th of this month, Four Cats now runs 3 offline experience stores in Lijiang, built around coffee product display and tasting. The company has also signed an entry agreement with Lijiang Heye Plaza, with the fourth store expected in February 2016; the expansion plan calls for 5 stores in Lijiang in total. Once the Lijiang layout approaches saturation, Four Cats plans to open chain stores in other famous Yunnan cities and towns such as Dali. As it stands, the experience stores cluster in the core commercial districts of Lijiang Ancient Town and Shuhe Ancient Town with steady tourist traffic, and the brand is now expanding into shopping centers as well.

The "Four Cats" Coffee Experience

So what is one of Four Cats' carefully planned experience stores actually like? Because coffee's origin story is entwined with cats — and the brand is named for four of them — the shops use various "cats" as decorating elements: the righteous Black Cat Detective, the innocent Doraemon, the clumsy Garfield, and the cute Hello Kitty. Inside a Four Cats shop you can learn about coffee's deep history and culture and how to judge bean quality, then order a coffee, take in the ancient-town scenery, and drift through a lazy afternoon.

Four Cats' product line currently covers instant coffee, roasted powder, coffee beans, and civet coffee, priced from 15 to 228 yuan. Cup products stay within 50 yuan, with foreign-coffee cup items priced slightly higher. Backed by the company's full industrial chain, Four Cats' signature coffees still undercut comparable products from other brands. To celebrate the opening, the Shuhe North store also launched a 10-day free tasting event starting from the 21st, letting consumers sample quality coffee on the house.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation: Taste Yunnan Coffee for Yourself

Curious about the beans behind Yunnan's coffee story? Start with the FrontStreet Yunnan small-bean arabica from Baoshan — washed and medium roasted, it pours out gentle nut and chocolate sweetness with a touch of plum acidity and a soft caramel note, at a price that makes it the perfect first encounter with Yunnan coffee. For a clearer picture of the region, step up to the FrontStreet 2013 sun-dried Typica, grown on FrontStreet's own estate since 2013: fuller body, pronounced acidity-sweetness, dark berry and citrus tones with a whisper of fermented wine aroma, caramel, and a black tea finish. And for espresso drinkers, the FrontStreet Black Cocoa blend pairs Yunnan small-bean with Brazil Cerrado for a balanced Americano with nut and brown sugar sweetness — and an almond-cream latte.