Why is Luckin Coffee so cheap? Are more expensive coffee beans always better?

Is Coffee Really Meant to Be Expensive?

"Can coffee this cheap even be drinkable?" "If it is sold so cheaply, how good can the beans be?" For a long time, the label attached to coffee has invariably been "expensive." Whether in the era before coffee became popular in China, or in modern times when it has become an everyday beverage, expensive coffee was considered perfectly normal before local chains emerged.

It was not until local Chinese coffee chains appeared that coffee prices in China began to change. As domestic chains expanded, more and more coffee shops opened and prices grew cheaper. The average price of a regular cup dropped to just over ten yuan, and with brand promotions, consumers could enjoy a freshly ground cup for less than ten yuan — something that felt unexpected only a few years ago.

In an era of material abundance, coffee is certainly no longer a rare, high-end imported product. A cup for around ten yuan is actually very reasonable. Yet society's long-held perception of coffee has been led astray, largely by the prices of the earlier coffee brands that entered China. When those brands first arrived, many set their prices based on those of European and American markets at the time. Such prices might have been ordinary in high-income Western countries, but converted into Chinese yuan they appeared extremely expensive for a developing China.

Those foreign coffee brands deserve credit for introducing freshly ground coffee to Chinese consumers. As a result, for many years coffee was associated with high prices. Even people who had never tried it knew coffee was not something ordinary people could consume regularly. Coffee drinkers were therefore often those with higher incomes seeking to enhance their image, which is why coffee was typically found only in large cities.

Making Coffee Accessible to Everyone

Setting aside high-income individuals, the average income of ordinary people is only a few thousand yuan. With living costs already high, how many would willingly spend dozens of yuan on a cup of coffee? If coffee pricing had not returned to a level ordinary people consider reasonable, coffee could not have developed and become popular in China so quickly.

For anything to develop rapidly, it must reach more consumers — it cannot rely solely on high-income earners in first- and second-tier cities to grow the coffee market. To develop the coffee industry in China, then, it is essential to serve ordinary consumers, and lowering prices is the most effective way to do that.

Most consumption habits spread from economically developed regions to less developed ones. When a group of urban workers develops a coffee habit, they influence people elsewhere when they move for work. Affordable pricing ensures that people in every region feel coffee is a beverage for daily life.

Quality and Value in Affordable Coffee

"Can coffee this cheap really be drinkable?" Why not? As ordinary consumers, most people drink coffee simply to refresh themselves or satisfy a craving; few truly pursue subtle flavor nuances. As long as the coffee is freshly ground and prepared, with acceptable quality and taste at a reasonable price, that is enough. How many people who drink milk tea actually concern themselves with which tea leaves form the base?

Everyone should consume according to their own circumstances. Not everyone needs to chase high-priced brands or a high-end lifestyle. Expensive things are not necessarily good, and cheap things are not necessarily bad. What matters most is that consumers feel they are getting value for money.

Nowadays, coffee cultivation improves year by year, and the quality of beans reaching consumers is rarely truly poor. Most are of ordinary or decent quality, and the cost is not very high. A cup of coffee for around ten yuan is therefore perfectly normal. The same logic applies to beans: do not assume a merchant is cheating you simply because the price is low.

Image source: Internet

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Low prices and good coffee are not opposites, and FrontStreet Coffee's entry-level specialty range proves it. The natural Huakui from Sidamo, Ethiopia, is one of the market's most successful star products in recent years: its tropical fruit aroma is extremely prominent, with strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit, and even lychee, plus clear sweetness and very little bitterness. Smooth and full of juice, it is sometimes described as "the coffee that least tastes like coffee," and it can change the impression of anyone who dislikes the bitterness of traditional coffee.

For drinkers who prefer a heavier, low-acid style, Indonesia delivers. The Lintong Mandheling is wet-hulled so that the flavor is dense and mellow, with herbal and spice notes suited to those who avoid acidity, while the PWN Golden Mandheling is selected three times by hand and once by machine, cutting the defect rate to a minimum for a cleaner, smoother cup with clearer woody and caramel flavors. These are quality beans whose cost does not have to be high.

And for a treat that still respects value, the Panama Boquete Gesha is an entry-level washed Gesha from the country's most representative specialty region. Its pure variety genetics and washed processing yield the tangerine-honey charm of Gesha, with oolong-tea body and delicate fruit acidity, letting you experience a famous variety without the luxury price tag. Value, after all, is exactly what good coffee should offer.