Has %Arabica's Traffic Code Lost Its Effect?

Once, just a simple percentage sign was enough to feel quite high-end to sit inside. This specialty coffee brand, using a percentage sign as its logo, became a representative of the internet-famous coffee wave. Few people realize that %Arabica, despite its Japanese appearance, is actually a specialty coffee brand that started in Hong Kong, China in 2013.

After a year of lukewarm reception, %Arabica's founder Kenneth Shoji collaborated with World Latte Art Champion Junichi Yamaguchi and Japanese architectural designer Koji Kato. %Arabica became known to more people, and stores began to proliferate. Among those who visited for check-ins and consumption, besides coffee enthusiasts, there were also many who came for its distinctive architectural space design.

Architectural space design can bring enormous traffic to a coffee shop in a short period. The first %Arabica in mainland China was located on Wukang Road in Shanghai, and on its opening day it attracted long queues of people ready to check in.

Compared to coffee, %Arabica has taken space design to the extreme, so much so that many netizens jokingly call it "a design company delayed by coffee." With its white and natural-wood base elements, combined with different space designs featuring large, transparent, bright glass windows, it creates a clean and bright atmosphere that draws many people in to visit and consume.

Currently, %Arabica has opened 109 stores across 17 countries and regions worldwide, with 57 stores in the China region.

What makes %Arabica even more famous is its unique space design style. Its coffee products mainly include milk coffee and Americano based on espresso, other beverages such as lemonade and sparkling water, as well as coffee beans.

Other commercial chains take a different approach. Luckin Coffee uses espresso as its base and pairs it with different flavors such as raw coconut latte and meteorite latte; MANNER and SEESAW, which also target the specialty coffee market, have pour-over coffee on their menus, and their selection of coffee origins is richer.

In today's Chinese coffee market, consumers are more enthusiastic about diversified choices of coffee beverages and bean types. The foreign coffee brand Blue Bottle Coffee, which also carries a celebrity effect, recently entered Shanghai and triggered "long queue" situations.

Compared to when it first entered the Chinese market, %Arabica no longer pursues the niche as it once did. While accelerating its expansion, its celebrity halo has gradually weakened. From store selections that emphasized bourgeois, exquisite art galleries and street-side buildings, it has shifted toward commercial shopping malls and office buildings. %Arabica is exploring more possibilities while expanding its target customers.

Compared with other specialty coffee brands, %Arabica's coffee products are too monotonous. Coffee origins and beverage styles have not changed for a long time. Although the brand often holds latte art competitions and some latte art teaching courses to close the distance with consumers, such activities have not broken through the thin film between ordinary consumers and specialty coffee.

Compared to latte art, pour-over coffee is more popular. Knowledge and techniques about pour-over coffee, as well as information about coffee bean origins, are abundant on social platforms; the popularity of coffee beans from Yunnan, China has also risen in recent years. Blue Bottle and Starbucks have successively released pour-over coffee tutorials on social platforms. Compared to the former two, %Arabica is somewhat inferior.

Chinese local specialty coffee brands have received multiple rounds of financing, and their store locations and quantities are expanding rapidly. Under the repeated pandemic situation, even Starbucks saw a 14% decline in same-store consumption in the first quarter of fiscal 2022. It is clear that %Arabica's future in the Chinese market is full of challenges.

Image source: Internet

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

When a brand leans on latte art to connect with customers, the espresso base has to be up to the task — a stable shot and rich, fine crema are what let patterns hold their shape. If you want to practice at home, FrontStreet Classic Blend is an ideal starting point: a medium-dark espresso recipe inspired by the old "Mamba" pairing of Mandheling and Brazil, with a small amount of Robusta added for extra aroma and body. It pours with clear butter, toasted bread, and caramel biscuit aromas, a strong flavor, and a solid body, with fine, stable crema — an essential home coffee for beginners.

For a rich, nuttier style, FrontStreet Specialty Blend pairs washed Colombian beans with semi-washed Brazilian beans, giving espresso notes of nut, dark chocolate, and caramel. Whether you make an Americano, a latte, or a Flat White, it highlights smooth cream, almond, and cocoa aromas, and its crema matches a café's, making it more than sufficient for latte art practice and especially well suited to anyone learning at home or planning to open a shop.

For those about to open a café, FrontStreet Commercial Blend builds on the Specialty Blend with a small amount of added Robusta, aiming for more deep-brown, fine crema and a heavier character. Whether you make an Americano, a latte, or a mocha, it carries nut, cocoa, and caramel flavors and makes latte art effortless. As %Arabica's experience shows, a distinctive space brings people through the door, but a dependable, well-textured cup is what keeps them coming back.