Luckin and Starbucks! Fiercely Competing for University Students' Business!

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Coffee Culture Spreads to University Campuses

As the coffee market heats up, the coffee wave has blown from off-campus to on-campus, becoming one of the high-frequency consumption categories among university students. Mention campus coffee, and most people think immediately of Luckin.

According to monitoring data from Jihai Brand, as of November 16th, roughly 1,000 of Luckin's 7,000+ operating stores were campus-scene stores, mainly in Nanjing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Xi'an, Changsha, Hangzhou, and Beijing...

With the post-90s and post-00s generations now driving consumption, the coffee industry has entered a high-growth phase. Luckin, a brand beloved by young people, began positioning university stores as early as 2018. By the September 2019 back-to-school season, its official WeChat account announced that Luckin Coffee had opened in more than 100 universities nationwide.

That September, students returning after the "century-long vacation" of winter break plus summer break found their schools had "happily acquired" a Luckin—complete with campus-exclusive "Back-to-School Triple Gift" discounts: coupons for joining the group, 52% off coupons, and valuable group-buying coupons.

Luckin's Campus Strategy and Expansion

Beyond campus-exclusive discounts, Luckin's campus stores also serve students exclusive drinks: milk series and milk tea series, including Sam Milk Tea, Study Bobo Milk Tea, and Dormitory Coconut Jelly Milk Tea. The playbook went viral fast.

In recent years, Luckin has doubled down on its university expansion. Its stores are now visible at institutions including Peking University, Renmin University of China, Fudan University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and it has deepened its delivery partnership with SF Express. In Jiangsu-Zhejiang, Beijing, Guangdong, Shanghai, Fujian, Hubei, Henan, and other regions, more than 80 Luckin campus stores run delivery services covering campus areas, with "in-store riders" stationed at some locations to answer every order on the spot.

A Crowded Campus Coffee Market

The campus beverage market has always belonged to milk teas and fruit juices—fiercely competitive, with a high elimination rate—yet Luckin has carved out its position in this red ocean. Strong brand influence, consistent quality, and high value for money all play a role, as does the pace of new product launches. On campus, students can enjoy mellow coffee any time and be the first to try the brand's trending new releases.

With campus coffee demand booming, brands quickly realized Luckin alone could not absorb the entire market—and joined in. Starbucks has extended its "third space" to universities, where its stores have become favored spots for studying, reading, and chatting. Niche specialty brands like Tims Coffee, Manner, M Stand, and NOWWA Coffee have also opened university stores in succession.

According to Jiemian News, Tsinghua University alone is packed with 27 coffee shops—ride a bicycle around campus and you'll pass one roughly every 5 minutes. At Peking University, 8 coffee shops are scattered across campus; the earliest opens at 7 AM, with students already waiting at the door.

Tea giant Mixue Ice City & Tea was never going to sit this one out. It launched a coffee brand of its own, "Lucky Coffee," long regarded as the cheapest coffee brand around. Since its founding it has expanded furiously around universities: of its 1,100+ stores, campus-scene stores account for 23.6% (about 260 stores)—almost twice Luckin's share.

The Future of Campus Coffee Culture

As the coffee market keeps growing, coffee moves closer and closer to consumers' daily lives. The market's shift from a single social scene to an "infinite scene" model means the coffee track will surely unlock greater potential—along with fiercer competition.

Image source: Internet

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Campus coffee runs on value—and nothing delivers flavor per yuan like fresh-roasted beans brewed at home or in the dorm. FrontStreet Coffee's gift-friendly picks double as excellent everyday beans: the five-origin drip bag set (Mandheling's herbal spice, Panama Butterfly's berry-oolong character, Yirgacheffe's citrus florals, Honduras' nutty chocolate, and Kenya's dark-plum juice) covers every mood between study sessions, while the FrontStreet Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 offers perfectly balanced sweetness, acidity, and body for a well-earned treat.

Study hard, drink better—good coffee doesn't have to cost like a latte every day.