Everyone's Pour-Over? Seesaw Opens First Pour-Over Coffee Themed Store

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of FrontStreet Coffee, WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

In recent years, China's coffee consumption market has been expanding rapidly, with local coffee brands rising strongly and people's demands for coffee quality becoming increasingly higher. As one of the earliest brands to enter the specialty coffee track in China—Seesaw Coffee has carved out its own reputation among numerous coffee shops. In recent years, Seesaw has continuously released new developments, frequently sending out creative signals and consistently bringing surprises to the market.

Yesterday, Seesaw officially announced on its official Weibo account that its first pour-over coffee themed store has opened on Hengshan Road in Shanghai. This themed store launched a "National Pour-Over" campaign where users can upload images or videos of their coffee brewing on Weibo or Xiaohongshu—whether it's pour-over, French press, moka pot, AeroPress, or drip bag coffee... As long as it's about hands-on coffee creation, users can participate by adding relevant topics and tagging the official account, with winners receiving corresponding prizes.

Seesaw Coffee: A Pioneer in China's Specialty Coffee Scene

Seesaw is China's earliest specialty coffee chain brand, with its first store opening on Yuyuan Road in Shanghai in 2012. Founded by the couple Zong Xinkuang and Wu Xiaomei, the brand focuses on specialty coffee and pour-over coffee, primarily targeting young consumers. In July 2021, Seesaw secured a 100 million yuan A+ round of financing with participation from Heytea and Bai Fu Holding.

Catalyzed by capital, Seesaw, which initially expanded slowly, accelerated its store expansion after securing funding. According to public data, as of now, Seesaw has opened over 100 stores across multiple regions in China, including Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, and Nanjing. As a coffee brand deeply cultivating the market for 10 years, Seesaw has won the hearts of many consumers through its innovative "creative coffee" concept.

Store Formats and Innovation Strategy

In terms of store formats, Seesaw primarily focuses on three types: standard stores that integrate products and experiences, themed stores that combine scenarios with innovative product experiences, and the newly launched Mini stores this year. In January, to enhance its ability to quickly respond to the practical experience needs of consumers in specific scenarios and explore quick-service scenarios and online businesses for specialty coffee, Seesaw opened its first Mini store in China in the lobby of the 5th floor of Phase I at Nanjing International Finance Center (Sun Hung Kai IFC).

The significance of opening in office buildings is likely to better serve the office crowd. These stores mainly focus on quick consumption scenarios, primarily featuring the takeout model of "order online, buy and go." Through digital ordering via mini programs, consumers only need to pick up their orders in-store or opt for delivery after placing their orders. As suggested by its name "Mini," Seesaw Mini stores are not large in overall area but are well-located, with no seating but fully equipped facilities.

Seesaw has always created resonance with users through fashionable and creative peripheral products. In April this year, while simultaneously opening two flagship stores in Chengdu, Seesaw launched "Dual City Creative Special Drinks" and "Dual City Creative Limited Edition Peripherals," adding elements like teapots, rattan chairs, and hot pots to environmentally friendly bags, coffee cups, and trendy socks.

Market Prospects and Competitive Landscape

Public data shows that China currently has approximately 300 million coffee consumers, but the total coffee consumption and per capita consumption are far below those of mature markets in Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea. There is significant potential to support a hundred-billion-scale market while maintaining high growth potential. According to Frost & Sullivan's forecast, China's coffee market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 26%, reaching a market size of 180.6 billion yuan by 2023.

As can be seen, China's coffee consumption market still has vast potential, and the industry is just beginning to formally take off. The competition in "creative coffee" continues. For today's "creative coffee" to establish a firm foothold in the coffee market, creativity in products and store styles is far from enough. In the past two years, local coffee brands have risen rapidly, with endless innovations, and competition in the entire industry has become increasingly fierce.

Local enterprises are also employing diverse marketing strategies, including live streaming, cross-industry collaborations, content partnerships, and IP creation, among other innovative marketing methods, to expand brand stories and achieve brand breakthroughs. Facing the opportunities in the current coffee market and the continuous entry of new specialty chain coffee brands, how will Seesaw iterate and update to carve out its differentiated path in brand, products, and marketing?

Image source: Internet

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473