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

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In recent years China's coffee consumption market has expanded rapidly, with local coffee brands rising strongly and people's demands for coffee quality climbing ever higher. As one of the earliest brands to enter China's specialty coffee track, Seesaw Coffee has carved out a reputation among the many coffee shops. In recent years Seesaw has kept releasing 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. The themed store launched a "National Pour-Over" campaign, inviting users to upload images or videos of their coffee brewing on Weibo or Xiaohongshu, whether pour-over, French press, moka pot, AeroPress, or drip bag coffee. As long as it involves hands-on coffee creation, users can join by adding the relevant topics and tagging the official account, with winners receiving 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 and primarily targets young consumers. In July 2021 Seesaw secured a 100 million yuan A+ round of financing with participation from Heytea and Bai Fu Holding.

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

Store Formats and Innovation Strategy

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

Opening in office buildings likely serves the office crowd better. These stores focus mainly on quick consumption scenarios, built around the takeout model of "order online, buy and go." Through digital ordering via mini programs, consumers simply pick up their orders in-store or opt for delivery after ordering. As the name "Mini" suggests, these stores are not large but are well located, with no seating yet fully equipped facilities.

Seesaw has always created resonance with users through fashionable, creative peripheral products. In April this year, while opening two flagship stores in Chengdu at the same time, Seesaw launched "Dual City Creative Special Drinks" and "Dual City Creative Limited Edition Peripherals," adding elements such as teapots, rattan chairs, and hot pots to eco-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 total and per capita coffee 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. 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 this shows, China's coffee consumption market still has vast potential, and the industry is only beginning to take off in earnest. Competition in "creative coffee" continues. For today's "creative coffee" to gain a firm foothold, creativity in products and store style alone is far from enough. Over the past two years local coffee brands have risen rapidly, with endless innovation, and competition across the industry has become increasingly fierce.

Local enterprises are also employing diverse marketing strategies, including live streaming, cross-industry collaborations, content partnerships, and IP creation, 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 a differentiated path in brand, products, and marketing?

Image source: Internet

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For moka pot brewing, blends are usually the easiest place to start, and FrontStreet's Classic Blend is designed for both espresso and moka pot, with standout crema that even a beginner can coax from a basic home machine, plus a full-bodied, mellow cup thanks to its traditional mamba recipe. For value, FrontStreet's Dark Cocoa Blend is 100% Arabica with ample crema, a full body, and a modest price, balancing quality and cost for home or café use. And for a fruity change of pace, FrontStreet's Strawberry Candy is a popular fruit-forward espresso blend whose Arabica beans from different origins combine into a vivid strawberry-candy sweetness, suitable for everything from daily drinking to a café's signature milk drinks.