News

Luckin' Coffee brewing up business in Middle East

July 22, 2019

China's Luckin Coffee Inc. and Kuwait Food Company Americana are partnering to launch a coffee business in the Middle East and India, according to a company press release.
 
Luckin Coffee, which has over 3,000 stores across 40 cities in China, relies on big data analytics, AI and proprietary technologies to serve its customers and is looking to expand the business model globally. Americana operates 1,900 restaurants in 13 markets and 25 food production sites across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt.

"This collaboration represents Luckin Coffee's first step toward bringing its leading products from China to the world, Luckin Founder and CEO Jenny Qian Zhiya, said in the release. We look forward to further expanding the freshly brewed coffee market internationally as we realize the incredible growth opportunities available to us through our innovative business model."

The announcement may fuel the chain's narrative of overtaking Starbucks in China and eventually around the world. The company claims it will have 4,500 stores by the end of the year in China compared to Starbucks' current 3,600 locations.

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson, however, told CNBC earlier this year that Luckin's claim is "unlikely," noting his company's 18% growth in new China stores as of the fourth quarter of 2018.

"Just this last quarter we entered 10 new cities in China," he said, adding Starbucks launches a store every 15 hours in China.