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Starbucks chief: Luckin won't beat us in China

February 8, 2019

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson doesn't expect competitor Luckin to beat the world's largest coffee brand in China by year's end, despite Luckin's claim it will have 4,500 stores in that time frame compared to Starbucks' current 3,600 locations. Luckin is a Chinese startup that launched at the start of 2018.

Johnson, who took the reins in spring of 2017, told CNBC that Luckin's claim is "unlikely," noting his company's 18 percent growth in new China stores as of the fourth quarter of 2018.

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