China’s Starbucks Challenger Eyes Middle Eastern Foray

ABOUT US

CX Tech is Caixin Global's real-time tech news portal, featuring 24-hour news, short-form analysis, and roundups from business and tech media in China.

TRENDING: Unitree to Debut at 61 Billion Yuan Valuation in Closely Watched Shanghai IPO; U.S. Appeals Court Orders Review of Pentagon’s DJI Designation; Alibaba to Sell Gaming Unit as It Sharpens AI Focus

LATEST: U.S. Appeals Court Orders Review of Pentagon’s DJI Designation; Unitree to Debut at 61 Billion Yuan Valuation in Closely Watched Shanghai IPO; Alibaba to Sell Gaming Unit as It Sharpens AI Focus; China’s DJI and Arashi Vision Escalate Battle for 360-Camera Market; Didi Swings to Quarterly Profit, but Overseas Push Weighs on First-Half Results; Z.AI Pushes AI Model With Coding Edge to Rival Anthropic, Open AI; DeepSeek Launches V4-Pro and Raises API Prices by as Much as 1,100%; Tencent Shares Fall as AI Spending Squeezes Profit; Honor’s New Smartphone Doubles as a Robotic Camera Operator; YMTC Overtakes Kioxia by Shipments to Rank No. 3 in Global NAND Market; ModelBest Begins Pre-IPO Tutoring as On-Device AI Competition Heats Up; U.S. Proposes Ban on Domestic Drone Maker Over Alleged DJI Ties; Manus Cuts Ties With Meta as Tencent Emerges as Top Backer; Cautious Regulators Steer China’s Flying Vehicle Industry to Prioritize Cargo Over Commuters; Alibaba Opens Qwen Platform to Outside Developers in Push to Build AI-Agent Ecosystem; Moore Threads Plans Hong Kong Listing to Fuel AI Chip Push; Beyond the Backflips: Unitree Robotics Faces High Expectations Ahead of Shanghai Debut; ByteDance Accepts AI Gap, Sticks With In-House Models; MiniMax Shares Surge After Joining Hong Kong Stock Connect; Chinese Robotics Startup PokeBot Raises Hundreds of Millions of Dollars

By Shen Xinyue and Tang Ziyi / Jul 22, 2019 06:59 PM / Business & Tech

Photo: VCG

Upstart Chinese coffee brand Luckin said Monday that it plans to launch a joint venture with Kuwait-based food company Americana Group.

The move aims to expand Luckin’s retail business to the Greater Middle East and India, according to the company’s statement. Luckin did not offer further details about the venture.

Touted as a domestic challenger to market leader Starbucks, Beijing-based Luckin has been rapidly expanding its model of minimalist stores and heavily discounted beverages. Since its establishment in 2017, it has opened over 3,000 cafes in China and plans to roll out another 1,500 by the end of this year, the company said in the statement.

That number would top Starbucks, which has said it aims to have 4,200 locations in China by then.

Americana Group mainly engages in food manufacturing and distribution, according to its website. It currently operates 1,900 restaurants in 13 countries across the Middle East and North Africa.

Contact reporter Tang Ziyi ([email protected])

Share this article

Open WeChat and scan the QR code