Even if we decided not to have any cafes recently, we were asked to set up a cafe in a big office building, in Beijing area, with the most attractable conditions in the market.

Yes, we decided to take it for such a good condition and also a chance to educate people how good an esresso and coffee drinks can be tasty. As the market need more cafes where people can find good coffee drinks, we can do it slowly and one by one. It seems that there will be more people knowing what a good coffee drink can be and where to find it. We shall have more and more chance to set up our own cafes, in such a big city. Or, maybe also for other cities.

Chinese clients are new to taste coffee, and need longer time to get used to it. It takes more longer time to know what is good or not. For this reason, we have waited for years and at last, it is started.

About months ago, a Singaporean market runner offered a good place and condition to the runner of *$s for northern China, and one of our trainees in 2002 was their chief of coffee operators, baristas. What they do is obviously a copy of *$s, and as you can imagine, what it will be. In my understanding, *$s is really succeeded in commercial and marketing, but not products of coffee drinks. The most important can be the time of end of 1980s, which no one can copy at all.


My comments:

As my business experience, the one who can win the game with *$s is only the one who has stronger conditions than *$s in some way, to compensate the time which *$s owned. A simple copy of the original can make no sense, I believe. Such things had been seen so many in different fields of the world market.

Forget about the different opinions of espresso and its quality, let's concentrate on the marketing and the business side of the coffee market. It could be happened around the world.

Blenz Coffee, came to Beijing of China, five years ago. Their first cafe was closed due to the poor business and poor organizaiton. They have only a copy of *$s, but worse than it. So, they are not able to open their own cafes, but receive only franchisees as investers. They are limited only in Beijing and Guangzhou, but almost not seen in Beijing, at least not in the downtown. For Guangzhou, there are not many cafes use prof. machines, so we have to educate local investers and to change the situation.

For other cafes, from different countries, no osunds can be heard, neither good comments from clients.

Welcome to comments and discuss about the business of coffee market around the world.