Luckin Coffee — China’s largest coffee chain that set up shop in Gotham in June of 2025 and has since been competing with American coffee giants like Starbucks — may just froth over with another win.
Centurium Capital Partners, the buyout firm that helped turn around the Chinese coffee market leader, is acquiring the upscale chain Blue Bottle Coffee from Nestlé SA for less than $400 million — nearly half of the $700 million asking price.
Blue Bottle Coffee, which was founded in 2002 in Oakland, California, has outlets in the US, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.
Neither Centurium nor Nestlé agreed to comment on the deal when asked by Caixin Global.
The deal goes hand-in-hand with the rapid expansion of Luckin, which was established in October 2009 in Beijing and just opened up its 30,000th store in China, according to the South China Morning Post. The caffeine powerhouse now has 10 locations in the Big Apple, where coffees start at $1.99 for first-time customers.
Costs have also been cut by the minimalist chain through app-only ordering and no seating in-house, leading to the lower-than-average industry prices.
Manhattan resident and content creator Alexa Speciale is a fan of the bargain brews and told The Post that her Coconut Latte was “good” with “bold espresso flavor.”
It also didn’t hurt that she only paid $2 for the drink.
“Everything always tastes a little bit better when it’s cheaper,” quipped Speciale.
“There is a coffee shop culture in the city that I don’t think will ever die,” Speciale added. “I also think there’s a whole group of people that are afraid of the mobile order-only thing. But I do think that they’re here to stay.”
This sentiment rings true for New Yorkers as a whole, as Gothamites are increasingly turning away from caffeine juggernauts like Starbucks and other pricey locales. Starbucks recently closed a whopping 42 of its shops across the Big Apple — a significant portion of the purge of 400 branches nationwide due to decreasing sales.
Once enamored by the Seattle-founded juggernaut, New Yorkers seem to be forgoing the corporate behemoth in favor of fresh new spots that offer better-tasting coffee at a more reasonable price.
Peter Giuliano, a coffee expert, compared the Chinese chains to the legendary automats — coin-operated, self-service food kiosks that grew popular in the ’60s and ’70s but are now being fancied by nostalgists, and possibly even coming back in the future.
“Embracing automation and quick service is a way to keep prices low in a competitive market like New York,” Giuliano told The Post.
