Luckin Coffee snaps up Nestle’s Blue Bottle for a – Business News
Luckin Coffee — China’s largest espresso chain that set up store in Gotham in June of 2025 and has since been competing with American espresso giants like Starbucks — could froth over with one other win.
Centurium Capital Partners, the buyout firm that helped flip across the Chinese espresso market chief, is buying the upscale chain Blue Bottle Coffee from Nestlé SA for much less than $400 million — almost half of the $700 million asking price.
Centurium Capital Partners of Luckin Coffee fame is buying Blue Bottle Coffee from Nestlé SA for much less than $400 million. REUTERS
Blue Bottle Coffee, which was based in 2002 in Oakland, California, has retailers within the US, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.
Neither Centurium nor Nestlé agreed to touch upon the deal when requested by Caixin Global.
The deal goes hand-in-hand with the speedy growth of Luckin, which was established in October 2009 in Beijing and simply opened up its 30,000th store in China, in line with the South China Morning Post. The caffeine powerhouse now has 10 areas within the Big Apple, the place coffees begin at $1.99 for first-time prospects.
Luckin Coffee costs are famously on a budget aspect. stefano Giovannini for NY Post
Costs have additionally been cut by the minimalist chain by app-only ordering and no seating in-house, resulting in the lower-than-average industry costs.
Manhattan resident and content material creator Alexa Speciale is a fan of the discount brews and informed The Post that her Coconut Latte was “good” with “bold espresso flavor.”
It additionally didn’t harm that she solely 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 complete, as Gothamites are more and more turning away from caffeine juggernauts like Starbucks and different expensive locales. Starbucks lately closed a whopping 42 of its retailers throughout the Big Apple — a significant slice of the purge of 400 branches nationwide resulting from lowering gross sales.
Guests take pleasure in their Luckin espresso. stefano Giovannini for NY Post
Once enamored by the Seattle-founded juggernaut, New Yorkers appear to be forgoing the company behemoth in favor of contemporary new spots that offer better-tasting espresso at a more affordable price.
Peter Giuliano, a espresso knowledgeable, in contrast the Chinese chains to the legendary automats — coin-operated, self-service food kiosks that grew common within the ’60s and ’70s however are actually being fancied by nostalgists, and probably even coming back sooner or later.
“Embracing automation and quick service is a way to keep prices low in a competitive market like New York,” Giuliano informed The Post.
