Introduction:The parent company of the education brand Yuanfudao has pivoted to the coffee industry, launching its high-end new brand Grid Coffee. Its first brick-and-mortar store opened at Beijing’s Wangfujing Yintai in88, focusing on two major product lines—classic and pour over—priced between 25 and 30 yuan. During the trial period, pour over coffee alone sold over 800 cups. This article delves into its product strategy, competitive landscape, and market challenges, helping readers understand how this new brand is seeking a breakthrough in the highly competitive specialty coffee market.
Yuanfudao, a well-known name in the education sector, now officially enters the coffee business through its parent company with the launch of the premium brand Grid Coffee. The brand’s first physical store is located in the Yintai in88 mall in Beijing’s Wangfujing area, positioning itself in the specialty coffee segment by emphasizing two main product categories: classic and pour over. Prices range from 25 to 30 yuan. In just 48 hours of trial operation, it achieved impressive sales of 1,068 cups, with pour over coffee accounting for over 80%—highlighting the strong market appeal of its pour over offerings.
Grid Coffee is wholly owned by Beijing Dan Yi Qi Yuan Coffee Co., Ltd., an affiliate of Yuanfudao’s parent company. Established on December 31, 2021, the company’s core management team consists mostly of original founding members of Yuanfudao. In terms of store style, Grid Coffee adopts an internet-famous café aesthetic, featuring an eye-catching dark green grid emblem as its visual identity, which has successfully captured the attention of passersby.
According to menu information on the Dianping platform, Grid Coffee currently offers 21 beverages, divided into two categories: classic coffee and pour over coffee. Classic coffee is further divided into black coffee and milk coffee, each priced between 23 and 32 yuan, catering to consumers who enjoy espresso or latte flavors. The pour over series selects a variety of single-origin coffee beans, offering eight different single-origin pour over options based on different roast levels and flavor profiles. Prices range from 25 to 31 yuan, allowing customers to choose from light to medium-dark roasts according to personal taste preferences and experience a richer spectrum of coffee flavor layers.
As early as August of this year, the Grid Coffee team set up a pop-up store near the official location for market testing. According to official brand information, within the first 48 hours of the pop-up’s trial operation, a total of 1,068 cups of coffee were sold, with pour over coffee surpassing 800 cups—demonstrating high consumer interest in the pour over options. These results not only laid a solid foundation for the opening of the official store but also reflect that in the specialty coffee market, the pour over category is gradually becoming a key item for attracting core coffee enthusiasts.
As of September 9, Grid Coffee has opened two locations in Beijing—located in the Wangfujing and Sanlitun commercial districts—with two more new stores in the planning stages. Notably, the Sanlitun Taikoo Li area is already a fiercely competitive battleground for both international and local premium coffee brands. Aside from Grid Coffee, well-known brands such as Starbucks, %Arabica, and Peet’s Coffee have also established a presence there, underscoring the intensity of competition.
In fact, this is not the first time Yuanfudao has ventured beyond education. Between 2020 and 2021, as the tutoring industry faced increased traffic competition and policy adjustments, Yuanfudao gradually faded from the spotlight. After the implementation of the “Double Reduction” policy in 2021, the brand went quiet for a while, until it returned to public attention with its coffee shops. Additionally, in October last year, the down jacket brand “Ice Origin Apparel,” invested in by Yuanfudao’s parent company, also sparked market discussion. The company officially explained that this project was operated by an independent team and had no relation to the core education business.
In response to external questions about the relationship between Grid Coffee and Yuanfudao, the brand stated that Grid Coffee is an independently operated coffee brand, highlighting that the parent company is adopting a dual-track strategy: one that maintains its foothold in the education sector, while actively expanding into new territories in the consumer market.
Looking at the overall Chinese coffee market, its scale continues to expand, and consumer demand for coffee quality and flavor is increasing. However, although Grid Coffee is riding the wave of market growth, it still faces challenges from both international chains and domestic specialty brands. Especially in high-end commercial areas like Sanlitun, aside from well-known global brands, numerous local boutique cafés are also vying for market share. How Grid Coffee can establish brand identity and customer loyalty in this environment will be a crucial challenge for its future development.
Overall, Grid Coffee has carved out a niche with its refined design, reasonable pricing, and focus on pour over coffee, giving it certain competitive advantages. But whether it can hold its ground and carve out a space in this highly competitive coffee battlefield remains to be validated by time and market feedback.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
