Introduction:In recent years, an instant black coffee called PH Coffee quickly rose to fame due to celebrity endorsements, earning the label of a "Korean weight management brand." However, further investigation revealed that the product has never been officially launched in Korea. It is actually a China-Korea joint venture produced and sold exclusively in China. This article dissects the reasons behind its popularity, the truth about its origin, and its marketing strategy, helping consumers understand the reality behind trending products.
Recently, a simple-looking instant black coffee with transparent packaging and a built-in straw gained widespread attention after frequently appearing in the hands of popular celebrities. Netizens nicknamed it "PH Coffee." Officially named "POSITIVE HOTEL," the brand’s official channels emphasize that it is a well-known Korean brand targeting the Korean entertainment industry’s weight management market. It claims to be "loved by top-tier celebrities" and to have "created a craze on Korean social media," successfully attracting a large number of fans to purchase it.
Beyond celebrity influence, PH Coffee’s marketing extends across multiple social platforms, with related hashtags accumulating over 20,000 discussions. Many users share their drinking experiences and weight loss results, further reinforcing its image as a "healthy fat-reducing" product. This strategy precisely targets consumers looking to lose weight, prompting many to try it out.
However, according to in-depth investigations, this "Korean-made" instant coffee, often seen in the hands of celebrities, has never officially entered the Korean market. Reports indicate that the brand’s Chinese market operator and trademark registration company are both "Beijing Zhengnengliang Meineng Biotechnology Co., Ltd." Ownership structure shows that a small local trading company based in Nanchang holds 70% of the shares, while the so-called Korean PH brand company "POSITIVE HOTEL CO., LTD" only owns 30%, making it a China-Korea joint venture overall.
In fact, before the end of 2023, the PH brand primarily dealt in meal replacement products. It wasn’t until December 2023, when its first coffee product, "Ceylon Cinnamon Black Coffee," was launched, that it rapidly gained popularity across various platforms. Leveraging popular labels such as "imported brand," "celebrity-endorsed," and "effective fat reduction," PH Coffee has seen explosive sales growth over the past year.
It is understood that PH Coffee’s black coffee series is priced between 49 and 69 RMB per box, with each box containing 7 sachets, translating to a single-serving price of about 7 to 9.9 RMB—placing it in the mid-to-high price range among similar products. However, data shows that by April 2024, the series achieved a year-on-year sales growth rate of 1000%, with several flavors on e-commerce platforms selling over 10,000 units. Among them, the "Mediterranean Black Coffee" series topped the sales charts with 292,000 units sold.
Notably, on the product lineup listed on the official POSITIVE HOTEL Korean website, while it includes a variety of items such as meal replacement shakes and health supplements, the highly popular instant black coffee in China is nowhere to be found.
In response to market concerns, the brand’s Chinese operating company stated that all PH Coffee products are manufactured within China and are currently sold only in the Chinese market. According to publicly available production information, the coffee series is produced by "Xinghua Dong’ao Food Co., Ltd." and "Tianyi Food (Xuzhou) Co., Ltd."
Additionally, it has been observed that in e-commerce platform livestream categories, PH Coffee is classified under "health food" rather than the usual "instant beverage" category for coffee. The brand explained that since its early main products were meal replacements and the coffee series was launched later, the platform’s system automatically categorized it under health food.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
