"Have you ever jerked off in a café"?
This is not a joke, the seemingly outrageous combination of coffee + masturbation is the most common scene in the Cafe on the island today.
Once upon a time, Shangdao Coffee was a Starbucks standing. The magnificent decoration, the Western food that touches the taste buds, is full of a sense of luxury.
In the memories of the post-80s and 90s, dining at Shangdao Coffee is a luxurious and romantic thing. The first date, the first Western food enlightenment......
Now when you come to Shangdao Coffee, you can order a rice bowl to quench your hunger, you can also come to Xinjiang to satisfy your hunger, and even play mahjong.
How did Shangdao Coffee, which was once high, "go down to earth"?
All of this starts with the origin of Ueshima coffee.
The founder of Shangdao Coffee is a Taiwanese businessman, Chen Wenmin.
It is said that in the 60s of the 20th century, Chen Wenmin traveled to Japan. It was there that he tasted coffee for the first time. The fragrance that lingered between his lips and teeth for a long time and was difficult to disperse made him linger.
At that time, Chen Wenmin was thinking that if this kind of novelty was introduced into China, it would definitely set off a trend in the domestic market.
Chen Wenmin, who has a keen sense of business, immediately signed an agreement with Ueshima Coffee Co., Ltd. and brought coffee to Taiwan. Registered the trademark "Shangdao Coffee" in Taiwan and opened a café.
The decoration of Shangdao Coffee should be in the European style, luxurious, romantic, and the in-store consumption is not cheap.
This kind of lofty place is destined to discourage ordinary people.
Shangdao Coffee has been in Taiwan for nearly 30 years, and its business has always been tepid. Looking at the whole of Taiwan Province, there are only 20 chain stores.
So Chen Wenmin turned his attention to the mainland market.
At that time, Starbucks and other brands of coffee had not yet entered China, and the coffee market was in a blank state.
After he came to the mainland, he planned to cut off from the Japanese UCC Ueshima coffee, and promote and market the Ueshima coffee under the name of "originating from Taiwan".
This time, Chen Wenmin gathered 7 shareholders to raise funds together and prepare to jointly enter the mainland coffee market.
At that time, the other seven shareholders held 55% of the shares, and Chen Wenmin held 45% of the shares. According to the proportion of shares, Chen Wenmin took the position of general manager and was responsible for the operation of the coffee shop, while the other shareholders recommended a person named You Changsheng to be the chairman.
After everything was ready, Chen Wenmin came to Haikou, Hainan Province, and opened the first Shangdao Coffee, and the other shareholders chose Tianjin as their base.
With a new dining model and a luxurious tone, Shangdao Coffee quickly became popular in the mainland.
Many urban white-collar workers often go to spend and have fun, working-class people occasionally order some Western food and luxury, and countless couples in love even use Shangdao Coffee as a date check-in place.
At Ueshima Coffee, you feel like you're in Europe, with a white coffee cup and elegant music.
For a time, Shangdao coffee became a symbol of the trend in the 90s.
As Ueshima Coffee became more and more famous, the shareholders came up with a way to franchise and make the store fission across the country.
At that time, the coffee market in the mainland was in its infancy, and some merchants came to join Shangdao Coffee one after another, all wanting to get a piece of the pie.
According to incomplete statistics, in 2004, there were about 3,000 Shangdao coffee stores in the country.
It is a good thing that a brand can rise in the country. However, Shangdao Coffee is a partnership of several shareholders, so it is inevitable that there will be a situation where it is difficult to do so.
In the case of uneven distribution of profits again and again, and the contradictions could not be reconciled, several shareholders decided to completely separate the family.
The eight original shareholders determined their respective business scope in the mainland in the form of drawing lots.
After the separation, Chen Wenmin continued to use the brand name "Shangdao Coffee", while You Changsheng entered the Shanghai market with several other shareholders and established a new brand - Shanghai Shangdao.
Taiwan businessmen who rushed to the mainland market together with their flags formed two opposing forces, and chaos began on the island.
Each of them only cares about staking the land, and does not pay attention to the management of their stores. As a result, the taste of coffee varies from store to store, and prices vary.
Although it is a chain store with the same name, it is not affiliated with the same owner, and the membership card that is done in this store cannot be used when you go to that store.
The loopholes in management and the lack of systems have largely led to the loss of customers.
But what drove Ueshima Coffee to a desperate situation of life and death has to mention the irreconcilable infighting between those in power.
In this civil strife, Chen Wenmin's hole card was the original brand trademark of "Shangdao Coffee", so he used it to balance You Changsheng.
Chen Wenmin sued You Changsheng in court, claiming that Shanghai Shangdao illegally used the trademark of Shangdao Coffee without authorization.
At that time, the trademark infringement dispute was in an uproar and lasted for two years. The lawsuit ended in the end and ended with the defeat of the lawsuit on the island.
Losing the lawsuit means that all the stores that have previously joined through the branch of You Changsheng need to change their doors.
This wave of operations is not trivial, and about 800 stores across the country have been affected. The opening cost of each franchisee is calculated at 2.5 million yuan, and 175 million yuan of investment is affected in an instant, and the loss of profits is more than 10 million yuan.
You Changsheng suffered heavy losses, and Chen Minwen was also scolded by the business community, saying that he was not a gentleman who cut off people's wealth.
Chen Wenmin is unkind, and You Changsheng is also unjust.
After dormant for a long time, he found evidence that Hangzhou Shangdao Coffee produced coffee beans under the name of a pseudonym, and reported this illegal act to the Public Security Bureau.
In July of the same year, the relevant departments fined Shangdao Coffee 100,000 yuan.
The two bigwigs have slandered each other back and forth, which has greatly weakened the market competitiveness of Shangdao Coffee, and the reputation is getting worse and worse than before.
And just when Shangdao Coffee was engaged in infighting, Starbucks, which entered the Chinese market two years later than Shangdao, has been silently committed to cultivating the habit of drinking coffee among domestic consumers.
By 2020, Starbucks accounted for 36% of the coffee market share, while Shangdao Coffee only had 1.4%.
Competitors began to conquer the city, and Shangdao Coffee, whose status as the "coffee brother" was not guaranteed, was struggling to cope.
So much so that the life of franchisees is miserable, as if overnight, 3,000 Shangdao coffee franchise stores have disappeared collectively.
A good hand of cards was broken, and when the hindsight Shangdao Coffee wanted to revive itself, the coffee track was no longer what it was at its beginning.
Following Starbucks, the domestic coffee market has reappeared as a dark horse - Luckin Coffee.
From 2017 to 2022, in just a few years, Luckin has opened more than 8,000 stores across the country.
In the first three quarters of 2022 alone, it achieved revenue of about 9.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 73.5%, and an operating profit of 843 million.
And more entrants have also tried their best to grab the market: "Post Office Coffee" launched by China Post, "Tims" and "Yangyang Coffee" are eyeing to be listed.
Seeing that it fell to the altar, Shangdao Coffee's business was unsustainable, and finally found another way to sell Chinese food to continue his life.
So, now when I walk into Shangdao Coffee, I am greeted by this scene:
The delicately embroidered tablecloth on the table is gone, and the fine foie gras on the plate is gone.
There are all kinds of Chinese food, such as hairy blood, fat intestine noodles, and green onion cakes. From the south to the north, there are all kinds of flavors from all over the country, and the recipes are as thick as a dictionary.
When I entered the door of Shangdao Coffee before, the whole person seemed to have become elegant, talking softly, and tasting coffee in small sips.
Now it's not surprising to be here to skewer, eat melon seeds, and chat. There are even businessmen who suck the pimple soup while saying "happy cooperation" to the partner opposite.
Young people like to eat hot pot, and Shangdao Coffee has launched Sichuan hot pot as it likes; middle-aged people like to play mahjong, so they simply use the afternoon time to add chess and card rooms to meet the requirements of consumers.
When someone wants to eat Western food, the chef who is proficient in all kinds of martial arts at Shangdao Coffee will also serve you wholeheartedly.
It's just that if you are afraid that the vegetable salad will be too bland, you will add a handful of coriander, you will add a few millet spicy, you will be afraid that customers will not use knives and forks, and you will also serve pasta with a pair of chopsticks.
Today's Shangdao Coffee has completely torn off the fig leaf of "elegant coffee shop", and it is really open to the idea of having fun with the people.
This combination of Chinese and Western operations does not seem to be at all in line with the original positioning of Shangdao Coffee.
But for the franchisees of Shangdao Coffee, it is good to survive in such a field where "dad doesn't love mom and doesn't love".
After operating "Chinese", Shangdao Coffee has gradually gained a glimmer of life, and its SKU can reach 600+.
Abandoning the unattainable façade of the past, the down-to-earth Shangdao Coffee has received a lot of positive feedback in the mouths of consumers.
Customers all said: There is no more restaurant, than the island coffee menu is complete, the island coffee dishes are very cost-effective, will come again in the future.
Looking at the European-style LOGO, the gilded font, and then sniffing the vague smell of oil smoke, we who have left green memories on the island coffee, inevitably have ripples in our hearts: everything really can't be repeated.
Shangdao Coffee has changed from the first coffee brother in the past to the soul of today's food stalls, which is somewhat regrettable.
Some people say that the loneliness of Ueshima Coffee is the key to the internal contradictions of those in power.
At that time, they came to the mainland from Taiwan in high spirits and dominated the domestic coffee market for many years, but finally forgot their original intention driven by interests.
Some people also say that Shangdao Coffee has come to this point is the inevitable result of the development of the times.
In fact, at the beginning, Shangdao was not essentially selling coffee, but selling a certain style and exquisite lifestyle.
Coffee + Western-style light meal + comfortable environment, it was almost the best choice for all kinds of dating and dating at that time. Nowadays, these three things are becoming more and more common, and it is inevitable that the end of Shangdao Coffee will be restored.
Nowadays, the business model full of fireworks has become the road that Shangdao Coffee has to take.
I hope that on this road of trying to save itself, Ueshima Coffee can go further and go longer.
-END-
Resources:
Bilibili "The Great Defeat of Shangdao Coffee"
Business Media "Another Business Giant Has Fallen"
Sohu.com "Shangdao Coffee Reduced to a Food Stall"
Insight Finance "Shangdao Coffee Saves Itself by Selling Chinese Food"
Author: Mandarin Tail Blue