Pacific Coffee

How CRE lost out on a $111B industry When your market cap is $12B and you make up less than 0.1% of a $111B market, would you care about innovation? The speciality coffee industry in China alone makes up $51.9B which appreciates up to 13.3% year-on-year. With the aggressive store openings by CRE in 2016. Pacific Coffee overtook Costa Coffee’s #2 in China's Coffee Industry. Pacific Coffee reached its peak in 2017, with over 500 stores across Hong Kong and Mainland China - To now in 2026, Pacific coffee closed 100% of all its store operations in Mainland China. After CRE's 2018 Pacific Tea expansion failed to gain its expected traction. They halted all store openings and gradually withdrew its presence from Mainland China. In the same year, Starbucks pivoted to mobile ordering and captured 58.6% of the Chinese Coffee market. Pacific Coffee held 2%. With no disclosed P&L from CRE on Pacific Coffee's performance in recent years, the only numbers we do have, tell us that: As of 2026, CRE’s only viable move is to either restructure and follow the consumer market trends or go completely against it. Pacific Coffee entered a market that rewarded craft and experience. When it shifted to convenience and efficiency, CRE stood still and Pacific Coffee sank.