Luckin enters vending machine sector

Luckin Coffee Inc, which surpassed Starbucks as the country's largest coffee chain operator in term of store numbers by the end of last year, said on Wednesday that it was entering the coffee and snack vending machine market to further expand its network, but this does not necessarily generate a quick boost to profits.

The Xiamen-based coffee chain operator will offer two kinds of machines including "Luckin Coffee Express", a coffee vending machine, and "Luckin Pop", a vending machine for snacks and beverages, to reach more consumers, particularly in office buildings.

Luckin Coffee said that it had 4,507 self-operated stores by the end of 2019 in China, making it the largest coffee chain in terms of stores. The company added 10 million new customers in the fourth quarter of last year and had 40 million customers as of Dec 31, 2019. Luckin attributed the growth in customers to hand-brewed tea drinks, snacks and new retail outlets.