Esquires Coffee signs new Chinese deal

Ellen Zhang, the managing director of Esquires Coffee’s Chinese operations, and other members of Esquires’ corporate team have signed a deal which will see a number of franchised coffee shops pop up in China.

Zhang has put pen to paper with the Chinese retail conglomerate Bu Bu Gao (BBG) – also known as Better Life – who operated over 3,000 stores in the country and plan to open up ten new shopping centres in Hunan province, catering to the populations of Changsha, Shaoyang and Chenzhou.

At the moment Esquires has twenty-one outlets in China, with eleven of those being in the capital city of Beijing. Under this new agreement it is expected that the number of stores will rise to forty-five by the end of the year, all in what will be considered prime locations to take advantage of the booming middle-class.

The long-term plan will see hopefully see the chain open up at least one franchised coffee shop in each of China’s thirty-one separate provinces with thirty in Hunan alone.

“There’s a lot of opportunity for us in China,” Zhang explains. “There is a [growing] trend to drink coffee and talk business.

“At one time coffee would have been reserved for foreigners, and you would have had to go to a hotel to get it.

“Now, if Chinese people don’t visit coffee shops they are considered old-fashioned and behind the times!”

Speaking about the deal, BBG’s chairman Tian Wang commented about Esquires ethical position in the market place and indicated that it will give them a competitive advantage in a growing marketplace.

“It’s Organic, Fairtrade and artisan position makes it an aspiration destination,” he said.

In an accompanying statement to the press, Esquires stated that they were on track to be operating 800 stores around the world by 2020.