Caffeine Buzz! Luckin Sells 5.4 million Moutai Lattes in One Day

Talk about a buzz. Anyone on Chinese social media platforms this week no doubt saw a deluge of posts about the nationwide chain Luckin Coffee and the nation's top alcohol brand Moutai partnering on a latte.

For those unfamiliar with Chinese alcohol, Moutai is a brand of baijiu, a spirit typically made from sorghum and weighing in at 53 percent alcohol by volume. And typically consumed "bottoms up" style.

In this case, Luckin used it in a Latte and reported sales of 5.4 million units worth RMB100 million / US$14 million in just one day (see below).

The promotion comes as baijiu companies desperately seek new ways to reach consumers.

I can tell you from nine years of running World Baijiu Day, an event I created to get people to try this spirit in new ways, that this concern is real. I have heard it in meetings with individual companies and after presentations that I've done on World Baijiu Day, including in re baijiu and coffee.

Moutai also made a splash last year with its ice cream and we have seen plenty of initiatives by baijiu producers in general, from cocktail contests to afternoon tea at Harrod's London.

Of course, nothing is particularly creative about baijiu and coffee. We've seen it before, including eight years ago when Pacific Coffee in China released a trio of concoctions.

And when World Baijiu Day got started, partners around the planet were working with baijiu and coffee. A few examples:

• Peking Tavern in Los Angeles offered "Peking Coffee": baijiu and horchata liqueur garnished with a cinnamon stick.
• The former Fu baijiu bar in Liverpool sold coffee-infused baijiu.
• Good Works Coffee and Pop-Up Beijing partnered to make Moutai Mocha (see below).
• And the Schoolhouse at Mutianyu, near the Great Wall of China, regularly made coffee-baijiu liqueur.

So why did this week's campaign resound so much with consumers?

Maybe because Moutai is not only incredibly famous but also insanely expensive, thus giving people the chance to indulge, and opine, for a small price--the lattes sold, at a discount, for RMB19 / USD 2.50 each.

And because the number of Luckin shops made it easy for people to share the experience across the country. (Pacific Coffee, for example, had a much smaller footprint, as did those venues selling Moutai ice cream initially.)

And because it allowed people to release their creativity. There is no shortage of people posting videos of their often humorous adventures making baijiu coffees--or even teas--or putting a twist on the Luckin Lattes.

And because there is growing pride in successful Chinese products and Moutai, ranked as the world's most valuable spirits brand by Brand Finance, taps into this.

Also, the promotion raised lots of topics that spurred online debate. How much Moutai could really be in the Lattes given that spirit's price? (Apparently, about half a percent.)

Was it really a good idea for a high-end brand like Moutai to partner with a ho-hum coffee chain like Luckin? Will there be long-term benefits or will this move quickly be forgotten much like that McDonald's Spam & Oreo burger that also generated much social media traffic? Etc.

In any case, for those interested in how baijiu can be used in creative ways, I suggest checking out what World Baijiu Day partners have done in 60-plus cities since 2015, with baijiu-inspired cocktails, infusions, gelatos, chocolates, beer, food pairings and more.

You can find the lists for 2023 here, for 2022 here and for 2021 here.

Many venues listed at those links feature baijiu all year, from the Surfer's Bar in Stockholm to Sanyou baijiu bar in Guangzhou to Peking Tavern in Los Angeles to Cream Story gelato in Shenzhen (below).

[Check out my projects: Grape Wall of China, World Baijiu Day and World Marselan Day.]