Starbucks China is set to lower the prices of some of its iced drinks as competition in the country’s coffee and café sector continues to intensify.
The company announced it will lower prices of the selected beverages by an average of ¥5 (US$0.70) from 10 June. Some items will now be priced as low as ¥23 (US$3.20) according to a post made by the company on social network Weixin.
With more than 7500 stores across more than 250 cities, China is Starbucks’ second largest market behind the United States (US), where it holds more than 17,000 locations.
The emergence of local giant Luckin Coffee, which is now China’s largest café chain, has drastically increased competition in the sector across the region. Luckin offers some drinks priced below ¥10 (US$1.39) and is reportedly positioning to open its first US store.
Luckin overtook Starbucks as China’s largest coffee chain in 2023, and in its recent unaudited Q1 2025 report stated more than 24,000 Luckin stands were in operation as of 31 March 2025 in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Starbucks China is set to make further changes to its non-coffee offerings in the coming weeks and will launch three new Iced Shaken Teas in collaboration with Disney’s Zootopia, ahead of the cinematic release of Zootopia 2 later this year.
