Luckin Coffee Eyes Nestlé's Blue Bottle in Bid to Capture Premium Market
December 24 - 2025
Coffee Geography Magazine
China’s Luckin Coffee is reportedly considering a bid for Nestlé’s Blue Bottle Coffee. According to sources familiar with the discussions, Luckin and its principal backer, Centurium Capital, are evaluating a potential acquisition of the specialty brand as part of a broader strategy to pursue high-end growth opportunities both within China and globally. This exploration has also included assessments of other targets, such as Coca-Cola’s Costa Coffee, though a transaction involving Costa is now seen as unlikely.
Luckin’s financial resilience forms a critical backdrop to its acquisitive ambitions. Having recovered decisively from its 2020 delisting from Nasdaq after an accounting scandal, the company reported robust earnings for the quarter ending September, with net revenue reaching US$2.1 billion—a 50 per cent year-on-year surge—and net income of approximately US$180 million. During that same period, Luckin added a net 3,008 new outlets, expanding into Singapore, Malaysia, and the United States, to bring its total global footprint to 29,214 locations.
Since its founding in 2017, Luckin Coffee has executed a meteoric rise, constructing one of the world’s largest coffee retail networks through aggressive store expansion and a value-oriented model featuring low-cost beverages and innovative customized drinks like coconut and cheese lattes. The company has even surpassed Starbucks in store count within China, a market where the American giant recently moved to sell a majority stake in its local operations to Boyu Capital.
On the other side of the potential deal, Nestlé is working with Morgan Stanley to evaluate strategic options for Blue Bottle Coffee, a brand it acquired a 68 per cent stake in for about US$425 million in 2017. Founded in California in 2002, Blue Bottle cultivated a loyal following for its high-end, meticulously sourced specialty coffee and now operates cafés across the United States and Asia, including in China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The review is part of a wider portfolio streamlining effort under CEO Philipp Navratil, aimed at reducing Nestlé’s exposure to operating physical coffee shops while refocusing resources on its core packaged coffee and retail businesses.
A successful acquisition would mark a strategic pivot for Luckin, enabling it to leverage Blue Bottle’s premium reputation and global footprint to elevate its own brand perception and deepen its penetration into the specialty coffee market.