1 Billion Chinese Have Never Tried Coffee? How Deep Is the Urban-Rural “Coffee Gap”?

 Outside a trendy café on Nanjing West Road in Shanghai, young people line up holding seasonal “Osmanthus Latte” cups for photos. In office buildings, coffee delivery lockers are restocked by riders every ten minutes, with a single locker serving over 300 cups daily. Thousands of miles away, at a county market in Yichang, Hubei, vendor Lao Wang’s drink cart prominently advertises “soy milk, black tea, iced cola,” while the word “coffee” appears in tiny print at the bottom of the menu. When middle school students ask about it, he laughs and waves them off: “That stuff tastes bitter like herbal medicine. I hear it keeps you awake all night. Better grab some black tea—three yuan, quenches thirst and calms you.”

These starkly contrasting scenes paint a vivid picture of China’s coffee consumption market. According to professional estimates for 2025, between 1 billion and 1.27 billion people in China have never had coffee. Behind this number lies a complex landscape shaped by consumption tiers, cultural differences, and market development stages.

This enormous figure isn’t a marketing gimmick or a simple statistical trick—it’s the result of varying definitions and consumption habits colliding. To understand it, we first need to peel back the statistical fog behind “penetration rates.”

The 2025 China Coffee Industry Development Report by iiMedia Research defines an 18.5% market penetration rate as “regular consumers who drink coffee at least once a week,” representing about 262 million people, mostly office workers aged 25–40 in first- and second-tier cities. However, if the standard is strictly defined as “never having tried any form of coffee, including instant or ready-to-drink,” and combined with the sub-10% penetration in lower-tier markets, the number of people who have never consumed coffee exceeds 1.2 billion.

Data discrepancies make the picture even more interesting. The 2025 TikTok e-commerce report citing “1 billion people have never drunk coffee” actually excludes beverages containing coffee ingredients. That report counts only pure coffee drinks (freshly brewed, instant, or capsule). Including drinks like “coffee milk tea” or energy drinks with coffee extract would reduce the number of non-drinkers to 830 million. Supplementary data from the China Food Industry Association reinforces this point: in 2025, the ready-to-drink coffee market is projected to reach 68 billion yuan, accounting for 22% of the total coffee market. Yet 63% of these consumers admit they “drink occasionally and can’t tell the difference between a latte and an Americano,” showing that even broad coffee consumption doesn’t equal stable recognition. These differences in statistical criteria highlight how the very definition of “never having had coffee” reflects the market’s complexity.

Regional disparities make this complexity tangible. In first- and second-tier cities, coffee has long surpassed its role as a simple pick-me-up and become a lifestyle symbol. By 2025, Shanghai has 3.8 cafés per 10,000 people, with an average annual consumption of nearly 80 cups per person. Many white-collar workers’ breakfast routines include “an Americano and a whole-grain sandwich,” and local café owners can remember regular customers’ preferences—“Ms. Zhang’s iced latte with less sugar, Mr. Li’s Americano double shot.” In Guangzhou’s Tianhe CBD, lines of laptop-toting office workers form in front of automated coffee machines during rush hour, with a single machine serving over 200 cups per day.

New first-tier cities show slightly lower numbers but rapid growth. In 2025, Chengdu has over 8,000 cafés, a 45% increase from 2023. Hybrid “coffee + tea house” locations have become trendy check-in spots, where young people can order a dirty coffee or a traditional gaiwan tea.

In third-tier and lower-tier cities, especially rural areas, coffee’s “presence” drops sharply. In a commercial street of a county in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, Luckin is the only chain café. Its “9.9 yuan per cup” strategy attracts students and returning youth, but five kilometers away in townships, instant coffee on supermarket shelves gathers a thin layer of dust. Sales staff admit: “We sell fewer than ten boxes a month; most are bought by migrant workers for their kids to try.” Euromonitor’s sampling survey in rural Yunnan, Guizhou, and Henan is even more striking: the average coffee penetration rate is just 3.8%, with only 3.2% of residents aged 18–60 having tried coffee, and 87% of them “occasionally during work outside the county,” while self-initiated local consumption is below 1%. This “urban-rural gap” forms the core of the 1 billion non-drinking population.

Faced with this untapped “blue ocean,” the coffee industry has already begun a “downward penetration” strategy, tailoring brand and product strategies to meet lower-tier market needs.

In 2025, Luckin upgraded its “county store expansion plan,” aiming to open 1,500 new county stores. They feature low-cost combos like “9.9 yuan Americano + 12.9 yuan latte” and student discount cards—20% off with a student ID—and “Monday Coffee Day” promotions for county teachers, buy one get one free. Kudi adopts a flexible “store-in-store” model, partnering with county supermarkets and gas stations to reduce rent, selling freshly brewed coffee for 8–15 yuan and offering breakfast sets like “coffee + bread” suited to township consumers. Instant coffee brands are also adjusting: Sumidagawa’s “small pack instant” is compact and portable, with labels suggesting pairing with brown sugar or milk to suit rural taste preferences. Nestlé partners with Pinduoduo to launch “Coffee Supporting Farmers” gift boxes, processing Yunnan coffee beans into instant coffee and offering wholesale at 9.9 yuan for 20 sticks, selling over 2 million units in the first half of 2025. E-commerce platforms bridge the gap: TikTok livestreams featuring “county coffee specials” show hosts brewing coffee live with practical tips like “add a spoon of honey to reduce bitterness” or “use less espresso after 4 PM,” often generating sales over 5 million yuan per session. Pinduoduo’s “Agricultural Cloud Group Buy” lets rural consumers buy instant coffee at 3.5 yuan per stick, with first-half 2025 rural sales growing 120% year-over-year.

However, penetrating lower-tier markets is not smooth. Price sensitivity, cultural awareness, and distribution barriers remain three major hurdles. Rural consumers’ psychological price point is 15–25 yuan, while mainstream freshly brewed coffee costs 20–30 yuan. Even with discounts, some township consumers feel “it’s cheaper to buy three teas for the price of one coffee.” Surveys in a Guizhou county show 65% believe coffee is “not worth it.” Cultural barriers are harder to overcome: rural tea-drinking habits are deeply ingrained. In a Henan village survey, 72% of older adults said, “Coffee is a young person’s foreign toy; we’re not used to it,” and 38% worry “coffee hurts the stomach or affects sleep.” Even younger people often see coffee as “social currency”—“I’ll buy it when hanging out with friends, but I still brew tea at home.” Distribution challenges are also significant: rural deliveries often take 3–5 days, fresh milk and syrups required for brewed coffee are hard to preserve, and township convenience stores have limited refrigerated space, leaving ready-to-drink coffee in corners with less than 20% exposure compared to first-tier cities. In some remote areas, instant coffee is only available online, with logistics costs accounting for 15% of the price.

In fact, the “1 billion people who have never had coffee” figure reflects more than just consumption data—it’s a snapshot of social stratification and lifestyle differences in China.

From an income perspective, in 2024, per capita disposable income in first-tier cities is around 78,000 yuan, while rural residents average 24,000 yuan. A 20-yuan freshly brewed coffee equals a third of a rural resident’s daily living expenses but only 1/20 for a first-tier city dweller. Daily pace also matters: urban commuters spend over 1.5 hours traveling and face high work pressure, driving strong demand for coffee’s “energizing function.” Rural areas are slower-paced, favoring “slow tea drinking” for relaxation, with tea’s “health attributes” appealing to older adults. Exposure to culture differs as well: urban residents encounter coffee through travel, media, and cross-border interactions, whereas rural residents’ exposure is mostly local, leaving coffee’s “strangeness” intact. These differences aren’t “better or worse,” but reflect market diversity—coffee and tea are different lifestyle choices, not a comparison of “advanced vs. backward.”

Subtle changes are now emerging, possibly key to breaking these barriers. In a county milk tea shop in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, “coffee milk green tea” became a summer hit, combining local green tea with coffee and lowering sweetness to suit local tastes, selling over 2,000 cups per month. In a Guizhou township convenience store, ready-to-drink coffee shelves moved from corners to near the cashier, increasing stock visibility from 15% in 2024 to 28% in 2025, and “5-yuan Americano” became accepted by students. In rural e-commerce livestreams, hosts teach viewers how to “pair coffee with corn porridge” or “make coffee-flavored steamed buns,” integrating coffee into local food scenes, significantly boosting acceptance.

Generational shifts are also notable: Euromonitor’s 2025 survey shows 35% of 18–25-year-olds in county markets have tried coffee, compared with only 5% of those over 45, and 21% say they are “willing to try once a week.” As these young consumers become the main market force, coffee’s “downward penetration” may accelerate.

Perhaps one day, Lao Wang at the Yichang market will confidently ask customers, “Iced Americano or hot latte, with milk?” Or elderly rural residents in Yunnan will try “coffee-flavored Pu’er tea.” Only then can we truly say: coffee in China is no longer “exclusive to city dwellers” but a part of diverse daily life. Until then, the 1 billion non-drinkers represent the “hidden half of the iceberg,” the most promising growth space in China’s consumer market—it’s not just a coffee industry opportunity, but a vivid reflection of urban-rural integration and cultural diversity in China.