Shanghai Has 10,000 Coffee Shops: Is the Specialty Coffee Boom Sustainable?
Over the past decade, coffee consumption in China has grown by 150%, far outpacing the global average. As of 2024, Shanghai is home to 9,115 coffee shops—more than London, New York, or Tokyo. Local roasters, specialty chains, and tech-driven retail concepts now form a complete ecosystem. … If you search online for how China’s specialty coffee market has evolved in recent years, you’ll see plenty of statistics like these. And Shanghai, more than any other city, stands at the center of it all. Whether viewed through the lens of history and culture, or through sheer economic momentum and speed of development, Shanghai has delivered what may be the most convincing report card for specialty coffee in China. These numbers almost justify calling it a global coffee capital—perhaps “one of” them, at least. But numbers alone are never the full story. To understand their deeper economic meaning, one premise must be made clear: a city is not defined as a coffee capital simply by the num...