What happened to Starbucks and Ruixing?

On May 16, Luckin Coffee, founded by former UCAR Group Qian, said that it had recently encountered unfair competition from Starbucks in its business development and planned to file a civil lawsuit with the relevant court and complain to the national anti-monopoly administrative law enforcement agency.

Luckin Coffee said that there are exclusive clauses in the contracts signed by Starbucks with several properties. Starbucks often puts pressure on Luckin Coffee's supplier partners to queue up. Luckin Coffee said that Starbucks is suspected of monopolistic behavior and plans to file a civil lawsuit with the relevant court.

Starbucks also responded to this matter yesterday. Starbucks said that China's coffee market is huge, fully competitive and developing rapidly. Have no intention of participating in the market hype of other brands. We welcome orderly competition, mutual promotion and continuous innovation.

The following is the full text of Starbucks' response:

The coffee market in China is huge, competitive and developing rapidly.

After nearly 20 years of deep cultivation in China, Starbucks has the honor to participate in and witness the cultivation and growth of China's coffee market, and has established long-term cooperation with many industry partners, working side by side with 45,000 employees to build mutual trust. We are always committed to bringing the high-quality Starbucks experience of "everyone, every cup and every community" to China consumers.

We have no intention of participating in the market hype of other brands. We welcome orderly competition, mutual promotion, continuous innovation, continuous improvement of quality and service, and create real value for China consumers.