China’s Luckin Coffee Was Delisted From the US After A Massive Fraud — It’s Coming Back Ashore With Its First Two Stores

In 2020, investors eyed Luckin CoffeeLKNCY

and its boisterous expansion as a sign that a new global coffee order might be brewing. The five-year-old Chinese juggernaut had scaled to thousands of locations in Mainland China, shaping up for global domination.

Turns out, it was all fake. And on June 29, 2020, after being revealed as a “massive fraud” by short-seller Muddy Waters, the company was delisted from the Nasdaq — with its CEO stepping down and a $180M fine owed to the SEC not far behind.

It was thought to be the death of the “Starbucks of China.” But almost five years later to the day, Luckin isn’t just back on markets — it’s now landing on the shores of the United States.

Lucky comeback: Luckin already has 22K locations in China, plus 60+ stores in Singapore. However, more than 6,824 miles away from its first outpost in Beijing, the Chinese coffee phenom is marking its latest foray into the world’s largest market, opening its first two spots in New York City on Monday. Luckin seeks to undercut US coffee chains StarbucksSBUX

and Dunkin’, carving out room in a category of fresher and fast-expanding coffee concepts like Dutch BrosBROS

. However, it remains to be seen if its overseas ‘low cost’ rep can play ball in the wealthy, expensive country.

• Per Coffee Intelligence, Luckin offered free coffees and steep discounts — selling coffee for “about $3.50 a cup,” while Starbucks was selling an average cup for $4.80.
• However, in the US, Luckin will try to make that ‘low cost’ image stick, offering its drinks for $1.99 on opening day — and keeping prices in the realm of $2–$4.

Not Just Luckin

Luckin isn’t the only fresh face stirring up the great US coffee (and tea) rivalry from China. As it turns out, there are many players coming from across the Pacific.

• Luckin’s landing comes after Cotti Coffee, founded in 2022 by former Luckin execs, landed in the US last April — and has since expanded with its emphasis on cheaper drinks.
• In addition, bubble tea brand ChageeCHA
  , which went public in Hong Kong and filed for its own US IPO, also landed in the US with its first store.

Welcome to the big leagues: Chinese players might have scale, but with Luckin just pulling in $1.2M in revenue in their latest quarterly report, its US push could be a serious gamechanger. The same goes for Cotti as it ramps up privately, and Chagee as it dips a toe into US waters.