On 16 December, Chinese coffee shop chain Luckin Coffee and international FMCG giant Nestlé’s instant coffee brand Nescafé both introduced their versions of a frozen pear coffee. Luckin brought out a latte and an Americano version while Nescafé announced their instant frozen pear Americano.
Image: Luckin Coffee/Weibo 
Image: Nestlé China/Weibo The frozen pear is a Northeast China delicacy, which is, as its name suggests, a frozen pear. It is known for its dark-coloured skin and is enjoyed after being defrosted in water. It gained viral popularity last winter due to the ’Arbin travel boom to Harbin and other parts of the Northeast, where the locals made sliced and plated frozen pears for Southerners to enjoy. Frozen pear coffee was popularised by local coffee shops around the same period.
The Luckin version is also a collaboration with long-running TV series Love Stories in the Countryside, which is set against a rural Northeast China backdrop. Naturally, it comes with Love Stories-themed merch such as paper bags, sleeves and stickers. Nescafé, on the other hand, introduced ananthropomorphic frozen pear and created merch in its image, such as a pouch, a knitted hat and a bath mitt.
Image: Luckin Coffee/Weibo 
Image: Nestlé China/Weibo As if the clash was not intense enough, Luckin also created a bath mitt with an anthropomorphic pear face. Although the shapes of the two mitts differ, the faces are almost identical. In fact, both look similar to Jellycat plushies. In fact, all the Nescafé merch seems to pay tribute to Jellycat’s designs. At the same time, the Northeast regional exclusive version of the bath mitt from Luckin is decked out in the Dongbei dahua (东北大花, lit. Northeast floral) pattern.
Clashes of tea and coffee campaigns are becoming increasingly common this year, especially seasonal ones. To add to the confusion, KFC’s K Coffee actually realised its own version of a frozen pear Americano last week. Although instant coffee is not strictly in the same category, the merch campaign has put the two giants head-to-head in competing for the attention of their audiences. With regional flavours big in food and beverage marketing and Northeast travel still commanding considerable popularity this year, we might see even more frozen pear-inspired products.
The post Luckin vs Nescafé: a tale of two frozen pear coffees appeared first on Dao Insights.
