Shuyi Shao Xiancao Moves Into Coffee With 23.5% Stake in DOC Coffee

This is an English adaptation of a FoodBud historical article originally published on April 25, 2022.

On April 22, 2022, tea-drink chain Shuyi Shao Xiancao formally invested in DOC Coffee, taking a 23.5% stake in the coffee brand.

DOC Coffee at a Glance

According to DOC Coffee's official information, its first store opened in September 2019. At the time of the report, the brand had 7 stores, all located in Changsha, Hunan.

DOC Coffee was founded by Hu Xihuan, born in 1994, who previously worked in finance in Shanghai before moving into foodservice. DOC stands for "Daily Original Creative," reflecting the brand's aim to make coffee part of daily life.

Shuyi's Expansion Context

Earlier in 2022, Shuyi Shao Xiancao raised RMB 600 million in a financing round that included Juewei. According to Jihai brand monitoring data cited at the time, Shuyi had opened 85 stores and closed 22 stores over the prior 90 days. Compared with its 2021 pace, that expansion speed was relatively moderate.

Tea Chains and Coffee

For Chinese tea-drink brands, moving into coffee was no longer unusual by 2022. Heytea had previously invested in Seesaw Coffee, while Mixue Bingcheng directly incubated Lucky Cup, whose store count had already exceeded 500.

Shuyi's investment in DOC Coffee appears broadly consistent with why other tea-drink brands were exploring coffee. The open question is operational fit: DOC Coffee is positioned as specialty coffee, with an average ticket of around RMB 30, which differs from Shuyi Shao Xiancao's existing positioning. Where the synergy comes from remains worth watching. If the deal was purely a financial investment, that would be a different matter.

Note: financing and stake figures are historical and reflect information reported in April 2022.