For years, semi-automatic coffee machines have dominated coffee retailing. A well-trained barista can easily present a brilliant cup of coffee, and as the coffee is being prepared, the aroma, sounds and wait time please consumers minutes before they start to enjoy their specialty coffee.
Consumer coffee demand has kept pace with the booming coffee industry, with consumption scenarios expanding from standalone cafes to chain outlets, convenience stores, hotels and corporate offices. Against this market shift, fully automatic coffee machines have emerged as the ideal solution: they deliver consistent flavor and quality without requiring skilled baristas.
Today, numerous fully automatic machines combine intelligent operation, high efficiency and premium specialty coffee output. Even so, the industry spotlight has long remained fixed on a handful of international coffee equipment brands. That landscape is now shifting thanks to rising homegrown Chinese brands — Dr. Coffee, a Suzhou-based enterprise, stands as a prime example. Boasting fully mature proprietary technology and a comprehensive product lineup, the brand is a genuine game-changer redefining what domestic commercial coffee machines can achieve.
This spring, Dr. Coffee unveiled seven competitive new models at its Suzhou product launch event on March 28. Building on this momentum, the brand showcased its lineup at HOTELEX Shanghai, which opened March 29, to broaden reach and strengthen brand recognition. We took this chance to conduct an exclusive interview with Wang Yanfei, General Manager of Dr. Coffee System Technology Co., Ltd.The following excerpts are selected from CTI Group’s interview with Mr. Wang Yanfei.
The following content is based on and selected
from CTI's interview with Mr. Wang Yanfei.
Labeling commercial coffee machines with "made in China"
Wang Yanfei holds a major in mechanical engineering and began his career as a mold designer. He is not a coffee enthusiast, only drinking coffee occasionally to stay alert during overtime work. During an overseas business trip in 2009, a friend suggested he bring home a fully automatic coffee machine as a souvenir. Stunned by its price tag of over RMB 30,000, he purchased the unit out of curiosity about its internal design. After fully disassembling it, he concluded such equipment could be produced at a far lower cost. Back then, China lacked mature domestic coffee machine manufacturers and proprietary independent designs. In 2010, he pivoted to the fully automatic coffee machine industry, working simultaneously as an engineer and sales specialist.
From 2010 to 2013, Wang developed his first generation product, then positioned as a home appliance, with performance and quality on par with the one he had bought from overseas but only half the price. He estimated an annual revenue of RMB 4 billion.
Without prior market research, his ambitious sales forecast fell flat. Replicating the imported machine for domestic consumers proved far more challenging than expected, as the local market had vastly different demands. Potential buyers either deemed the product overpriced or lacked confidence in an emerging Chinese brand. A nearly year-long market study later revealed that the biggest domestic demand for fully automatic coffee machines lay not within households, but in hotels, premium office complexes, and export channels.
He restarted his development journey, and three years later gained a completely brand-new grasp of both product design and market demands. Armed with refined industry insights and a robust technical foundation, he founded Dr. Coffee at the end of 2016.
Q: As your corporate strategy shifted from household appliances to commercial coffee equipment, what key challenges did you encounter, and how did you overcome them?
A: There were tons of challenges. Grinding, brewing and IoT… It took completely different attributes to make a commercial machine. But we had no choice but to confront the problems, and to never give up. First thing to do was to recognize our insufficiencies, identify the gaps, analyze the problems, and find ways to narrow the gaps. We sourced so many sample machines for test purpose, disregarding costs. In the busiest months we used almost 4 tons of coffee beans.
Between 2016 and 2018, we redefined both our product lineup and overall market positioning. We carried out consistent quality upgrades and went all out to expand our footprint in hotel, office and global overseas markets. We provided complimentary trial machines to all prospective partners and closely collected their usage feedback. One German client tested our equipment for six months, and we remain deeply thankful for their input, which supported Dr. Coffee’s growth. Price competition only delivers limited long-term gains. Instead, we strive to stand out from competitors through proprietary technological innovation and superior product performance.
Q: What changes have you observed in the domestic fully automatic coffee machine market from 2010 onward?
A: Back when I entered the industry in 2010, nearly 99% of all fully automatic coffee machines on the market were imported, and there were no high-end local Chinese brands whatsoever. A decade later, as the market has expanded and matured, more domestic enterprises have stepped up independent R&D. Supported by robust, cost-effective local supply chains, Chinese brands will ultimately take the leading share of the market.
Planting seeds in each segment,
anticipating ramp-ups in the future
Over the past three years, Dr. Coffee has launched 13 market-competitive product models and secured more than 100 patents. Several of our core technologies have also been filed for parallel patent protection in the United States and Europe.
In 2018, Dr. Coffee introduced F2 for chained convenience stores (CVS), F11 and F09 for office and hotels. In 2019, F2 was upgraded to F2H, and F12 and F7+11 were launched targeting office and hotels.
In 2020, Dr. Coffee added F3 to their CVS offerings, and for office and hotels, they launched F08/H08/F10/H10 and M12. In the same year, they expanded product lines to include the F&B and bakery segment with Mini Bar and Coffee Bar.
Dr. Coffee's machines are slightly pricier than their domestic peers, but still enjoys a 50% price advantage over imported brands, offering great value for money. In the meantime, Dr. Coffee applies the toughest standards to quality. They once recalled all 600 machines sold overseas for an upgrade, regardless of the cost. For an emerging brand in its early stage, faults are unavoidable, but integrity and responsibility go a long way.
Q: What do you see in the next 5 years for fully automatic commercial coffee machines?
A: I expect an exponential growth. Coffee goes great with breakfasts, tea time, leisure activities and office hours; it is a high margin category in F&B; its accessibility fits well with the modern lifestyle and young people has a growing affinity towards coffee. The demand is there, and it will drive growth. Penetration of fully automatic coffee machines will continue to surge.
CVS is our fastest growing channel over the recent year. Key accounts like Lawson have adopted the Dr. Coffee F2. Most CVS are going through consumption upgrade. Bright, open space to go with coffee and hot food is the trend.
F2-H
The modern tea beverage brand Yihetang has added coffee to their original menu and launched a new beverage: iced lemon coffee. They work with Dr. Coffee F11. TOUS les JOUR sources our new model, Mini Bar, which is fully automatic, very easy to use and rules out any human inconsistency. It comes with a steam wand for latte art, to further polish presentation. Tesla places Dr. Coffee F09 in their stores for hospitality.
F11 Big/minibar-S2
Q: Would you tell us more about Dr. Coffee's plan and vision for the office sector?
A: In China's coffee market, the largest segment is home, followed by office and then hotels and chain F&B. The penetration pathway for coffee consumption is from commercial cafés to office, and from office to family.
By far, the office segment is quite fragmented. I believe in the future dominant brands will emerge as "office beverage solutions" providers.
Q: What are the key highlights of new products released at the event?
A: Dr. Coffee has unveiled seven brand-new machine models, all of which match or even outperform products from global industry leaders in output efficiency. Our flagship F4 model is fitted with four separate bean hoppers. This enables operators to serve four distinct coffee bean varieties and craft exclusive custom drink recipes. This aligns perfectly with the third-wave coffee trend that prioritizes unique, original flavor profiles, helping businesses stand out from competitors and deliver greater value-added services to customers.
We position the F4 as "the coffee machine of the future", as we believe the industry will shift toward quality-centric development. The F4 is equipped with a comprehensive all-round Quality Control Monitoring System that delivers consistent premium quality. It monitors and automatically calibrates extraction pressure, coffee dosage, water flow speed and a full range of other brewing parameters. The model solves key pain points related to operational stability and flavor consistency for large-scale franchised F&B chains.
Q: What is Dr. Coffee's business mix, domestic vs. export? What is the future market positioning and what are the strategies to support that?
A: Dr. Coffee has always positioned for the global market. Our product has been distributed to 60+ countries and regions in the recent 3 years; Germany, Thailand and Korea are our leading markets. Due to COVID, our oversea business declined from 80% before 2020 to 60%. As vaccination rate picks up and markets stabilize, we plan to recover to our regular distribution ratio, which is 30% in China and 70% overseas.
Over the next five years, Dr. Coffee will keep heavy investment in R&D and technical innovation, launch new product lines, and build layouts across all market segments to capture future market growth.
Ending note
In a globalized age, Chinese products in emerging industries such as smart phones and new energy vehicles are leading in the frontier. As domestic manufacturing continues to evolve, investment and expertise in core technology R&D keeps building up, made-in-china brands will sure enjoy a bright future. Wang Yanfei believes the same for the coffee machine industry. He hopes that customers will prioritize local brands when making purchase decisions in the future.
He wants Dr. Coffee to be the most trusted and loved Chinese brand in the coffee machine segment, so that whenever anyone considers to buy one, they think of Dr. Coffee, as with Gree in air-conditioning, "I'd love for Dr. Coffee to become an iconic company. At least a company with highlights that truly impress."
To turn this vision into reality, the brand invests heavily in R&D, continuously iterates its products, pursues technical innovation and expands market reach. “Profit is never our sole target. Our ultimate goal is to make people speak of Dr. Coffee with genuine respect — that will be a remarkable achievement.” True to the brand’s mission, Wang Yanfei aims for Dr. Coffee to win widespread respect through superior product quality, professional service and persistent innovation.