Over 390 brands from five continents gather as Lujiazui Coffee Culture Season opens in Shanghai

China News Service Shanghai, October 20 (Xie Mengyuan) — On the evening of the 19th, the Lujiazui central green space by the Huangpu River was transformed into a “world coffee paradise” — the 11th Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Season, themed “In the Name of Coffee, Gathering the World,” officially opened. This year, this Shanghai — and domestically — largest coffee cultural event was extended from the previous 5 days to 7 days, gathering over 390 brands from five continents in one place.

12 hours of day coffee and night drinks; over 70 new products debut

At this year’s Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Season, over 70 debut products, limited editions and limited merchandise gathered, with new flavors and products from around the world choosing Lujiazui for their “first moment.” These include Calico Coffee, a UK specialty café once named among Sprudge’s global top 10 new cafés; Standout Coffee, a Stockholm specialty roaster rated “Best Nordic Roaster”; and Monogram from Calgary, Canada, which has nurtured 9 world coffee champions and is praised as the “home of champions.” In addition, Timemore brought the limited white vegan-leather edition of the MILLAB M01 hand grinder, Bialetti launched the “small air pump” air moka pot, Panasonic debuted the Mianyun full-automatic espresso machine, and Cha Yan Yue Se brought new products such as a lemon milk coffee – iced flat white version, a pu’er tea liquor special blend and a seaweed buckwheat vanilla latte…

Gathering over 390 brands from five continents, Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Season opens in Shanghai — Source: China News Service Shanghai

New products satisfy the palate, while competitions show professionalism. The Lujiazui International Coffee Season’s signature event — the barista skills competition — will hold its national finals on site, where baristas who stood out from the four major regional competitions of East China, South China and others will compete live.

From October 22 to 25, the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Season will also hold master classes (WORKSHOP) for the general public, launching 16 themed activities focused on “brew, drink, play, chat.” More than ten brewing champions, roasters and industry explorers from Athens, Rotterdam, Paris, New York and Australia will meet face-to-face with Lujiazui Coffee Culture Season fans.

Coffee culture joins hands; “i Bean” leads a unique expression

Every year brings surprises, every edition brings innovation — this is the unchanging gene of the Lujiazui Coffee Culture Season. This year, every entering audience receives a special gift — a pack of tissues printed with “i Bean,” the first brand IP image of the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Season.

What kind of “bean” is “i Bean”? It uses a coffee bean as a “mouth,” turning the place name “Lujiazui” into a visual language that brings a knowing smile; its young, lively personality morphs into countless expressions, becoming the undisputed “big star” of the “world coffee paradise.”

This year, the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Season joined hands with the China Shanghai International Arts Festival for the first time, launching comprehensive cooperation in main visuals, themed cultural products, “Art Sky” pop-up performances, ticketing linkage and joint communication, bringing art from theaters into green spaces and turning public space into a cultural scene everyone can join. Coffee lovers fully open their five senses; among the tree shadows and buildings, they may encounter a graceful piece of music or see a wonderful performance, gaining multiple satisfactions of sight, hearing, taste and smell.

This edition of the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Season has a cultural expression broader than tasting and consumption, and also brings diverse experiences of technology, finance, sports and other lifestyles. Huawei Kunling and 360’s Nano Work bring smart-tech new experiences, and Uni-President AQUA offers “good water with good coffee”; brands from different fields gather here, making coffee a link connecting technology, consumption and urban life.

One cup of coffee links a whole city. The Lujiazui “Coffee IN Handbook” is packed with value, gathering popular coffee brands and hidden-gem stores in the area; with the handbook, one can unlock exclusive limited discounts across major malls and buildings during the event. Following the coffee aroma, stroll surrounding business districts and step into cultural venues, seeking your next cup of coffee between urban life and artistic atmosphere. Jin Mao Tower, IFC, L+Mall, the 1862 Art Center and other institutions deeply participate in the linkage, using coffee as a medium to connect consumption, culture and life scenarios, letting a cup of coffee “play” Lujiazui, and making Lujiazui warmer because of a cup of coffee.

This year, the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Season also set up a special sub-venue on the outdoor lawn of the Oriental Riverside Hotel at the Shanghai International Convention Center, themed “LUCKY SHOT, HAPPY PAWS,” combining pet-friendliness with riverside coffee. From October 22 to 25, citizens can bring pets for a stroll in the 2727 Riverside outdoor garden, check in at giant trendy inflatables, experience an exclusive garden pet afternoon tea, and feel the cozy time of an urban-leisure micro-vacation between the river breeze and the city skyline.

An industry “Global Influence Development Report”

At the opening ceremony, the “2016–2025 Lujiazui Coffee Culture Season International Influence Development Report,” produced by the Fudan University Consumer Market Big Data Lab, was officially released.

The report shows that over the decade, the single-edition participation of the Lujiazui Coffee Culture Season grew from 12,000 to over 150,000, and exhibiting brands from 24 to over 390. In a global coordinate system, its participation scale has significantly led representative festivals such as the London Coffee Festival and Melbourne MICE, entering the front ranks of the first tier of global city coffee festivals.

More importantly, it is moving from a “coffee consumption highland” to a “coffee culture source,” through international brand introduction, Chinese brand going global, debut economy, full-area linkage, professional competitions and master classes, and 365-day normalized operation, continuously deepening industry connection and professional content supply, extending short-term traffic events into a long-term composite ecosystem connecting city, industry and the globe.

The Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Season will become the “first stop” for overseas coffee brands to enter the Chinese market — from initial short-term exhibition debut, to phased residency at Coffee Cube, to landing registration and opening physical stores, a progressive China-entry channel from shallow to deep for overseas coffee brands has taken shape. At the same time, it is also the “first stop” for Chinese coffee brands to test the waters going global.

Making Lujiazui the area with the densest cluster of international coffee brands in China

“The first decade, from one cup of coffee to a festival; the second decade, from a cultural event to a coffee city.” In the view of Chen Bai, head of the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Season’s planning team, the establishment of the Lujiazui Coffee Culture Industry Center in 2025 has made the “never-ending Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Season” a reality. This year, Pudong included doing well the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Season in its government work report for the first time; entering its second decade, the Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Season harbors an even bigger dream: to make Lujiazui the area with the densest cluster of international coffee brands in China.

Chen Bai revealed that in the future, each Lujiazui International Coffee Culture Season will choose a country as the annual partner — the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, the United States… not only bringing the world’s good coffee to Shanghai, but also taking Chinese coffee brands out, standing firm on the international stage. (End)

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