Seesaw, once known as the "Huangpu Military Academy of Fine Coffee" and with a peak valuation exceeding 1 billion yuan, is now on the brink of bankruptcy liquidation. Recently, Shanghai Xishe Coffee Co., Ltd. (Seesaw operator) has added multiple bankruptcy review cases in succession. This first generation boutique coffee chain, born in Shanghai, encountered difficulties and was like a mirror, reflecting the survival of the domestic coffee industry under fierce price wars and competition. As the low price competition gradually crosses the cost red line, the domestic coffee market is bidding farewell to the barbaric stage of simply competing on prices, and a comprehensive industry reshuffle has begun.
From valuation of 1 billion to bankruptcy filing
According to the latest information from Tianyancha, there are currently three bankruptcy review cases under the name of Xishe Coffee. Shanghai Liuli Workshop Glass Art Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Malu Industrial Co., Ltd., two suppliers, have both submitted applications to the court requesting bankruptcy liquidation of Xishe Coffee, citing their inability to repay due debts and obvious loss of debt repayment ability.
As soon as the news came out, it attracted attention in the coffee industry and new consumer circles. Looking back over a decade, Seesaw was a true pioneer in the domestic specialty coffee market. In 2012, when the domestic high-end coffee market was almost monopolized by Starbucks, Seesaw's first store landed on Yuyuan Road in Shanghai, filling the market gap for local chain specialty coffee. Relying on the differentiated design of "one shop, one color" and the product route of hand brewed specialty coffee, it has brought professional specialty coffee culture into the public eye and thus gained the reputation of "Huangpu Military Academy of Specialty Coffee".
The eye-catching brand tone quickly attracted capital to flock to it. In 2017, Seesaw secured a financing of 45 million yuan, becoming the first boutique coffee brand in China to receive capital support. Since then, capital has continued to increase, completing over 100 million yuan in A+rounds and hundreds of millions of yuan in A++rounds of financing in 2021 and 2022. Famous institutions such as Baifu Holdings and Black Ant Capital have all entered the market, and even the leading brand of New Tea Beverage, Heytea, has participated in investment, with its brand valuation soaring to 1 billion yuan.
Holding a huge amount of funds, Seesaw embarked on aggressive expansion. In 2022, the total number of its stores exceeded 160, and the founder also publicly set a goal to reach a scale of 1000 stores within five years. However, in just a few years, the brand took a sharp downturn.
The crisis has long been traceable. As early as November 2024, employees reported that Seesaw had issues such as delayed salary payments, installment payments, and interrupted social security and housing fund contributions; Starting from 2025, multiple suppliers will concentrate on pursuing payment for goods. Under business pressure, a significant contraction of stores has become inevitable. Starting from the second half of 2023, Seesaw will gradually close and adjust its stores. By the end of 2024, nearly half of its stores will quietly shut down. As of May 13th this year, there are only 34 existing stores nationwide. A resident who consumes coffee in Shanghai all year round sighed: Seesaw used to be everywhere near their home and in the commercial district, but in recent years, there have been many fewer stores.
The three major local specialty coffees are diverging in the price war
Seesaw's predicament is not an isolated case. Manner Coffee, born in 2015, and M Stand, founded in 2017, are both local boutique coffee brands that have emerged from Shanghai, along with Seesaw. In their early years, they also rose to fame with their distinctive features and gained massive financing and quickly gained market share in the new consumer trend.
Manner, which is positioned as a "small and beautiful" affordable boutique route, has successively received investment from today's capital, Temasek, Meituan Dragon Ball, ByteDance and other giants since 2018; M Stand, which focuses on the design of internet celebrity spaces, secured over 100 million yuan in Series A financing for more than ten stores in 2021, with a valuation of 700 million yuan. After multiple rounds of financing, the overall valuation exceeded 4 billion yuan. At its peak, the three brands led the local specialty coffee market side by side, becoming a sought after commodity in the primary market.
But the industry trend will completely change in 2023. The 9.9 yuan nationwide coffee price war initiated by Luckin Coffee and Kudi has directly pushed the mainstream price range of freshly ground coffee in China to 10-20 yuan. In 2025, subsidies from food delivery platforms will once again lower the industry's selling price. Under the wave of low prices sweeping through, high-end specialty coffee brands are collectively under pressure, and the three leading brands have also embarked on completely different development curves.
Compared to its peers, Seesaw's shortcomings are infinitely magnified. The brand has maintained a high unit price of 32.48 yuan for a long time, which is not only much higher than Manner's 21.12 yuan level, but also forms a huge gap with fast coffee in the 9.9 yuan range. At the same time, the heavy asset store model of "one store, one color" has raised operating costs, and creative products such as tea and fruit snacks launched later have not been able to continue to impress consumers, resulting in high pricing gradually losing support.
The M Stand, which focuses on appearance and scene experience, also slows down its pace. Data shows that the brand will open 251 new stores in 2023, with a rapid expansion momentum; By 2024, the number of new stores will sharply drop to 90 throughout the year, and stores in cities such as Quanzhou, Xiamen, and Wuhan will gradually shut down.
Only Manner, who took the route of "affordable and high-quality products", broke through against the trend. With its affordable pricing and lightweight store model, the brand still maintains a stable pace of expanding stores. It will open 512 new stores in 2023 and 655 new stores in 2024. Currently, the total number of stores in China has exceeded 2500. There are rumors in the market that it plans to go public in Hong Kong next year, with a potential valuation of up to 3 billion US dollars.
Farewell to low price competition, coffee industry welcomes deep differentiation
On one hand, top brands are shrinking their front lines, while on the other hand, the entire coffee market is still expanding. The 2026 China Urban Coffee Development Report shows that by 2025, the scale of the domestic coffee industry will reach 354.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.3%, and the average annual coffee consumption per capita in China will rise to 28.57 cups. Coffee consumption continues to penetrate into lower tier markets and diverse scenarios, with increasingly diverse players on the track.
The coffee market today is no longer a binary opposition between boutique coffee and traditional chain coffee. Luckin Coffee and Kudi continue to deeply cultivate the sinking market; Starbucks accelerates channel expansion, entering 166 county-level markets in one go in fiscal year 2025; New tea beverage giants such as Tea Baidao, Guming, and Nayuki's Tea are leveraging mature supply chains to cross over and sell coffee; Cross border players such as Li Ning, Meiyijia, and Sinopec Yijie have also entered the market, competing for coffee consumption traffic.
However, from the perspective of channel layout, traditional boutique coffee brands still heavily rely on first tier and new first tier cities. According to data from Narrow Gate Restaurant, only 3% of Manner's stores are located in third tier and lower tier cities, and M Stand's share is as low as 2.44%, indicating a lack of ability to expand into lower tier markets and becoming a common weakness for specialty coffee.
The price war that lasted for several years has gradually come to an end. Faced with continuously rising costs of raw materials, labor, and rent, top brands have taken the lead in pressing the "cooling button": Luckin Coffee gradually reduces the coverage of its 9.9 yuan special offer products, and Kudi also stops the "9.9 yuan unlimited" promotion in early 2026, gradually ending the barbaric era of burning money subsidies.
Xing Ying, President of the World Federation of Chinese Catering Industry, stated that the domestic coffee market has entered a new stage of rapid expansion and deep differentiation. With the intensification of capital mergers and acquisitions and industrial integration, the industry landscape is accelerating its reshaping. Recently, there have been frequent capital movements in the industry: in November 2025, Boyu Capital invested approximately $4 billion to acquire a 60% controlling stake in Starbucks' retail business in China; In March 2026, Luckin Coffee's major shareholder, Dazheng Capital, reached an agreement with Nestle to acquire the global offline store business of Blue Bottle Coffee, which is seen as an important step for the brand to expand into the high-end market.
Industry analysis suggests that the current competitive logic in the coffee industry has been rewritten. The gameplay of competing for prices, store numbers, and internet celebrity gimmicks in the past is no longer effective. In order for brands to establish a foothold in the future, they must focus on comprehensive capabilities such as independent control of the supply chain, global digital operations, brand matrix building, and product innovation. For the once glorious boutique coffee track, brands that blindly expand and deviate from consumer demand will accelerate their clearance, while players who find the right positioning and deeply cultivate value will be able to stand firm in this industry reshuffle.