Luckin Coffee Inc. Announces Launch of Luckin Tea as Independent Brand and Pilots Innovative Retail Partnership Model

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Sep 03, 2019
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BEIJING, Sept. 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Luckin Coffee Inc. (“Luckin Coffee” or “the Company”) ( LK) today announced the launch of Luckin Tea as an independent brand and its brand ambassador Zhan XIAO, as well as a pilot program for its pioneering Retail Partnership model to recruit partners nationwide.

“We have experienced strong growth of our Luckin Tea series since the initial launch in April 2019, which is far beyond company’s expectations,” said Mr. Jian LIU, Chief Operating Officer of Luckin Coffee. “To further capitalize on the opportunity in the freshly-brewed tea market, we are strategically launching Luckin Tea as an independent and complementary brand and rolling out the store footprint nationwide. We will continue to maintain the high growth of the coffee business, while taking the tea drinks as another important driver to further explore the breadth and depth of the market.”

The Company expects, according to Mr. Jian LIU, both Luckin Tea and Luckin Coffee stores to function in highly complementary roles. In terms of product category, Luckin Tea stores will also sell a standard range of classic freshly-brewed coffee, with a broader enriched assortment of freshly-brewed tea drinks. In addition, Luckin Tea stores will focus more on “leisurely” consumption moments, targeting locations in shopping malls and other lifestyle-centric commercial areas, while Luckin Coffee stores will continue to expand its presence primarily in office locations. Strategically, Luckin Tea stores will initially be rolled out in Tier 2 through Tier 4 cities, whereas Luckin Coffee will focus on Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. Luckin Tea will consistently take Luckin Coffee’s core value of “quality first”, providing high quality, high convenience, and high affordability freshly-brewed tea drinks to consumers.

Luckin Coffee also announced its pilot Retail Partnership model to support the expansion of Luckin Tea. Different from traditional franchise model, the Company’s Retail Partnership model has multiple advantages for its partners, including attractive terms with no upfront partnership fees, reduced operational risk, the ability to leverage the Company’s pervasive brand recognition, premium products and extensive supply chain, as well as access to the Company’s disruptive technology-driven new retail model. Through the Company’s innovative Retail Partnership model and digitalized operation platform, partners will not only be able to control their service quality effectively but also mitigate investment risk while increasing profitability at their stores.

“The launch of both our independent Luckin Tea brand and Retail Partnership model will significantly bolster our current operational capabilities. Through these initiatives, we will cover more cities while substantially improve the number of transacting customers, purchase frequency, and operational efficiency,” added Mr. Jian LIU.

According to industry sources, Luckin’s well-recognized brand, pioneering technology, strong operational capabilities, capital strength, as well as established supply chain and nationwide store network have enabled it to become one of the largest players in China’s freshly-brewed tea drinks market. By launching an independent Luckin Tea brand and Retail Partnership model, the Company will continue to accelerate its expansion into lower-tier cities while further increasing its overall market share throughout China.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," "targets," "guidance" and similar statements. The Company may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Any statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company’s growth strategies; its future business development, results of operations and financial condition; its ability to understand buyer needs and provide products and services to attract and retain buyers; its ability to maintain and enhance the recognition and reputation of its brand; its ability to rely on merchants and third-party logistics service providers to provide delivery services to buyers; its ability to maintain and improve quality control policies and measures; its ability to establish and maintain relationships with merchants; trends and competition in China’s e-commerce market; changes in its revenues and certain cost or expense items; the expected growth of China’s e-commerce market; PRC governmental policies and regulations relating to the Company’s industry, and general economic and business conditions globally and in China and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

About Luckin Coffee

Luckin Coffee Inc. ( LK) has pioneered a technology-driven new retail model to provide coffee and other products of high quality, high affordability, and high convenience to its customers. In 2018, Luckin Coffee’s coffee beans were awarded a gold medal at the 2018 IIAC International Coffee Tasting Competition in Milan, Italy. Empowered by big data analytics, AI, and proprietary technologies, the Company pursues its mission to be part of everyone’s everyday life, starting with coffee. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Xiamen, China. By end of June 2019, Luckin Coffee operates 2963 stores across 40 cities in China. The Company plans to open more than 4,500 stores by the end of 2019, which would make it China's largest coffee chain. For more information, please visit investor.luckincoffee.com.

Investor Relations Contact

Luckin Coffee Inc. IR

Email: [email protected]

Bill Zima

ICR, Inc.

Phone: 646 880 9039

Media Relations Contact

Luckin Coffee Inc. PR

Email: [email protected]

Ed Trissel / Scott Bisang / Amy Feng

Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

Phone: 212 355 4449

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