Why Luckin Coffee, Starbucks’ biggest competitor, wants to buy Blue Bottle 

The coffee wars are about to, forgive us, heat up.

[Photo: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images]

The Chinese coffee giant Luckin is reportedly acquiring the third wave coffee mecca Blue Bottle in a deal worth just shy of $400 million. It’s more than another acquisition: Luckin is making its most aggressive move on Starbucks since it opened its first U.S. locations in New York in 2025 in a rivalry that is quickly heating up.

But to understand what’s at play, we need to zoom out for a moment to take a quick scan of the global coffee market.

Inside the coffee wars

With around 40,000 stores and $37........

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