Entering the mainstream
How did the potent beverage once branded “the devil’s drink” come to enjoy such broad popularity amongst Taiwanese? The answer is bound up with the rise of cafés, coffee chains, and cheap convenience-store coffee.
For most Taiwanese a half-century ago, coffee was perceived as an accoutrement of a foreign aristocratic culture both remote and inaccessible. In the 1950s, a number of coffee places including Bolero restaurant and Café Astoria cropped up in Taipei’s Dadaocheng and Ximending, at the time both stomping grounds of the cultural elite, attracting a motley conglomeration of intellectuals, politicians, business moguls, and men of arts and letters. Such establishments catered to society’s most rarefied echelon, a realm totally divorced from ordinary walks of life.
Increased prosperity in the 1970s and the growing number of Taiwanese studying overseas kindled interest in foreign cuisine. Coffee consumption steadily increased. At this time, one shop in Ximending, Nan Mei Coffee, made a name for itself by roasting imported beans and serving up a blend of such complex pungency that many customers became committed patrons after just a single taste.
Coffee entered the mainstream following the Taiwanese stock-market boom of 1985. Canned coffee preloaded with milk and sugar, typified by Mr. Brown and other brands, satisfied the market’s demand for less-bitter-tasting coffee in an inexpensive, convenient format. In cities, quaint independently run cafés began springing up, many of which also provided meals and collections of reading material to go along with the libations. Nevertheless, it was still a narrow segment of the population that would visit establishments like Bee or Old Tree for a cup of Blue Mountain Sumiyaki or Mandheling black coffee.
In 1992, the first coffee chains appeared in Taiwan. Japanese franchise Kohikan matched manually drip-brewed coffees with diverse dining options, while Doutor Coffee, Dante Coffee, and Ikari Coffee paired over-the-counter service with machine drip coffee at prices as low as NT$35. A few years later in 1997 and 1998, chains specializing in Italian-style coffee—Barista Coffee, Is Coffee, and Starbucks—took the country by storm.
Dubbed “the McDonald’s of coffee,” Starbucks was brought to Taiwan through the auspices of the Uni-President Corporation. Using a highly streamlined big-business approach that places emphasis on stylish presentation, they crafted an ambience that differed tremendously from the small cafés. Friendly young employees in T-shirts prepare drinks customized to guest specification. People lounge on American-style furniture drinking fancy coffee while music hums in the background. It’s a mid- to high-price-range experience that has swept the white-collar classes, and with over 200 individual outlets in Taiwan, it’s safe to say that Starbucks has set the tone for national coffee culture.
The years 2002 and 2003 marked a watershed in coffee’s rapid takeover. The trendsetting Ecoffee was founded in order to provide takeout coffee at the modest price of NT$35, and in so doing they greatly expanded the consumer base. In the wake of their success appeared 85°C, which combined coffee and cakes into a single package. Within five years they had expanded to over 300 individual locations, and laid claim to an immense clientele that included blue-collar workers and covered the gamut of ages from 15 to 75.
In 2004, 7-Eleven unveiled its City Café brand with a salvo of advertisements featuring celebrities proclaiming, “The city is my café.” The economically priced coffee became available in 4500 individual stores throughout Taiwan. Not to be outdone, Family Mart and Hi-Life entered the fray with their own brands. By the end of 2008, coffee’s dominion was so complete that there were 731 individual coffee franchises in Taiwan as compared to 695 for fast food.
According to estimates, the total number of establishments where one could procure a fresh cup of coffee, including convenience stores, fast-food outlets, and both independent and chain coffee stores, tallies to over 10,000. In monetary terms, that translates to more than half of the NT$40 billion generated by coffee annually.
The independent cafés that roast their own beans are generally a little more obscure, but the intense quality of their craftsmanship makes them a compelling contrast to the commonplace convenience-store blends.