Fast-growing KCOFFEE expands influence within Yum China’s vast QSR portfolio

Shanghai-based QSR group Yum China has rapidly expanded its KCOFFEE concept over the last few years – and it’s changing how customers interact with its larger KFC business

Chinese QSR giant Yum China significantly expanded its KCOFFEE café network in the first half of 2026. But can sustained outlet growth deliver the sales growth it expects?

Originally launched as an in-store coffee offer across its KFC stores in 2015, Yum China spun off its proprietary KCOFFEE brand as a standalone coffee shop concept in October 2022.

Nearly four years later, operating both stand-alone outlets and ‘side-by-side’ concessions adjacent to KFC stores, KCOFFEE now has more than 3,300 locations.