The Week in Coffee: 23 February

Your weekly round-up of 5 essential coffee industry stories you won’t want to miss...

China’s Luckin Coffee posts surging annual sales and outlet growth
Keurig Dr Pepper’s $18.2bn acquisition of JDE Peet’s is inching towards completion
Restaurant Brand International unveils two-year growth plan for Tim Hortons
UK’s Caffè Nero gets green light for further US growth
McDonald’s is conducting its biggest-ever beverage trial

1. Analysis: Luckin Coffee could become the world’s largest coffee chain in 2027

With more than 41,000 stores across 89 countries, Starbucks has long dwarfed coffee competitors with a sheer scale that seemed impossible to surpass.

That could soon change. Less than six years after a financial scandal that almost brought it to its knees, Luckin Coffee’s remarkable turnaround is in full throttle – and shows no signs of slowing.

The Chinese coffee giant opened more new stores last year than most of its rivals could dream of. It could soon become the world’s largest by outlets, but size isn’t everything – here’s why.

2. KDP wants to become a ‘global coffee champion’ with JDE Peet’s acquisition – but are they ready?

In August 2025, Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) announced plans to acquire Dutch coffee and tea group JDE Peet’s in a staggering $18.2bn deal – the largest coffee acquisition ever made.

With the transaction nearing completion, how close is KDP to creating the ‘global coffee champion’ it sold to investors six months ago? The pressure is on for dozens of household-name coffee brands to be future-ready for the challenges ahead.