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Shanghai · China

Seesaw Coffee

Since 2012 · Tom Zong

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Overview

Seesaw was founded by former Dell test engineer Tom Zong in October 2012 with a first store on Yuyuan Road in Shanghai's Jing'an district, after Zong saw Seoul's specialty boom on a 2011 trip and decided China was next. The early years included multiple failed satellite locations before the move into mall flagships made the model work; Hony Capital led a 45 million RMB ($6.4M) round in June 2017 and the chain has been the largest specialty coffee buyer of Yunnan-grown coffee since.

Known for

  • First specialty coffee roaster-retailer in mainland China (founded April/October 2012)
  • Largest specialty buyer of Yunnan-region green coffee; runs the multi-year Yunnan Project to develop China as a producing origin
  • First Chinese roaster invited as La Marzocco Café Seattle Roaster in Residence (November 2018)
  • Hony Capital led 45M RMB Series A in June 2017
  • Multi-region scale across Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Suzhou — early proof that specialty could scale in China

Why it matters

Seesaw is the bridge between Yunnan's coffee farms and the rest of the specialty world. Where most Chinese chains scale by importing Brazilian commodity, Seesaw scaled by buying domestically and roasting natively — which is why China is now showing up as a producing origin in international cuppings rather than just a consumer market.

Production

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roastery location
Shanghai, China
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Café

Yuyuan Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai (original location)

Recognitions

  • First Chinese coffee roaster invited as La Marzocco Café Roaster in Residence (Seattle, November 2018)
  • Hony Capital 45M RMB Series A (June 2017)

Sources

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