A former senior executive of Aukey started a business in intelligent coffee makers and achieved 150 million yuan in overseas revenue | Insight Global

Author | Zhang Ziyi

Editor | Yuan Silai

As a Shenzhen-based boss, Mocha's office seems a bit out of the ordinary.

In the offices of Guangdong bosses, no matter how shabby and messy they are, there is a high probability that there will be a tea table in the center. However, Mocha has a bar counter filled with the hand - brewing kettles, coffee grinders, and coffee cups of his own company, Cocinare. He will line up a row of cups, invite guests to taste the coffee, and by the way, introduce the characteristics of the beans: Brazilian beans have a faint nutty aroma, while Ethiopian beans have a bright acidity...

Before founding Cocinare, Mocha was in charge of the household appliances section at Aoji, a leading cross - border e - commerce giant. Coffee is one of his greatest hobbies. In his free time, Mocha obtained many relevant certificates in the coffee industry.

During the learning process, he realized that there were still gold mines in the niche market of hand - brewing coffee utensils. "The market for hand - brewing coffee utensils is not large. The global shipment volume of hand - brewing kettles is only about 1.2 million units. It is a rather niche market that remains in the pre - industrial era." He told Yingke.

In the category of freshly ground coffee, the threshold for hand - brewing coffee is both high and low.

The tools needed to brew a cup of hand - brewed coffee are very simple. You only need a coffee grinder, a hand - brewing kettle, a filter cup, filter paper, and an electronic scale. You can assemble a basic set for a few hundred yuan. The speed of making a cup of hand - brewed coffee is also very fast. From boiling water, grinding beans to direct brewing, you can enjoy it in no more than ten minutes.

However, there are too many uncontrollable factors that determine the flavor of hand - brewed coffee. Slight changes in water temperature, flow rate, and hand gestures can make a huge difference to the coffee. In specialty coffee shops, hand - brewed coffee is often a must - have item to showcase their coffee - making strength. It can not only demonstrate the barista's brewing skills but also reflect the roasting level of the coffee beans. It is also the most price - competitive product.

In coffee - consuming countries like Japan and the United States, the unit price of hand - brewed coffee is expensive. In specialty coffee shops in China, hand - brewed single - origin coffee made from rare coffee beans can be sold for up to thousands of yuan. This is a price that single - origin Italian coffee can never reach.

"There is a great opportunity for a new brand to emerge in the hand - brewed coffee market. Its development path is completely different from that of the original semi - automatic coffee machines. This category lacks competition and has a small scale." Mocha told Yingke.

In 2021, Mocha founded the hand - brewing kettle brand Cocinare. As of 2024, the overseas market revenue exceeded 150 million yuan. The annual shipment volume of its hand - brewing kettle single product is about 200,000 units, ranking first in the category on Amazon in the United States and Japan. The sales volume of the supporting coffee grinder exceeded 30,000 units in 2024, and the sales volume of the newly launched smart coffee scale in 2025 exceeded 10,000 units.

Cocinare's products are not cheap and are considered the most expensive in the industry. The most popular SpongeBob SquarePants co - branded hand - brewing kettle is priced at 1,698 yuan, while the unit price of the coffee kettles of the former leading brand FLOW was about 1,200 yuan.

Mocha's entrepreneurial path also provides a model: in a niche industry with a fixed product form and few changes, companies good at innovation can still achieve amazing success.

01 Make Brewing More Precise

The reason why Cocinare can attract customers with the highest customer - unit price in this seemingly saturated market is due to the intelligent transformation of product functions.

The hand - brewing kettle is an indispensable utensil if you want to brew different coffee flavors.

Single - origin coffee beans usually have unique flavors and aromas, and only a delicate brewing method can fully bring out their flavors. The long and slender spout of the hand - brewing kettle can precisely control the water flow, allowing the water to pass through the coffee powder evenly and ensuring that every part of the coffee powder is evenly extracted. In addition, the design of the hand - brewing kettle allows users to adjust the water injection speed, direction, and amount according to the characteristics of single - origin coffee, so as to achieve the best brewing effect.

Perhaps limited by the market scale, there are not many competitors in the hand - brewing kettle category.

Japanese - style hand - brewing kettle brands focus on researching the shape of the spout and the material of the kettle. Most of them require manual water pouring and temperature control, and the usage process is a bit cumbersome. Therefore, considering efficiency factors, most specialty coffee shops use temperature - controlled hand - brewing kettles.

A temperature - controlled hand - brewing kettle is a hand - brewing kettle with a built - in temperature control function, which can precisely control the water temperature and ensure the best extraction effect for each hand - brewed coffee. The biggest advantage of this kind of kettle is that it can heat up quickly and maintain a stable water temperature, avoiding the impact of water temperature fluctuations on the coffee flavor.

Common temperature - controlled hand - brewing kettle brands include overseas brands Fellow Stagg EKG, Bonavita, and Brewista, and the Chinese brand Timemore. The products of these brands are usually equipped with a digital display, a function to precisely adjust the water temperature (generally ranging from 40°C to 100°C), and a narrow - spout design with controllable pouring flow rate.

Mocha found that some temperature - controlled hand - brewing kettles on the market use mechanical control, so the water temperature indication is not accurate. The water - boiling speed is also limited by the power and is not fast.

This became the breakthrough point for Cocinare's research and development of its hand - brewing kettle products.

Mocha introduced that Cocinare's hand - brewing kettle products can control the water - boiling speed. Through the embedded variable - speed algorithm, when the temperature is closer to the preset temperature, the water - boiling speed will be slower and more precise. The power of the hand - brewing kettle is twice the industry average, and the water - boiling speed is fast. The unique design of the spout allows users to implement the "drip - by - drip" brewing technique and control the water flow within a range of 0.3 grams.

"For baristas, the 'drip - by - drip' brewing technique usually requires a long - term in - depth training to achieve. However, with Cocinare's hand - brewing kettle, even coffee beginners can do it."

Lowering the threshold and matching users of different levels is an important idea for Cocinare's research and development of its hand - brewing kettles.

Different hand - brewing kettles have different spouts that control the thickness and flow rate of the water, which are suitable for different brewers. In the mainstream temperature - controlled hand - brewing kettle products, since they are mainly designed for professional baristas, most of them use a unified spout design.

"We designed different spouts. One is called the S - handle, and its center of gravity will automatically tilt, allowing users to apply force stably. Our 700 version is the first hand - brewing kettle product with a visible water volume, specially designed for baristas in competitions to facilitate timely water addition. Different models will solve different brewing problems." Mocha told Yingke.

Although the changes are only minor, they will bring definite changes to the coffee.

02 Reconstruct the SOP for Coffee Brewing

The greatest charm of hand - brewed coffee lies in its flavor variations, and the greatest difficulty is also how to perfectly brew its flavor. Ordinary coffee lovers need long - term practice to brew a cup of excellent - tasting coffee.

So, Mocha realized that Cocinare could use algorithms and technology to control all the uncertainties in the brewing process, making the brewing process of hand - brewed coffee more stable and simple.

Transforming the hand - brewing kettle is just the first step. Another single product targeted by Cocinare is the coffee electronic scale. The sales volume of this product is expected to exceed 50,000 units this year.

The coffee electronic scale is an essential item for coffee making. Nowadays, most coffee electronic scales already have the most basic weighing and timing functions. The difference in price, apart from the brand, mainly lies in the accuracy.

Mocha's idea is to add a screen similar to a smartwatch to the electronic scale and embed a self - developed algorithm inside. With the screen and the algorithm, this electronic scale can automatically measure the water - to - coffee ratio. As long as you put the coffee powder on the electronic scale, the screen will calculate the grams required for the final brewing. Different brewing modes are set inside the product, such as the one - pour method and the three - stage method. After selecting different brewing modes, the screen will give prompts.

More interestingly, the water flow rate is also an important factor affecting the coffee extraction concentration, and Cocinare's electronic scale can measure the flow rate and remember the flow rate index, which is convenient for brewers to adjust or replicate.

"The essence of Cocinare's products is to combine mature hardware with a set of SOP methodologies, integrating the hand - brewing kettle, coffee grinder, and electronic scale. All the processes that can be standardized are standardized, and during the brewing process, you can replicate the best taste you think in a 1:1 ratio." Mocha told Yingke.

Mocha integrated his past work experience in the mobile phone industry and at Aoji into the product development concept. "Differentiation will determine the selling price."

In his opinion, household appliances are driven by molds and structures, and a product may be replaced within 8 months. While 3C products are driven by standard parts. Cocinare's products can integrate the two, develop products different from other brands, and create its own ecosystem. At the same time, it can reduce the manufacturing cost through standardized production.

The newly launched coffee grinder of Cocinare integrates this design concept. The grinding part can be disassembled and installed on a manual coffee grinder or an electric grinder, and it is compatible with all its coffee grinder products and can be assembled with each other.

"Our final products may be a bit like electric vehicles. Consumers can choose configurations, and the products can be infinitely combined." Mocha said.

In terms of market expansion, thanks to the professionalism developed by the coffee industry over the years, there are continuously a large number of coffee roasting competitions, coffee exhibitions, and various offline specialty coffee shops both at home and abroad. Cocinare starts from the B - end.

"Many overseas - going brand companies either focus on B - to - B or B - to - C, and it is difficult to do both in parallel. However, the coffee category is very different. It has strong globalization characteristics. There is an SCA association in the coffee industry. Through the association, we can reach professional players, sponsor competitions, and become members of the SCA to provide our utensil products."

For coffee utensil brands, the first step for consumers to understand and increase trust often starts from specialty coffee shops. The use by professionals is an invisible endorsement for the brand. After the high - priced Cocinare products enter coffee shops, using offline traffic to boost online sales is both clever and effective.

Mocha once sighed that it is not easy for Chinese brands to enter the coffee industry.

Coffee is a natural imported product, and the coffee business has long been monopolized by overseas enterprises. What Cocinare wants to do is to let ordinary people bring coffee into their homes. This is their first step.

The hand - brewed coffee market is both professional and universal. Some people will invest infinitely in the pursuit of coffee flavor, while others just want to have a cup of coffee. The low - price coffee launched by Luckin to open up the Chinese market is a proof.

The barriers under the functional segmentation of utensils really test the comprehensive ability of the brand and the acceptance of users.

This has been verified in the actual scenario. A barista using Cocinare told Yingke: The function of Cocinare's electronic scale to measure and remember the flow rate can unify and control the quality of hand - brewed coffee, and the temperature control of the hand - brewing kettle is also the most accurate among the products they have used. However, "Many built - in functions in the electronic scale are not very useful to us. We have our own brewing habits, and the functions inside seem to be more helpful for coffee beginners to get started."

Indeed, Cocinare has grasped the consumers' minds in a single category. However, in overseas markets where the coffee market is more mature, it will be a greater challenge to sell hit products and achieve continuous growth in the future.