Three Months After 'Tank Day' Controversy, Starbucks Trails Twosome Place and Faces Fierce Chase from Mega Coffee

Starbucks' position in South Korea's coffee franchise market is wavering following its recent 'Tank Day' controversy.

A Twosome Place's estimated credit and debit card payment amounts have surpassed those of Starbucks for three consecutive months, while Mega MGC Coffee is also closely pursuing Starbucks, nearing 100 billion won in monthly payments.

According to Mobile Index by AI data firm IGAWorks, A Twosome Place's estimated payment amount last month was around 117 billion won, about 7 billion won higher than Starbucks, which recorded around 110 billion won.

A Twosome Place exceeded Starbucks' payment amounts for three straight months starting in May. This is interpreted as having affected sales after Starbucks became embroiled in controversy on May 18 when it used phrases like 'Tank Day' and 'bang on the desk' during a tumbler promotional event, which critics argued disparaged the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement and the death of activist Park Jong-cheol under torture.

This marks the first time in statistics over the past three years that A Twosome Place has outpaced Starbucks in terms of monthly payment amounts.

A Twosome Place, which had a payment amount about 2.5 billion won higher than Starbucks last May, was found to have accumulated a lead of about 30 billion won in total payments over the three months from May to July.

The offensive from low-cost coffee brands has also been fierce. Following Starbucks and A Twosome Place, Mega MGC Coffee's payment amount last month reached the level of 98.2 billion won, coming close to 100 billion won.

Mega MGC Coffee's payment amount represents a 1.6% increase from the previous month.

Industry insiders analyze that while the growth trends of A Twosome Place and low-cost coffee brands had been ongoing even before this controversy, the combination of damaged brand trust for Starbucks and consumer defection has accelerated changes in the market's competitive landscape.

Reported by Kim Taewon | Video by Kim Minji | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.