China’s thirst for coffee will “totally change supply chains globally,” said Shaun Rein, managing director of Shanghai-based China Market Research Group. Growers will need to determine how to produce more coffee beans in response, he said, with flavours geared toward Chinese tastebuds. “This has happened in the past, where demand outpaces supply so the price of coffee beans skyrockets until farmers are able to plant more.”

The firm estimates China’s coffee consumption will grow about 20% annually, and Rein credits women under 30 for much of the shift. “They are moving away from buying Louis Vuitton bags to experiences,” he said. “Coffee culture is a part of that.”

Zhang Zheyuan, a 24-year-old designer, embodies that shift. She recently graduated from university and moved to Shanghai, where she began the hunt for a coffee shop. “They are always nice and pleasant, so I enjoy studying or meeting people there,” said Zhang, who started drinking coffee last year, while part of an exchange programme in Australia.

“The only problem is that it’s hard to find good coffee shops in China,” she said.

Starbucks aims to fill that gap.

“I wouldn't be surprised if one day we have more stores in China than we do in the US,” Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz told CNBC in May. Shanghai alone has about 1,000 stores, making it one of the world’s largest concentrations of Starbucks outlets.