(Yicai Global) Dec. 19 -- Construction started on Luckin Coffee’s USD120 million fully automated coffee bean roasting production base in Kunshan, eastern Jiangsu province last week, the company’s second in the country, as the Chinese coffeehouse chain aims to consolidate its foothold in the upstream supply chain.

Located in the Kunshan Comprehensive Bonded Zone, the 53,000-square-meter facility will be able to process 30,000 tons of coffee beans a year and is expected to be ready by 2024, Yicai Global learned. It will link all parts of the supply chain from raw bean sourcing, to roasting and storage as well as research and development.

Luckin Coffee will continue to focus on China's coffee market and keep promoting industrial and supply chain efficiency, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Guo Jinyi said at the ground-breaking ceremony.

Luckin Coffee already has a coffee roasting hub in Pingnan, southeastern Fujian province. Costing CNY210 million (USD30 million), it has an area of 45,000 square meters and started production in April last year.

Once the Kunshan plant comes online, Xiamen, Fujian-based Luckin Coffee expects to produce 45,000 tons of its own self-processed coffee beans a year, enough to supply 7,800 stores in China.

Kunshan, which borders Shanghai and is closely connected to the metropolis by subway and other direct rail and road links, is home to more than 100 leading global coffee chains. It has been the county with the biggest economy in China for 18 straight years.

Editor: Kim Taylor