Coffee has a profound relationship with the financial market: the London Stock Exchange (LSD) was born in Jonathan's Coffee House in Change Alley in 1773 and 20 years later, Tontine Coffee House opened on Wall Street, becoming the predecessor of New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Now, China is waiting for its first coffee company to be listed on China's stock exchanges.

According to Xiong Xiangru, Chairman of Dehong Hogood Coffee Co., Ltd, one of China's largest instant coffee producers, the coffee market in China will grow to 1 trillion yuan in 10 years.

This enormous potential market is encouraging Chinese coffee companies to apply for IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) one by one. However, there is still not a single Chinese coffee company listed in the A share market.

Dehong Hogood Coffee set out to be the first listed coffee company in China. However, an investor share distribution dispute developed this past June, and the IPO plan has been postponed indefinitely.

C.straits Cafe, known for its business model of "coffee plus Western cuisine" announced in July a delay to its planned IPO as well. C.straits Cafe had planned on an A share listing in 2012, according to its president Jin Meiyang. This plan has been postponed for 3 years according to the revised plan.

Generally speaking, Chinese coffee companies haven't seen the necessary conditions for listing in coffee chain sector. Many companies are preparing for IPOs by first introducing venture capital (VC) schemes. But most of these coffee chain stores are franchised outlets, for which it is difficult to estimate real market value, said Bai Fang, secretary-general of the Beijing Coffee Industry Association.

Furthermore, in mainland China, fresh grounded coffee is still too expensive to spread by mass consumption. It was reported that in China the average price of fresh ground coffee is over twice of that in mature overseas markets.

It still needs another five years for the coffee industry to be widely accepted by ordinary people in China, added Bai Fang.

Currently, the only listed company involving the coffee business is China Resources Enterprise Ltd (00291.HK) on the H share market. No company specializing in coffee has managed to get listed on the A share market. Though several listed companies are now entering coffee market.