Which Country Produces Most Coffee? Clues from Guangdong Milk Tea Habits

Guangdong now ranks first in milk tea consumption nationwide, according to an Alipay spring report. Overall milk tea spending rose 10 percent as temperatures climbed, and online orders from middle-aged and elderly groups jumped 25 percent. Guangdong residents drink an average of 2.5 more cups per week than people in the Northeast.

Southern provinces hold eight of the top ten spots, with Zhejiang and Jiangsu behind Guangdong; only Shandong, Shanxi, and Henan represent the north. The report traces milk tea from Mongolian butter tea through Hong Kong-style and Taiwanese-style drinks to today's new-style tea. The same logic of climate and supply explains which country produces most coffee, and why southern tea culture runs so deep.

Milk tea has once again become a hot topic of discussion, this time because Guangdong's milk tea consumption has jumped to first place nationwide. Alipay's spring report shows that warmer weather drove an overall 10% rise in milk tea consumption, with online orders from middle-aged and elderly groups surging by 25%. From the fact that southern provinces account for 80% of the total to Guangdong residents drinking 2.5 more cups per week per person than those in the Northeast, the data reflects the deep penetration of milk tea culture. This article will trace the thousand-year evolution of milk tea from Mongolian butter tea to Hong Kong-style and Taiwanese-style, and then to new-style tea beverages, analyze the capital deployment and brand tiers under a market scale of hundreds of billions, and remind readers: milk tea is good, but don't overindulge.

Oh wow, milk tea has hit the trending list again

But this time it's good news——

Guangdong's milk tea consumption has taken first place nationwide.

As everyone knows, people from Guangdong are crazy about tea, but saying they are also the most enthusiastic milk tea drinkers in the country is still a bit surprising.

A spring milk tea consumption report recently released by Alipay's digital life platform points out: rising temperatures have ignited enthusiasm for milk tea consumption, with the overall consumption scale climbing by 10%.

In addition, milk tea is no longer the exclusive domain of young people; middle-aged and elderly groups also favor it and regard it as their own happy water.

Report data shows that the increase in elderly people ordering milk tea online through mini programs reached 25%, while overall milk tea consumption also rose by 10%. Netizens couldn't help but joke: "Now we're in trouble, we've let them get a taste of how sweet milk tea is!"

From a regional perspective, the report compared preferences for milk tea between the north and south: among the top ten provinces for milk tea consumption, southerners clearly love it more than northerners, with the south occupying eight of the spots. Guangdong firmly holds first place, followed by Zhejiang and Jiangsu; in the north, only Shandong, Shanxi, and Henan made the list. People in Guangdong drink an average of 2.5 more cups of milk tea per week than people in the Northeast.

As temperatures warm up, the average per-person consumption at milk tea shops also increased by 2 cups, while online purchases increased by 1.5 cups.

In response, netizens expressed their feelings one after another:

"Guangdong has an absurd number of milk tea shops, you can drink for days without repeating a single one"

"Southerners will always have endless milk tea to drink"

In fact, last year #TheFirstCupOfMilkTeaInAutumn# suddenly swept through everyone's WeChat Moments, and the read count of the Weibo topic even soared to 2 billion. Now this topic has rushed onto Weibo again, and netizens are saying, "The first cup of milk tea in spring has also been arranged."

As of press time, after #GuangdongMilkTeaConsumptionRanksFirstNationwide# made it onto Sina Weibo's trending list, its read count had already reached 94.98 million.

Calculating carefully, by last year, milk tea in the true sense had already gone through more than 30 years of development.

Sources show that the origin of milk tea can be traced back to the Mongols. From the salty butter tea of Tibetan nomads and the sweet milk tea invented by Arabs, to Hong Kong-style milk tea, Taiwanese-style milk tea, and today's new-style tea beverages, the evolution of milk tea has undergone a long historical process.

In recent years, the new tea beverage industry has been extremely hot. How hot? Hot pot giant Haidilao also crossed over into selling milk tea and opened several milk tea shops. Clearly, milk tea has become an indispensable "happy water" in many people's daily lives. Looking back at the past year, according to the "2020 New-Style Tea Beverage White Paper," capital flowing into the new tea beverage track in 2020 exceeded 4 billion yuan. This included both leading brands such as Heytea and Nayuki, as well as mass-market brands such as Mixue Bingcheng, Goodme, Auntie Shanghai, 7FenTian, and LELECHA, all of which received capital financing last year.

CBNDATA shows: in 2019, the market scale of new-style tea beverages was already approaching 100 billion yuan, with a CAGR of 48.75% from 2017 to 2019, and it is expected that the market scale of new-style tea beverages will reach 110.2 billion yuan in 2021. Among them, those born in the 1990s and 2000s make up the main consumer force in the new-style tea beverage market.

In 2019, the Chinese market (traditional milk tea, traditional pure tea, new-style tea beverages) accounted for 57% of China's freshly made tea beverage market, the coffee market accounted for 35%, and other markets such as fresh juice, fresh milk, and yogurt accounted for 8%.

Data from the Forward Research Institute shows that in 2019, milk tea shops in first-tier cities sold about 100 cups per day on average, second-tier cities about 60 cups per day, and other third-, fourth-, and fifth-tier cities about 40 cups per day.

In terms of price bands, milk tea on the market can be roughly divided into several tiers: high-end, mid-range, mass-market, and budget.

The high-end price range is 30 yuan or above, represented by Heytea, Nayuki, and others; the mid-range price range is between 16 and 20 yuan, represented by Chayan Yuese, Chabaidao, and others; the mass-market price range is between 10 and 16 yuan, with main brands including Yidian Dian, Goodme, and others; and the budget range is below 10 yuan, such as brands like Yihetang and Mixue Bingcheng.

On Chinese New Year's Eve, Nayuki announced its plan to list in Hong Kong. As one of the giants in new-style tea beverages, for the nine months ended September 30, 2020, about 49.4% of Nayuki's total orders came from its members, reflecting from one angle Nayuki's strong financial performance.

Nayuki is a high-end freshly made tea beverage chain brand in China. If this listing succeeds, it will take the crown as the first domestic listed stock in new-style tea beverages.

As far as the entire tea beverage market is concerned, huge development potential still lies ahead in the future.

Finally, one reminder is still needed:

Milk tea is delicious, but don't "overindulge"!

*Some data and images are from: the internet

(Front Street Coffee recommends: if you want to recreate an authentic cup of milk tea at home, consider using Front Street's blend beans or single-origin tea for better flavor.)

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.