Really Expensive Coffee and a 1,000-Yuan Olive Juice in Shenzhen

A Shenzhen milk tea brand, Yecuishan, has listed an olive juice at 1,000 yuan per cup, which became a trending topic on Weibo. The drink uses Jinyu Sannian, a rare Chaoshan olive variety whose raw material sells for about 800 yuan per catty, and production takes close to three hours. Heytea has invested in the brand, holding 60 percent as largest shareholder, with more than 30 stores.

The price sits far above the usual tea drink range, which runs from under ten yuan at budget chains to thirty or forty yuan at premium brands. Niche fruit has become a way for shops to stand out: Nayuki pushed emblica and Heytea boosted wampee before this olive launch, which was first reported in August.

In the cold winter, a cup of hot milk tea always brings a bit of warmth. Drinks on the market range from under ten yuan at Mixue Bingcheng to thirty or forty yuan at Nayuki and Heytea, and most are still within what consumers can afford. However, recently a thousand-yuan drink has drawn attention on Weibo's trending topics—the olive juice launched by the Shenzhen milk tea brand Yecuishan is priced as high as 1,000 yuan. This drink uses the rare Chaoshan variety Jinyu Sannian olive, with the raw material market price at about 800 yuan per catty, and production takes nearly 3 hours. At the same time, Heytea has invested in Yecuishan, holding 60% and becoming the largest shareholder, and the brand currently has more than 30 stores.

In winter, holding a cup of steaming milk tea is probably as cozy as it gets. Today's tea drink brands on the market are clearly stratified: high-end players Nayuki and Heytea can charge thirty or forty yuan per item; mid-range representative Yidian, at over ten or twenty yuan a cup, is still reasonable; while budget-focused Mixue Bingcheng offers drinks for under ten yuan. For most consumers, the prices of these brands are still within an acceptable range.

However, today a topic like this appeared on Weibo's trending list:

#MilkTeaShopRespondsToA1000YuanDrink#

At first glance at this trending topic, I couldn't help but sigh that my wallet really limits my imagination.

In fact, Coffee Workshop had already reported on this thousand-yuan drink as early as August 28. At that time it was midsummer, and refreshing fruit juice was the flagship hit of major milk tea shops, with niche fruits also gaining popularity. Nayuki made emblica popular, Heytea boosted wampee, and this Shenzhen milk tea shop called "Yecuishan" chose an even more obscure niche fruit—olive.

Some may wonder: even if it is a cup of olive juice, it shouldn't sell for 1,000 yuan, right? The most expensive olives in the supermarket can be bought for half a catty for just over ten yuan. Could it be that the olives in this cup of olive juice are made of gold? That is not the case. It is understood that the olives used in Yecuishan's signature olive juice are the king of Chaoshan olives in Guangdong—Jinyu Sannian olive.

According to Baidu Baike, on December 10, 2008, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine approved geographical indication product protection for "Jinyu Sannian olive." This olive variety has crisp flesh, a rich olive aroma, and a unique appearance and color, making it a rare category among olives.

In September 2008, when Yangcheng Evening News reported that this olive variety had passed the review by the expert group for national geographical indication product protection, it mentioned that at an auction in Shantou in 2005, a 14-gram olive "king fruit" sold for a high price of 86,000 yuan, showing its considerable value.

The cost behind such a bottle of expensive olive juice is likewise not low. In the previous report, the workshop mentioned that the market price of this olive in August was about 800 yuan per catty, and the olive trees selected by the brand are relatively old. Nationwide, there are only more than 2,000 trees over a hundred years old, and only four over five hundred years old, showing just how scarce they are.

The employee in the trending video also mentioned that after ordering, it takes three hours before the drink can be served. The production process is rigorous and the standards are extremely high, using fresh fruit made to order, with no canned fruit, NFC juice, or fruit flavorings added. After 8 procedures and nearly 3 hours, the fruit on the tree finally becomes the cup of juice in the consumer's hand.

Regarding the topic #MilkTeaShopRespondsToA1000YuanDrink#, many netizens in the comments expressed understanding, believing the cost is simply there; but some also felt that such pricing is more like a gimmick, and did not rule out the suspicion of merchant hype.

Public information shows that the affiliated company of "Yecuishan," Shenzhen Haolin Catering Co., Ltd., was established in September 2017, with registered capital of about 345,500 RMB, and the legal representative is Liang Jinlin. Notably, on November 11, Heytea (Shenzhen) Enterprise Management Co., Ltd. invested in and took a stake in the company, with a shareholding ratio of 60%, becoming the largest shareholder of "Yecuishan."

At present, Yecuishan has more than 30 stores, with average monthly sales of more than 14,000 cups per store, and the monthly sales of three of its stores have reached 3 million yuan.

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