Absolute Coffee: Does the Heytea Price Cut Change What Ends Up in the Cup?

Heytea has cut its menu prices and promised not to raise them this year, capping drinks at 29 yuan and dropping any item starting with a 3. Delivery and in-store orders rose sharply, with peak waits over an hour and some stores unable to take mini-program orders. Consumers are split: some welcome the lower prices, others question whether quality holds.

The company says recipes and production standards are unchanged and the cuts simply widen the choice. The move runs against the trend in China's tea beverage sector, where raw material and labor costs have climbed since the pandemic and many brands raised prices. Drinks between 15 and 25 yuan now make up more than half of Heytea's standard menu.

Since the pandemic, costs in the tea beverage industry have risen, and many brands have raised their prices one after another. Even office workers have to think twice about their wallets before buying a cup of milk tea. However, Heytea has gone against the trend, not only lowering its menu prices but also publicly promising not to raise prices this year and to stop offering products above 29 yuan. This move quickly sparked a consumer frenzy, with orders surging and even overwhelming many stores, with queues exceeding one hour during peak times. Consumers have mixed reactions: some applaud, feeling the prices are finally affordable; others worry whether the price cuts will lead to reduced ingredients and declining quality. Heytea responded that the recipes and production standards remain unchanged, and it is merely offering consumers more choices. How far this price-cutting wave can go is worth watching.

Milk tea is the "life-sustaining happy water" for many office workers. One cup a day can lift your mood considerably. But since the pandemic broke out, expenses like raw materials and labor have been rising, and some tea beverage brands have taken the opportunity to raise their prices. As ordinary consumers, office workers seem to have no choice but to sigh and quietly accept it. Yet it is precisely this group of self-mockingly "miserable" office workers who managed to buy Heytea to the point of order overload.

Just when everyone was still worrying about milk tea getting more and more expensive, Heytea stepped forward first and became a "clear stream" in the new-style tea beverage circle—while others raised prices, it lowered them. Currently, on Heytea's standard tea beverage menu, you can no longer find any drinks starting with "3". On the afternoon of February 24, Heytea even officially announced that it would absolutely not raise prices this year and would no longer launch products above 29 yuan. Looking at Heytea's current menu, products priced between 15 yuan and 25 yuan already account for more than half.

According to media reports, after Heytea's price cuts, both delivery and in-store order volumes rose significantly, with many stores experiencing order surges. During peak hours, waiting for a cup of tea took more than an hour.

Some stores were even temporarily unable to take orders through the online mini-program. On the pickup counters of offline stores, drinks waiting to be collected by delivery riders filled the space.

Some consumers have a favorable impression of Heytea's price-cutting move. Ms. Yue, an office worker from Shanghai, said in a media interview that she has always liked Heytea's fruit tea series and has bought it more frequently since the price cuts. Some consumers also said that more than 30 yuan per cup used to be indeed expensive, and the current price range is easier to accept.

Several drinks Heytea recently launched are all priced just over 20 yuan. Heytea revealed that it will continue to launch drinks starting with "1" in the future. In addition, to give consumers more choices, Heytea has added two cup sizes for some products—a 500 ml standard cup and a 650 ml MAX cup.

Regarding Heytea's decision not to raise prices, many netizens expressed support and even openly showed their love for the brand.

However, some netizens worried that lower prices might mean smaller portions and lower quality. In response, Heytea said the price adjustment is intended to provide consumers with more choices, and the product recipes and production standards have not changed at all.

Some netizens also commented that although the price has dropped, the quality of the products seems to have declined as well, such as the amount of cheese being reduced.

Before the price cuts, although Heytea at more than 30 yuan a cup was tasty, if you wanted to drink it often or every day, you really had to think carefully. After all, your wallet is so "fragile" that it can hardly bear this kind of happiness. Now Heytea can be bought for just over ten or twenty yuan, and at the lowest even only 9 yuan for a cup. How could that not make people happy?

Being able to lower prices is of course good for consumers. But consumers originally developed a favorable impression of this brand precisely because of its good products and excellent taste. If the price comes down but the ingredients are no longer used as carefully as before, then wouldn't it all be for nothing?

Heytea's price cuts leading to store order surges precisely shows everyone's love for this brand. But sustaining that love is not an easy thing.

Image source: Shanghai Jing'an official Weibo, Heytea official Weibo, internet

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