What the turmeric drink dispute means for coffee beverage development

Guming launched a turmeric series marketed around a health concept, and the reaction was mixed. Turmeric, an earthy rhizome that resembles ginger in name and look but is a different species, was also quietly added to the popular Juicy Orange Burst drink. After a wave of complaints from longtime fans, the company issued an urgent notice the same night and adjusted that recipe overnight.

The episode fits a broader pattern in coffee beverage development: fruit and vegetable teas have crowded the market since Heytea popularized the category, pushing chains toward niche ingredients such as kale, wheatgrass and beetroot. Turmeric was the next attempt at differentiation. Consumer reviews suggest pungency matters less than expected, but the backlash shows how sensitive regular buyers are to unannounced recipe changes.

The popularity of fruit and vegetable teas in this year's beverage market has continued to rise. After Heytea sparked this category's boom, major chain brands rushed in one after another, bringing vegetables like kale, wheatgrass, and beetroot into drink cups. As common fruits and vegetables ceased to feel novel, brands began seeking breakthroughs in niche ingredients. Guming's recently launched turmeric series is one such example, yet this new product, marketed around a health concept, unexpectedly triggered widespread taste controversy. Consumer reviews of turmeric were mixed, and last year's beloved Juicy Orange Burst in particular drew strong backlash from longtime fans after turmeric was quietly added to it. Faced with an overwhelming flood of complaints and criticism, Guming issued an urgent notice on the very night it updated its menu and adjusted the recipe of this popular drink overnight.

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If one were to rank this year's hottest categories in the beverage industry, fruit and vegetable teas would certainly occupy a major place. Ever since Heytea brought fruit and vegetable teas into the public eye last year, numerous chain brands have followed suit one after another, racing to incorporate various fruit and vegetable elements into their drink development.

Beyond seasonal cherries, strawberries, and citrus, vegetables such as kale, wheatgrass, and beetroot are also increasingly appearing on the prep counters of tea beverage stores. However, as the fruit and vegetable tea track becomes increasingly crowded, these ingredients that consumers are already familiar with have gradually lost their initial freshness.

In order to differentiate themselves amid homogenized competition, some brands have begun working on their ingredients. For example, Guming, which recently launched a new fruit and vegetable tea, chose a relatively obscure ingredient — turmeric.

Many customers' first reaction upon hearing that Guming was going to launch a turmeric series was: "Adding ginger to orange juice? That's way too bizarre." In fact, although turmeric resembles ginger somewhat in appearance and name, the two are not the same species. Some consumers who have tried it say that turmeric's pungency is far less intense than ginger's, leaning more toward an earthy note, and that both its aroma and taste are markedly different from ginger.

However, for customers encountering turmeric for the first time, quite a few declared themselves unable to accept Guming's new product "Big Orange Turmeric" after tasting it, feeling that turmeric's flavor completely exceeded their tolerance range. Various descriptions flooded social media: "Like ginger-flavored dish soap," "The first sip tastes like dish soap, hand sanitizer, laundry detergent," "A cup of orange juice with a weird taste."

Some consumers also pointed out that although fruits like citrus and pineapple were added to the drink to balance the flavor, for people who are inherently sensitive to ginger taste, it is still very hard to accept, and they only felt this fruit-and-vegetable combination was too jarring. They made clear they would not repurchase this somewhat bizarre drink.

It is worth noting that in addition to "Big Orange Turmeric," whose name directly indicates its ingredients, another drink in Guming's new lineup called "Juicy Orange Burst" also had turmeric quietly added to it, and this move likewise drew a large number of complaints from longtime customers.

It is understood that Juicy Orange Burst was originally a seasonal limited-edition drink that was quite popular last year, and many loyal fans placed orders immediately upon learning of its return. Unexpectedly, the brand adjusted the recipe. Some customers commented: "They added turmeric this year, it's really super incredibly undrinkable," "Although it's said to be all-natural, the taste is really bizarre, whatever you do don't order it hot, it's hard to describe in words."

In the eyes of old customers, last year's Juicy Orange Burst won many people's favor with its refreshing flavor, while this year the brand forcibly added turmeric to this popular product, which not only failed to improve it but directly drove away a large group of fans who loved this drink. Some believe that although turmeric is indeed a healthy ingredient, that does not mean the general public can accept its unique taste, nor does it mean a recipe that has already built up a reputation can be changed at will. Dissatisfied consumers have spoken out to the brand, demanding a return to the original version.

Perhaps because the consumer backlash was too loud, or perhaps because stores received too many complaints, Guming urgently issued a notice to all stores on the very night of the menu update, revising the recipe of Juicy Orange Burst overnight, and simultaneously offering both the turmeric version and the orange version on its mini-program, letting consumers choose according to their personal preference.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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