Which caffeine ingredients matter when the tea base is fixed?

1DianDian stores no longer accept the note request to remove the tea base, ending a service meant for caffeine-sensitive customers such as pregnant women and children. The chain had allowed the note on orders, and the change leaves regulars who ordered tea-base-free milk with toppings without that option, raising concerns for people who get insomnia after evening tea.

The policy shift traces to A2 milk costs, store operating standards and supplier contract terms, set against a milk tea market that widely uses non-dairy creamer and base milk. The brand built goodwill by using fresh milk and offering an A2 milk switch, a rarity after the Ice Brown incident. For those weighing the advantages and disadvantages of coffee and tea, caffeine ingredients remain the main worry.

The Ice Brown incident has made milk tea consumers particularly wary of ingredients such as non-dairy creamer and base milk, while 1 Dian Dian, due to its long-term use of A2 milk in its drinks, is regarded as a breath of fresh air in the industry. However, recently many regular customers have noticed that stores no longer accept the note request to "remove the tea base." Why was this thoughtful service, originally meant to accommodate caffeine-sensitive groups such as pregnant women and children, suddenly suspended? Behind it are milk consumption costs, store operating standards, and contractual constraints with suppliers. At the same time, consumers accustomed to ordering a tea-base-free milk with toppings have also lost a cost-effective option. For those who easily suffer insomnia after drinking tea at night, whether there is an alternative has become their biggest concern.

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Recently, the Ice Brown incident has attracted great attention in the tea beverage circle, making many milk tea lovers begin to worry about whether the drinks they consume contain ingredients such as non-dairy creamer. However, some brands have gained more attention in this wave of discussion because they insist on using pure milk, and this brand is 1 Dian Dian.

According to loyal users, 1 Dian Dian launched its milk series very early, using fresh milk as the raw material to make various milk tea drinks. At the same time, for the classic milk teas originally made with non-dairy creamer, an option to "switch to A2 milk" was later added, allowing consumers to customize drinks according to their own needs.

In a tea beverage industry where non-dairy creamer and base milk are widely used, 1 Dian Dian genuinely uses A2 milk to make milk tea, which in the eyes of fans is like a breath of fresh air, and it has therefore become a treasured tea beverage shop in many people's minds. But recently, when longtime users placed orders at 1 Dian Dian, they received an unexpected notice: "Stores are not allowing removal of the tea base."

It is understood that 1 Dian Dian previously, out of consideration for caffeine-sensitive groups such as pregnant women and children, allowed customers to note when placing an order that the tea base in the milk tea be removed. This thoughtful service won praise from many consumers. Some people, taking advantage of the official tacit approval, DIYed various milk teas on the menu into fruity milk, milkshakes, and other drinks more suited to their personal tastes, and shared these customized menus on social platforms, attracting other netizens to imitate them one after another.

However, for the brand, this convenience note undoubtedly increased store operating costs. Staff said that after customers choose to remove the tea base, the missing portion of the drink is topped up with milk. Therefore, once an order with the tea base removed appears, the store's A2 milk consumption rises, and the drink cost increases accordingly.

On the other hand, some cost-conscious consumers say that in some areas, buying a large cup of milk without tea from a 1 Dian Dian store is cheaper than directly buying a bottle of A2 milk at a convenience store. Moreover, when ordering in-store, tea-base-free milk tea can still add toppings, juice, and so on, so "bargain hunters" who want to save trouble are more inclined to buy a cup of hot milk with the tea base removed and free toppings to satisfy their cravings.

Based on this, some netizens believe that this rule from 1 Dian Dian may cause dissatisfaction among its partner milk suppliers. Some employees even posted internal chat records saying that there is a relevant agreement between the brand and the manufacturer, which is why a notice was recently issued requiring all stores not to fulfill customers' requests to "remove the tea base."

In addition, some users pointed out that if a customer orders a milk drink without toppings, it is equivalent to directly buying the ingredients for making drinks from the store, and this behavior actually should not be allowed. "Those in the food and beverage business actually should not directly provide raw materials to customers," "Just like ice cream is not sold separately, it cannot be sold directly, only after processing."

They speculate that the brand's explicit rule that stores may no longer sell milk tea without a tea base may also be to prevent employees from causing stores to be fined due to rule violations.

However, although canceling the "remove the tea base" option has more advantages than disadvantages for the brand, for consumers who suffer insomnia after drinking tea at night, it means losing their former happiness. Many people suggest that the brand might consider the needs of some users and launch products for caffeine-sensitive people, so that they can still drink a cup of milk tea with the tea base removed.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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