Why does fresh fruit prep strain specialty coffee and tea shops?

Heytea switched to the imported Sweet Globe green grape, whose firm flesh is hard to peel, and back-kitchen staff are feeling it. Workers report gloves tearing at the fingertips, right hands wrapped in plasters, and even a queasy reaction to skinned fruit. Peelers and small round spoons help only slightly; output still falls short of store demand during promotion-driven order surges.

Peeling machines are not the answer, employees say, because the fruit loss rate runs high and cleanup is difficult, so hand peeling stays faster in practice. The episode sits inside a wider squeeze on specialty coffee and tea retail, where delivery platform discounts push single-digit prices and heavy order volumes onto small prep teams. It is a reminder that fresh-fruit drinks carry labor costs menus rarely show.

The May Day holiday has just ended, and the "three-way battle" among food delivery platforms has once again plunged tea beverage stores into an order explosion frenzy, while some Heytea drinks dropping to single-digit prices has attracted a large number of orders. However, for back-kitchen staff, this is a nightmare—the newly switched imported green grape "Sweet Globe" has firm flesh that is extremely difficult to peel. Employees peel until their gloves develop holes at the fingers, their right hands are covered in plasters, and some even feel nauseated at the sight of fruit with skin. Although some have tried using peelers or small round spoons to improve efficiency, the output speed still cannot keep up with store demand. Why not equip peeling machines? Employees frankly say the loss rate is high and cleaning is difficult, so it is better to peel by hand. This article takes you through the real daily life of Heytea peelers, as well as Front Street Coffee's attention to industry developments.

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Recently, for workers in the tea beverage industry, it has felt like the sky is falling. They had just endured the busy May Day holiday and thought that after everyone returned to their daily work, store orders would decline a bit and let them breathe. But no one expected that the "three-way battle" among food delivery platforms would drag most chain brands on the market into a new wave of order explosions. Tea beverage workers have been posting photos on social media of neatly arranged delivery bags on the counter, mocking themselves: "I've never packed such wealthy orders."

Interestingly, Heytea, which has generally not participated much in delivery promotions, could not stay "untouched" in this melee either. Starting yesterday, some drinks saw their unit prices drop to single digits under the influence of platform discounts, immediately attracting a large number of milk tea lovers to place orders.

However, what consumers see as good news feels like a nightmare to Heytea employees. Especially those in the prep room responsible for handling fresh fruits and vegetables—upon hearing that green grape flesh is running low, their vision goes black and their hands ache faintly.

For a long time, fruits such as grapes and green grapes used in Heytea drinks have been peeled by hand by employees. This not only highlights the original flavor but also ensures that customers will not have their mouthfeel affected by skins and seeds when sipping. Although manual peeling better ensures the flavor of the drinks, this cumbersome prep process often makes employees complain endlessly.

Recently, some Heytea workers have been complaining online, saying that the newly switched green grapes are "rock hard," and directly calling out, "How are we supposed to peel these green grapes?"

According to employees, the brand recently replaced the previous domestic green grapes with an imported variety called "Sweet Globe." This variety looks unremarkable, but as its name suggests, it is sweet on the palate, and its flesh is relatively firm, giving drinkers a good mouthfeel when added to fruit tea.

(Left is Sunshine Green Grape, right is Sweet Globe)

However, firm flesh also means this kind of green grape is very difficult to peel. So after stores switched green grape varieties, the complaints from Heytea peelers never stopped. They say that when peeling green grapes with gloves on, before they have peeled many, the glove fingers already have several holes, and they exclaim that these green grapes are "hard, green, and hard to peel." Some workers have also posted their right hands covered in plasters, lamenting that during May Day, peeling green grapes "made them question life."

To improve efficiency, some employees thought of using peelers to handle this batch of difficult-to-peel green grapes, shaving the round fruits into angular shapes. Others cut the green grapes in half and then used tools like small round spoons to directly "scoop" out the flesh.

However, despite using more convenient methods to remove the green grape skins, the workers still find it hard to prepare ingredients fast enough to keep up with store demand. "Peel for half an hour, marinate for ten minutes, and customers and riders are all urging." So from the moment they start work in the morning, they can only keep handling fruits and vegetables at their posts, to the point that some sigh, "Now when I see fruit with skin, I want to throw up."

Netizens watching Heytea employees' daily work would probably wonder: why not equip stores with peeling machines to reduce the burden on employees? In response, workers explain that although peeling machines save trouble, the loss rate is high, and the fruit skins are not removed as cleanly as by hand.

In addition, after use, the peeling machine must be cleaned inside and out immediately. Once delayed, the inside of the machine gives off an unpleasant smell, affecting subsequent use. Therefore, some Heytea staff say bluntly, "Cleaning the peeling machine is worse than peeling green grapes," and it would be better to call a few more colleagues to peel by hand together, which is more efficient.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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