Why does hand-pitting fruit echo the grape coffee problem?

ChaPanda launched two bayberry drinks this season, Bayberry Yogurt Shake and Bayberry Pop Pop Ice, promoted as using about nine real bayberries per cup. Stores must pit the fresh fruit on-site to keep the texture, but no specialized tools were supplied, so employees pit by hand, a slow and injury-prone task added to morning shifts.

Staff first soak the berries in salt water, rinse them at least twice, then pit and cube the pulp for refrigerated topping boxes. The extra step sits alongside brewing tea, cutting fruit and making drinks, much like the labor behind a grape coffee or any hand brew coffee order. Workers say the research team is out of touch with store reality.

During bayberry season, tea beverage brands rush to launch limited-edition drinks to capture the market. ChaPanda's new offerings this year, "Bayberry Yogurt Shake" and "Bayberry Pop Pop Ice," use the selling point of "about 9 real bayberries per cup," attracting many consumers to try them. However, for frontline store employees, this bayberry craze has become a real "disaster." To preserve the fresh fruit texture, the brand requires stores to pit the fruit on-site, but without specialized tools, employees can only do it bare-handed—time-consuming, labor-intensive, and injury-prone. Morning shift workers, already busy brewing tea, cutting fruit, and making drinks, now have an added task and complain that the R&D department is out of touch with reality. This article will show you how ChaPanda workers cope with this bayberry prep challenge.

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Every bayberry harvest season, major tea beverage brands rush to launch seasonal limited-edition products, attracting many customers who love bayberry flavor to place orders. ChaPanda is no exception; its previously well-received bayberry series has recently returned.

According to official information, the two bayberry drinks launched this season are "Bayberry Yogurt Shake" and "Bayberry Pop Pop Ice," both made with fresh bayberries that are plump and juicy. The promotional poster clearly states "about 9 real bayberries per cup," highlighting the generous ingredients so customers can taste real fruit pieces.

(Image screenshot from official Weibo)

Because of this, this year's bayberry series ingredient preparation has changed significantly compared to last year. To preserve the moisture of the fresh fruit as much as possible, ChaPanda requires stores to pit the fresh bayberries delivered on-site, then cut the pulp into small pieces and store them in topping boxes under refrigeration.

As a result, ChaPanda's morning shift employees, in addition to daily tasks like brewing tea and cutting fruit, also have to take on the extra work of pitting bayberries. According to staff, they need to mix salt water in proportion, soak the carefully selected bayberries for a while, then rinse them at least twice before entering the headache-inducing pitting step.

The brand did not provide stores with specialized pitting tools, so most employees can only peel the pulp off each bayberry bare-handed. This process is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive but also easily stains clothing, and a moment's carelessness can turn the prep counter into a "crime scene."

However, some veteran employees who handled frozen bayberries last year have figured out their own methods. They either buy handy pitting tools out of their own pockets to improve efficiency, or improvise with fruit knives, scissors, or even thick straws to stab at the bayberries, trying every possible way to separate the pulp from the pit.

Yet even with handy tools, for most people, extracting enough pulp from bayberries to make one drink is still extremely time-consuming and exhausting.

Moreover, when using tools to poke out the pits, they might injure themselves due to improper operation. One employee sighed: "Working with these bayberries today, I totally broke down, spent over an hour and only pitted a little," "I've been poked by that tool no less than 6 times today," "My hands are sore from poking," lamenting that this bowl of hand-pitted bayberry pulp is truly "every piece hard-earned."

Currently, ChaPanda's product line includes not only traditional milk tea but also many fresh fruit teas and fruit-vegetable juices, offering consumers plenty of choices, but for the employees responsible for prep, it's heavy pressure. Morning shift staff say they often need to, within a few hours, process fruits and vegetables according to company standards, fill the topping station boxes, and quickly make and pack drinks once orders come into the system.

So, in their view, starting a morning shift is like going to war—constantly washing vegetables, cutting mangoes, peeling grapes, so busy they're dizzy. Now with the added task of pitting bayberries, ChaPanda workers feel their vision go black and complain that the R&D department didn't consider the actual situation of store prep, adding them a lot of extra workload.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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