What does the Hangzhou milk tea queue reveal about how coffee was made and sold?

A Suzhou milk tea brand called BONJOUR opened its first Hangzhou store in Hangzhou Tower on August 20, and online orders soon showed more than a thousand cups in production with waits of seven to ten hours. A reporter who visited found no long line outside, only two or three people waiting and a counter of packed drinks.

Screenshots of order numbers spread on social platforms, and some customers said the taste was nothing special and that they were following the trend. Others questioned whether the wait reflected hunger marketing, drawing comparisons to how coffee was made and sold in earlier cafe crazes, and advised waiting for the fad to pass.

After a Suzhou milk tea brand called BONJOUR opened its first store in Hangzhou, online orders showed over a thousand cups in production, with wait times often reaching seven or eight hours or even more than ten hours. Consumers rushed to share screenshots of their orders, sparking heated discussion: is a cup of milk tea worth waiting so long for? A reporter visited the store and found no long lines on site, but chaotic order pickup and sold-out popular items. Some consumers admitted the taste was nothing special—they were just following the trend. Netizens questioned whether this was hunger marketing and suggested waiting until this "Hangzhou fad" passes before trying it. This article will take you through the phenomenon and reflections behind this milk tea queue controversy.

Recently, a beverage shop appeared in Hangzhou that netizens have dubbed the "light of milk tea." A netizen posted that when they placed an online order around nine in the morning, the system showed 1,091 cups ahead in production, with an estimated wait of 10 hours and 40 minutes. Such a lengthy wait made many people exclaim: what kind of milk tea is this, that it takes nearly 11 hours to get a cup?

Soon after, Hangzhou netizens began sharing screenshots of their orders on major social platforms. Some showed 580 cups in production ahead, with an estimated wait of 7 hours and 17 minutes; others posted 1,301 cups in production, with an estimated wait of 9 hours and 7 minutes. These screenshots astonished onlookers and raised a series of questions: milk tea shops are everywhere—do we still need to queue like this? In Hangzhou, is this cup of milk tea a must-drink?

It is said that this tea shop called "BONJOUR" is a local Suzhou brand that opened its first store in Hangzhou Tower on August 20, and it became popular as soon as it opened. Many people reported online that every time they ordered at this shop, the number of people ahead in line was always absurdly large, with wait times starting at at least 5 hours.

Is it really that amazing? A media reporter went to visit the store and found that the entrance did not have the long queue one might imagine. Only two or three consumers were waiting under the sunshade outside the store. On the counter inside, over a dozen bags of packed milk tea were lined up side by side.

According to the staff, because the wait is too long, most customers choose to queue online. If you order now, you would probably have to wait 8 to 9 hours, with more than 1,000 cups still ahead in the production queue.

The reporter randomly interviewed a consumer waiting for tea at the entrance. This consumer said she had come across this Suzhou specialty brand with its astonishing queue times on a group-buying website, and out of curiosity, she reserved a cup on her phone in advance and was now picking it up at the store. She said she hadn't expected a small cup of milk tea to be so popular.

When asked whether this cup of milk tea was worth all the effort of rushing to order, the consumer also honestly said that perhaps because the wait had been so long, expectations had been raised very high, but now that she was drinking it, she didn't find anything special about it—she was just following the trend and trying something new as she passed by.

Meanwhile, some netizens had already posted warnings about this milk tea shop. They said that never mind how the milk tea tastes—the order pickup scene alone was truly chaotic. Although you could order ahead on your phone, many popular products had long been sold out. When customers arrived, all the reservation orders were jumbled together. The staff had no idea which number was in which area, and there was no place to queue, so everyone was shouting out their own pickup numbers. The staff would look for yours here, then his there, then go make coffee, then after making coffee go scoop ice cream—it felt like everyone was busy, yet no one knew what they were busy with. There was really no order at all. The netizen concluded by sincerely advising anyone who wants to taste it to wait until this "Hangzhou fad" passes.

"Hangzhou fad" is a Hangzhou dialect term meaning "following the trend" or "going with the crowd." It reflects the herd mentality of Hangzhou people, who tend to enjoy joining in the excitement and rushing in droves no matter what they do. This mentality is especially prominent in shopping, leisure, and keeping up with consumer trends. Netizens say that every time an internet-famous shop enters Hangzhou, this is the scene. But whether an "internet-famous" shop can stay famous depends on real strength. Some netizens even pointed out that when Heytea first came to Hangzhou, there were long lines at the entrance too, but after a few months you could get your order right away.

Of course, Hangzhou also has plenty of clear-headed netizens asking: are we sure this isn't hunger marketing by the milk tea shop itself? Is the shop creating fake orders? Some netizens even sharply remarked that the combination of a first store plus hunger marketing will make some consumers stay away. They themselves have never even visited the various Hangzhou milk tea shops that follow trends, let alone pay scalpers a markup. These milk teas aren't even good enough to be worth the money. As for hunger marketing that makes people wait seven or eight hours or even more than ten hours, it's really hard to accept.

Finally, let us consider a question: in this fast-paced society, is it worth queueing ten hours for a cup of milk tea that may vanish without a trace in a few months, just to satisfy a moment of vanity and gratification in one's social circle?

Image source: Internet

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