Following its light-body fruit and vegetable bottles and vitamin A fruit and vegetable bottles, Gu Ming has once again incorporated espresso into freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juice, launching the new Light-Body Fruit and Vegetable Americano, in an attempt to attract more consumer groups with a combination of health and coffee. According to the official description, this product is centered on kale, paired with apples, yellow lemons, pineapples and other ingredients freshly squeezed on the same day, then infused with coffee liquid to add layers. However, after the new product launched, consumers' actual feedback presented a completely different picture: the appearance gradually changed from fresh leafy green to a dark yellow tone, and the taste was described as grassy, medicinal, or even like cold sour vegetable soup. This article compiles the formula information, visual changes, and genuine netizen reviews of this fruit and vegetable Americano for coffee lovers' reference. [more…]

A hit drink from Nayuki, the "Nayuki Slim Little Green Bottle," sparked discussion due to a line of small print in its product details. In the official explanation, "slim, light" refers to the new square bottle shape being slimmer and more portable, not to the drink having any functional benefits. Many consumers had assumed it was a fruit-and-vegetable tea suitable for people trying to lose weight, and were taken aback after learning the truth. This kind of situation is not an isolated case—fruit-and-vegetable drinks from brands such as Good-meh and Luckin also often use "body-slimming" and "light-body" as selling points, then add clarifying small print. How many calories are actually in a cup of kale drink? The gap between merchants' marketing and consumers' understanding deserves the attention of every coffee and tea lover. [more…]

Since Heytea launched its Super Botanical Tea series, fruit and vegetable juice drinks have quickly gained popularity, with major brands rushing to follow suit. ChaPanda recently rolled out its "Super Veggie" series in 14 cities including Beijing and Shanghai, among which "Detox Wheatgrass" sparked heated discussion online because its main ingredient closely resembles cat grass and livestock feed. This drink pairs wheatgrass with fresh fruits such as apple, pineapple, and Shine Muscat grapes, and the company emphasizes that no concentrated juice is used. Consumers report that it tastes refreshing, but kitchen staff's workload has increased accordingly, while some customers have raised concerns about the food safety of fruit and vegetable juices. [more…]

Freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable teas have become the new trend in the tea beverage industry, with ingredients such as kale, carrots, and beetroot being widely used. While consumers are paying for health, some have found mud and sand in Nayuki drinks. A customer discovered stains remaining on the decorative kale leaves at the bottom of the "Slim Little Green Bottle" cup, and after wiping the stem with a tissue, obvious mud and sand were visible. The post attracted a great deal of attention, and some netizens claiming to be Nayuki employees left comments revealing that stores are short-staffed and the washing of fruits and vegetables is perfunctory. Behind the genuine ingredients of fruit and vegetable teas, food safety issues are cause for concern. [more…]

Heytea continues to push hard in the fruit-and-vegetable tea segment, and is about to launch its autumn-winter new product, the "Hydrating Slimming Bottle," featuring cucumber as the star paired with kale and apple. As soon as the news came out, consumer anticipation and complaints from store staff emerged at the same time. The preparation of raw materials for fruit-and-vegetable tea is cumbersome, with a lengthy process of washing, cutting, blanching, and juicing. During peak hours, employees are run ragged, and some even joke that resignation letters are already being submitted. Whether this new product can balance consumer enthusiasm and employee burden is worth watching. Front Street Coffee continues to bring you the latest developments in the coffee and tea beverage industry. [more…]

Heytea's "Super Plant Tea" family has welcomed a new member, the Red Beet Beauty Bottle, and the pace of new product launches in the fruit and vegetable beverage track is remarkable. However, behind the frequent launches, the work intensity in store back kitchens is constantly increasing. From the original chia seed slimming bottle to the bitter melon fire-clearing slimming bottle, and now to the new red beet product, employees are constantly busy around the sink, cutting board, and blender, washing vegetables, peeling, chopping, blanching, and juicing, with increasingly complicated procedures. The surge in orders during the National Day holiday has made workers complain endlessly, with some sighing that they have to process more than ten jin of fruits and vegetables a day, and blenders even overloaded to the point of smoking and breaking down. This article takes you through the real working conditions of Heytea's back kitchen employees, and the little-known daily hardships under the fruit and vegetable beverage craze. [more…]

Tea Baidao's recently launched "Super Veggie" drink series, from the wheatgrass-starring "Cat Grass Juice" to the bell pepper mixed fruit "Vitamin C Fast Burn Bell Pepper," has attracted a large number of consumers eager to try the novel combinations, and has also driven store sales growth. However, the other side of the product's hot sales is the heavy manual juicing task facing back-kitchen employees. Because stores use smoothie machines rather than professional juicing equipment, the fruits and vegetables are blended into a thick puree, and employees must repeatedly knead and squeeze filter bags to extract juice. During peak periods, demand exceeds supply, leaving many staff members crying out in despair. This article will take you behind the scenes of the real production process and the voices of employees behind this fruit and vegetable juice craze. [more…]

Over the past year, fruit-and-vegetable drinks featuring kale and other vegetables have sparked a craze in the tea beverage scene, with major brands rushing to follow suit. Recently, Luckin Coffee's internal operations system appears to have revealed a similar move—employees spotted questions and ingredient names related to a "Kale Light-Body Fruit & Vegetable Tea" in the app's question bank and store materials lists, fueling speculation about whether Luckin is about to cross over into the fruit-and-vegetable tea track. However, this potential new product plan has not met with one-sided anticipation: store employees worry about freezer space running out, while consumers question whether the brand should first do a good job with its core coffee business. This article will sort out the ins and outs of the incident and present the voices from multiple sides. [more…]

After the National Day holiday, Heytea launched the third product in its Super Plant Tea series—the Beetroot Beauty Bottle. This fruit-and-vegetable tea drink, starring beetroot, continues the previous slimming bottle line and claims to have beauty-enhancing and slimming benefits. Beetroot, an ancient ingredient originating from the Mediterranean, is rich in betalains and dietary fiber and holds a high status in European folk tradition. The new product is made from 100% freshly squeezed beetroot, combined with apple juice, pineapple juice, lemon juice, and a fragrance-free Green Yan tea base, offering a fresh and light taste. However, consumer feedback has been polarized: those who like it appreciate the balance between the slight astringency of the whole food and the tartness of the apple, while those who don't describe it as tasting like a mouthful of dirt. Heytea's previously launched Champion Slimming Bottle and Fire-Clearing Slimming Bottle both achieved impressive sales, and competition in the fruit-and-vegetable tea segment is intensifying. [more…]

The first product in Naixue's newly launched "Daily 500 Fruit & Veggie Bottle" series, "Slim Little Green Bottle," focuses on the daily 500g fruit and vegetable ratio recommended by the Chinese Nutrition Society, and claims to have no added sugar and to be freshly squeezed to order. After hitting the market, however, quite a few consumers reported that it tasted noticeably sweet, with some even describing it as "syrup-like," and others posted photos showing the drink looking yellowish, questioning whether it was really freshly squeezed. Naixue employees responded on social media that the sweetness comes from fruits such as apples, pears, and sweet oranges that naturally contain sugar, while the yellow-green color is a normal phenomenon after apples oxidize, and stressed that all ingredients are processed the same day and kept refrigerated for a limited time. The controversy also sparked playful online discussion about the kale leaves at the bottom of the cup. [more…]

This year, the popularity of fruit-and-vegetable teas in the beverage market has continued to rise. After Heytea helped make this category a hit, major chain brands rushed in one after another, putting vegetables like kale, wheatgrass, and beetroot into drink cups. As common fruits and vegetables ceased to feel novel, brands began looking for breakthroughs in niche ingredients. The turmeric series recently launched by Goodry is one example, yet this new product centered on a health concept unexpectedly sparked widespread controversy over its taste. Consumer reviews of turmeric were mixed, and especially the much-loved juicy orange bits drink from last year drew a strong backlash from longtime customers after turmeric was quietly added to it. Faced with an avalanche of complaints and criticism, Goodry urgently issued a notice on the same night it updated its menu and adjusted the recipe of this popular drink overnight. [more…]

As the winter strawberry season arrives, major chain tea brands are launching strawberry-related drinks one after another. ChaPanda has brought back its signature strawberry drink in response to fan demand, while also keeping up with the fruit-and-vegetable juice trend by launching a strawberry version of its Light & Refreshing Kale drink and a brand-new item, Divine Beauty Strawberry. Among them, Divine Beauty Strawberry is made fresh with ingredients such as roselle, strawberries, and pineapple, and has been dubbed a "natural liquid blush" by the official brand, attracting many consumers to try it. However, a production video released by an employee revealed the cumbersome and labor-intensive manual juicing process behind this drink—a full pot of ingredients can yield only two cups after manual squeezing, and the filter bags frequently burst from the pressure, prompting collective complaints from staff. The inefficient production method has also led some netizens to worry about hygiene conditions. [more…]

At the start of 2025, Mstand continued its merchandise marketing strategy, launching a red teddy fleece tote bag to entice consumers to order their first coffee of the New Year, while also introducing two fruit-and-vegetable-concept drinks: Beet Apple Hot Americano and Beet Latte. The company claims the drinks have a balanced sweet-and-sour taste with beet fruit-and-vegetable flavors, but consumer reviews are sharply divided: some find the pairing of the apple's crisp sweetness and beet aroma with mellow coffee impressive, while more people bluntly say it tastes like cough syrup or fruit-flavored essence, with the beet's earthy note difficult to blend with coffee. In addition, loyal users expressed disappointment with the brand's new product development direction, believing its focus has shifted from specialty coffee to merchandise marketing. Front Street Coffee reminds that fruit-and-vegetable coffee innovation needs to balance flavor integration with mass acceptance. [more…]

New tea beverage brands are all seeking differentiated breakthroughs through combinations of "vegetables + fruit + tea." ChaPanda recently launched its own super vegetable series, introducing two products at once: "Light & Refreshing Kale" and "Cleansing Wheatgrass." Kale has long been commonplace in the fruit-and-vegetable tea space, while wheatgrass, a somewhat unfamiliar ingredient, has sparked curiosity and discussion among consumers. From ingredient pairings to taste experiences, from cat owners' amusing associations to store employees' prep workload, this new product has generated considerable buzz on social media. This article walks you through the ins and outs of ChaPanda's new plant-based tea products and the real feedback from the first wave of tasters. [more…]

The globally renowned IP Harry Potter has teamed up with Nayuki for a co-branded collaboration, launching limited-edition drinks and merchandise inspired by the four Hogwarts houses. However, controversy has dogged the campaign since its launch: the Slytherin house's signature drink, a fruit-and-vegetable blend of kale and kiwi, was mocked by fans as tasting like a "potion," while the other three were also criticized for various flaws; the uneven distribution of blind-box transparent cards in the merchandise further led consumers to question store operations. As an experienced co-branding player, Nayuki's performance this time has left many Harry Potter fans disappointed, dealing a double blow to both the campaign experience and brand goodwill. [more…]

From an April Fools' joke to a real product launch, Tai Er Suancai Fish has taken the mashup of pickled cabbage and coffee to a whole new level. Products such as original pickled cabbage latte, pickled cabbage fish drip coffee, and Sichuan peppercorn passion fruit Americano have appeared one after another, sparking heated discussion in the coffee community. How do these wildly imaginative crossover drinks actually taste? Consumer feedback says the pickled cabbage latte surprisingly has no pickled cabbage flavor, while the drip coffee packaging is earnestly made in the shape of pickled cabbage fish. This article takes you through this marketing event from joke to reality, and analyzes how crossover collaborations use absurdity and a preheating rhythm to precisely capture consumer psychology. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) continues to bring you professional coffee news and specialty bean recommendations. [more…]

As soon as 2024 ended, Heytea launched a series of annual merchandise on New Year's Day, including a New Year calendar and hand-woven bags, and even hid Easter eggs in over 2,000 stores nationwide—customer number 8225 could receive a free slimming fruit and vegetable bag. However, this feather-woven bag, which required purchasing a drink to get and worked out to about 37 yuan, was found upon receipt to be made not of cotton or nylon rope, but of paper rope, sparking complaints from many consumers. This article will take you through the whole story of Heytea's New Year merchandise and see whether this "beautiful waste" is actually worth it. [more…]

In the Year of the Rabbit Spring Festival, KFC K Coffee partnered with Wei Chuan to launch its first juice coffee, "Bunny Loves Carrot Americano," combining carrot fruit-and-vegetable juice with Arabica coffee liquid, priced at 19 yuan, and available in limited release in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen starting February 20. This drink quickly sparked a check-in craze thanks to its quirky combination, but reviews have been polarized: carrot lovers highly recommend it, while more people call it a total miss. This article will comprehensively analyze this cup of "carrot Americano" from the perspectives of product information, taste testing, and netizen feedback, and explore the market prospects of vegetables in coffee. [more…]

Nayuki recently launched a new product, the "Double-Antioxidant Little Red Bottle," featuring freshly squeezed Yunnan tree tomatoes paired with blueberries, cherry tomatoes, lemons, and other fresh fruits. It is advertised as sweet and tangy, rich in vitamin C and lycopene. However, not long after its release, the first wave of curious consumers began complaining: a large amount of fruit peel and seeds settles at the bottom of the cup, and one sip fills your mouth with grit—some people even nearly choked on a lemon seed. Staff responded that filtering the fruit puree was not required during preparation, and the final product varies due to differences in technique. Interestingly, netizens are divided on the issue—some suggest adding a filtration step, while others believe the fruit residue is precisely proof of "genuine ingredients." Behind this controversy lies the challenge of balancing taste and health in fruit-and-vegetable teas. [more…]

Tims' newly launched fruit and vegetable drink "Cranberry Yogurt Smoothie" quickly caught consumers' attention with its unique ring-shaped packaging cup, and many people even placed orders specifically for this oddly shaped cup. However, when customers received the drink, they found that it came with a straight, thick straw, and the combination with the ring-shaped cup made people exclaim, "Is this reasonable?" The smoothie has a thick texture, and the straight straw can hardly reach the bottom inside the ring-shaped bottle, so customers had no choice but to unscrew the cap and drink directly. At the same time, Tims employees also complained that the ring-shaped cup affected service efficiency, as the slushy drink was difficult to pour into the narrow bottle opening. Whether this creative packaging is a bonus or a trouble maker has sparked widespread discussion. [more…]