Start of Autumn was originally a solar term, but today it has become a carnival moment for milk tea consumption. Major brands are pulling out all the stops to compete for the traffic around the "first cup of milk tea in autumn." This year, Heytea has made "big" its core strategy, creating a strong social topic with a giant Heytea cup half a person's height and a 1.5-meter-tall "Heytea Person Honor Certificate." The event rules are simple: the customer who places the 8,001st in-store order receives the giant certificate. Some people drove seven kilometers under the scorching sun just for this sense of ceremony, while other socially anxious customers were caught off guard by the sudden award ceremony. The brand also considered the details, making the certificate foldable and easy to carry. Data shows that on the day of Start of Autumn, sales at many Heytea stores increased by more than 600% compared with the previous day, and first-day sales of the new product "Extra Chunky Yellow Peach Mango" exceeded 400,000 cups, setting a brand record. This article was compiled by Coffee Workshop and takes you through the behind-the-scenes story of this unconventional marketing campaign. [more…]

Catering services on high-speed trains have been continuously upgraded, and now the Guangzhou EMU group has taken the lead in launching its own milk tea brand, "That Girl," priced at 26 yuan per cup, with average daily sales reaching as high as 3,000 cups. The series offers four flavors, and the official claim is that natural ingredients are used and tea concentration and sugar content have been reduced to suit passengers' needs. However, after the product launched, it quickly trended on social media, yet was collectively criticized by netizens over its price, packaging, taste, and marketing methods. At the same time, specialty coffee brands such as Front Street Coffee are also paying attention to this crossover attempt. This article will walk you through the research and development background of high-speed rail milk tea, its market performance, and evaluations from all sides. [more…]

Tea Yan Yue Se has always been loved by consumers for its milk tea and peripheral snacks, but recently many customers have noticed that the toppings on their drinks have been quietly replaced with the brand's own puffed snacks, such as crispy balls, cheese sticks, and corn kernels. This change has sparked strong dissatisfaction among longtime fans, who feel that puffed food does not pair well with milk tea in terms of taste, looks jarring, and have even called on the brand to stop this practice. Although Tea Yan Yue Se's snack business is growing rapidly, with annual e-commerce sales already exceeding 100 million, forcing snacks into milk tea reflects the brand's anxiety to promote its retail products. This article takes you through the ins and outs of the incident and the real feedback from fans. [more…]

Luckin Coffee has recently grabbed a lot of attention with its co-branded campaigns and its new drink, "Gentle Jasmine." Dubbed by netizens as a "stand-in for Boya Juexian," this milk tea has seen its sales soar, becoming the top seller in many stores. However, in stark contrast to the booming sales, a wave of calls to "vote Gentle Jasmine off the menu" has surged within Luckin's employee circles. The reason is simple: this drink has a complicated preparation process, requiring staff to hand-shake each cup using a shaker, which becomes overwhelming when orders pile up. With more shaker-made new products set to launch next week, employees' anxiety has reached its peak. This article will take a deep dive into the reasons behind this phenomenon and explore the solutions proposed by employees. [more…]

During the Spring Festival holiday that just passed, milk tea sales nationwide surged by 180.4% year-on-year, with many consumers bringing milk tea and coffee to the New Year's Eve dinner table, replacing traditional alcoholic drinks and beverages. The surge in orders put chain tea beverage stores into high-intensity operation from New Year's Eve, with receipt printers at the front desk spewing orders nonstop, empty cups piling up like mountains on the preparation counters, and staff in the prep room peeling, juicing, and boiling ingredients without a moment's rest. Employees worked around the clock, some putting in 12-hour days for a full week straight, some so busy they had no time to drink water or use the restroom, and equipment frequently jammed or broke down. Facing customers and delivery riders clamoring for their orders, staff at the pickup station could only apologize repeatedly, mocking themselves as "sorry to everyone." This article takes you inside the Spring Festival tea shop frenzy and the real lives of these workers. [more…]

During the first New Year's mini-holiday after the adjustment of pandemic control policies, people who had recovered from COVID-19 began traveling in large numbers, rapidly heating up the food and beverage consumption market. Long queues reappeared outside milk tea and coffee shops, with some stores seeing orders surge, and even scenes of ordering systems showing queues of over a hundred cups. From Auntea Jenny to Naixue Tea, sales data from multiple brands rebounded significantly, and foot traffic in many commercial districts recovered to 60 to 80 percent of the same period in previous years. Although the pace of recovery remains uneven, the city's lively atmosphere is gradually returning, and the industry is full of expectations for a comprehensive rebound in spring. [more…]

Xiangpiaopiao rode a cup sleeve printed with Chinese and Japanese bilingual text mocking Japan's nuclear-contaminated water to hit trending searches within just a few days, with livestream sales soaring 400-fold and its stock price hitting the daily limit at market open, earning it the title of "glory of domestic brands" from netizens. But the story soon took a dramatic turn—local supermarkets in Japan denied selling products with the cup sleeve, media questioned it as staged hype, the cup sleeve was taken off shelves on May 8, and the stock price fell back accordingly. Behind this "windfall from heaven" lies a deeper anxiety: powdered milk tea made with non-dairy creamer is struggling amid the rise of freshly made tea drinks and shifting health-conscious consumer attitudes. Competition from brands like Heytea and Mixue Bingcheng has driven Xiangpiaopiao's performance down for three consecutive years, making a shift to ready-to-drink products an inevitable choice. This article walks through the entire timeline of the incident and explores the real impact of this traffic storm on the brand's image. Follow Front Street Coffee and let's savor the ups and downs of the coffee and tea beverage industry together. [more…]

When "the king of braised snacks" Juewei Food quietly started selling milk tea in some stores, an unexpected cross-industry experiment unfolded. For young people, milk tea is a daily necessity, but duck necks are not a daily must-have. Against the backdrop of weak consumption in braised snacks, is Juewei's move a bold innovation to seek new growth points, or a risky adventure with an uncertain future? From promotional banners offering 3 cups for 11.9 yuan to red bean pudding and coconut popping green milk tea at 7 yuan per cup on its mini-program, Juewei is trying to use tea beverages to attract young customers. However, declining revenue, a sharp drop in stock price, a net decrease of nearly 1,000 stores, and consumer complaints about price and quality all make this cross-industry move full of uncertainty. This article will analyze the business logic and challenges behind Juewei's milk tea sales from multiple perspectives, including store visits, market data, and expert opinions. [more…]

Recently, a red guava trend has swept through the tea beverage scene, with brands such as Heytea, Jasmine Milk White, LELECHA, Quchashan, and Grandma Handmade launching seasonal limited-edition guava drinks. Among them, Jasmine Milk White's "Jasmine Pink Guava" and "Matcha Pink Guava," made with fresh-squeezed red guava juice in specialty fruit milk, quickly went viral, with orders flooding in. However, behind these highly photogenic drinks, store employees are crying out in distress—unripe guava flesh is rock hard, and manually scooping out the core and seeds is time-consuming and labor-intensive, leaving many with hand cramps or even carpal tunnel syndrome. To deal with the rock-hard guavas, staff tried ripening methods such as sealing them in plastic bags and placing them alongside bananas, but demand still outstripped supply. Compared with Heytea's approach of blending the fruit directly into smoothies—skin and seeds included—Jasmine Milk White employees, while envious, would rather the brand just discontinue the new products. This article takes you behind the scenes of the guava craze to reveal the hardships of making these drinks and the voices of the employees. [more…]

Heytea's "Triple Thick Matcha" has been jokingly called a "matcha family bucket" for combining thick matcha cheese milk cap, matcha jelly, and thick matcha glutinous rice, drawing a large crowd of matcha lovers eager to try it. However, this hot-selling drink has become a nightmare for employees at the store level. The thick matcha glutinous rice looks like it only requires stirring matcha powder, glutinous rice flour, milk, and condensed milk into a sticky paste, but in reality it is extremely arm-tiring to make, and if you are not careful it can burn at the bottom and smoke, ruining the entire pot of topping. During peak sales, employees stir until they can no longer lift their arms, and some even hope the brand will discontinue it. At the same time, some consumers are not buying it either, complaining that the glutinous rice fills the stomach and has a gluey texture. This article examines both the employee and customer sides to break down why this drink—"hard for staff to cook, hard for customers to enjoy"—remains so controversial. [more…]

Vitasoy International Holdings' interim results for the 2021/2022 fiscal year show that revenue fell 18.28% year-on-year, while net profit plunged 95%, marking the largest decline in recent years. The core trigger of this storm was the public backlash caused by the July 2021 incident in which an employee attacked police and then hanged himself, leading to large-scale product removals and celebrity contract terminations in the mainland market—a key region accounting for 60% of the company's total revenue. The incident occurred during the summer sales peak, obstructing new product promotion, while competitors seized the opportunity to accelerate penetration. Industry analysts pointed out that in addition to the public relations crisis, Vitasoy's structural weaknesses in the mainland market—over-reliance on the Pearl River Delta and insufficient penetration in the north—were equally fatal. Rising raw material costs and slow packaging updates further dragged down recovery, and it is expected to take at least three years to restore profitability. This article will sort out the sequence of events, market reactions, and future challenges, providing in-depth reference for observers in the coffee and beverage industry. [more…]

As the Start of Autumn solar term arrives, the milk tea industry welcomes its annual sales peak, and coffee brands are also swept into this consumer frenzy. Luckin Coffee, due to the addition of its light milk tea product line, has seen order volumes rise significantly compared to the same period in previous years, with some stores forced to adopt flow-limiting measures such as suspending water and ice due to staff shortages. However, under intense work pressure, a Luckin Coffee store in Zhaoqing, Guangdong, experienced a physical altercation between employees. According to the New Express, two employees are suspected to have escalated a verbal dispute into a physical fight, but other colleagues intervened in time, and the incident resulted in no injuries. At present, the store manager has confirmed the matter and reported it to the public relations department. This "first internal strife of autumn" reflects the enormous pressure faced by food and beverage workers during the peak season. [more…]

Guangzhou Zoo recently published a set of images linking animal feces to bubble tea pearls, with the caption "Hey, are you having afternoon tea today?", which quickly sparked discussion on social platforms. Many netizens who were enjoying pearl milk tea said they were visually shocked, saying bluntly that "the milk tea in my hand suddenly doesn't taste good anymore." In street interviews, most citizens believed that this publicity method was inappropriate and likely to affect appetite, and some even described it as "uncomfortable" and "disgusting." However, some voices pointed out that this was more like a teasing reminder urging people to drink less pearl milk tea, and it reminded people of the classic Skittles advertisement. At present, the zoo has deleted the related content, and customer service said that no related products are for sale. [more…]

At the turn of autumn and winter, Heytea relaunched its highly anticipated Taro Mud Boba series, made with Lipu taro from Guangxi, attracting many fans to place orders and taste it. However, just days after its return, some customers discovered that the recipe for "Taro Mud Boba Real Milk Tea" had changed without prior notice, with a large amount of sago unexpectedly added to the milk tea, affecting both the taste and the portion size. Store employees revealed that the recipe was urgently adjusted in the early morning, the amount of milk was reduced accordingly, and after-sales issues occurred frequently. This change sparked discussions among consumers about the brand's communication approach and product consistency. [more…]

After eight years, Nongfu Spring is once again making a push into the bottled milk tea sector. On October 12, its official WeChat account posted an article announcing a renewed layout for the "Da Milk Tea" series, launching jasmine, black tea, and oolong flavors, with a net content of 380 milliliters, highlighting selling points such as "0 added milk powder," "0 added tea powder," and "0 added flavorings." It is reported that this series uses concentrated milk and carefully selected whole-leaf extraction, with cold-chain storage and transportation throughout, and the JD.com presale price is 135 yuan for 15 bottles. Looking back to the end of 2013, Nongfu Spring had launched a matcha-flavored Da Milk Tea in a tumbler-shaped bottle, which faded out after a lukewarm market response. Now, bottled ready-to-drink milk tea is regarded as a new outlet, and in the hundred-billion milk tea market, street drinks, brewed drinks, and ready-to-drink drinks each occupy a share, with new brands such as Genki Forest and Hankou Erchang also entering the fray. Front Street Coffee believes that whether Nongfu Spring can win consumers' favor this time remains to be tested by the market. [more…]

Chagee recently officially announced the launch of its new product "Qianlong No. 1," claiming to recreate the same milk tea that Qianlong drank based on records in the "Collected Statutes of the Great Qing," and it is also the brand's first salty milk tea. After going on sale, it quickly sparked heated discussion. Netizens joked that the name was "more suitable for office workers," while also seriously reviewing the taste, though opinions were sharply divided—some found it salty and rich like Inner Mongolian milk tea, while others complained it tasted like "Qianlong's bathwater." At the same time, discussions kept bubbling up about whether the product name was awkwardly piggybacking on a historical figure and whether it could continue using the old name "Qingshan Xianshuang." This article compiles viewpoints from all sides to take you through the real look of this palace-style salty milk tea. [more…]

What kind of sparks fly when lottery meets coffee? In Jinan, Shandong, Nowwa Coffee has opened a "Welfare Lottery + Coffee" hybrid store, cleverly combining lottery products such as scratch cards and Double Color Ball with beverages like coffee and light milk tea. This grab-and-go store not only continues the brand's signature orange pony element, but also draws in customers of different age groups through lottery traffic. Back in April this year, Nowwa Coffee launched a custom "Pony Scratch Card," which drove a 63% month-on-month increase in sales of its gallon-sized buckets. Can this deep cooperation with the Welfare Lottery become a breakthrough move in the fierce competition of the tea beverage market? Let's take a closer look. [more…]

During the holiday period, sales at tea beverage stores surged, but Guming employees were complaining bitterly about a pistachio milk cap. Since its launch in early September, this series has won customers' favor with its unique aroma, but in making the milk cap, the pistachio paste is thick and difficult to pour, and whipping takes more than 10 minutes, leaving many workers feeling overwhelmed during order surges and even calling it an "early shift nightmare." This article details employees' feedback on the production difficulties and includes related recommendations from Front Street Coffee. [more…]

Oatly, the oat milk pioneer, recently released its full-year and fourth-quarter financial results for 2022, reporting a net loss of nearly $400 million for the year, further widening from 2021. Although sales volume in the Asian market grew 32% year-on-year, revenue in Asia fell by $800,000 in the fourth quarter due to the impact of the pandemic. China, as the core of Oatly's Asian business, accounts for as much as 93%, and fluctuations in its performance have a significant impact on the overall Asian market. Oatly quickly opened up the market with its positioning as a "new coffee companion" through partnerships with chain brands such as Starbucks, but now the plant-based milk concept has cooled, emerging brands are proliferating, consumers' acceptance of oat milk is still lower than that of dairy milk, and coupled with its relatively high price, Oatly faces the risk of being replaced. To this end, Oatly is trying to find new growth points by expanding into new products such as tea drinks and ice cream, as well as through financing. [more…]

Nayuki recently issued a profit warning, expecting revenue of approximately 2.4 to 2.7 billion yuan in the first half of 2024, with an adjusted net loss of approximately 420 to 490 million yuan. Facing weak consumer demand and limited room for cost optimization, this tea beverage brand once known for its high-end image is planning to close underperforming stores to cut losses and survive. It is worth noting that Nayuki's performance slowdown stems not only from the market environment but is also closely related to its own business strategy—store expansion has lagged severely, its high-end positioning has constrained its push into lower-tier markets, and price cuts have led to declining quality and loss of fans. This article will delve into the challenges Nayuki currently faces and whether it can reverse its brand crisis through measures such as overseas expansion. [more…]