Recently, some Lucky Cup stores have posted eye-catching notices at their counters, explicitly listing preparation restrictions such as "coffee has no room-temperature option, no ice removal" and "hand-muddled/perfume drinks cannot be sugar-free," drawing attention. In fact, similar friendly reminders appear at stores of multiple chain beverage brands, and staff members candidly admit: flexibly adjusting ice levels does not necessarily earn praise, but violating operating rules may lead to penalties. At the same time, some consumers give negative reviews due to changes in drink taste, putting frontline employees in a dilemma. This tug-of-war over formula standardization and personalized demands reflects the deep-seated contradiction in the chain beverage industry between unified output and accommodating consumer experience. [more…]

Since Starbucks acquired Teavana, a tea company, in 2012, it has continuously explored the possibilities of the tea beverage business in North American and Asian markets. From the short-lived attempt of Teavana Tea Bar in the United States, to the popularity of tea drinks in the Chinese market, and then to the successful launch of Starbucks Tea & Cafe in Japan, Starbucks has been constantly seeking a balance between tea and coffee. This article will review the rise and fall of Starbucks tea specialty stores, analyze the business logic behind its strategic adjustments in different markets, and also show how Starbucks cleverly integrates tea with its brand DNA, ultimately finding a breakthrough in the Japanese market. [more…]

The holiday consumption boom has just passed, and the store dynamics of new-style tea beverage brands have drawn attention. A Cha Yan Yue Se in Chongqing's Yuanyang commercial district was operating normally at night, but the next day suddenly had its lightbox sign removed and quietly closed, and the store could no longer be found on the official mini-program. This store was once the first in the Yubei area and held the daily consumption memories of many regulars. The brand is said to have chosen not to renew the lease because the contract expired, and longtime fans were not surprised, believing this to be part of Cha Yan Yue Se's一贯 elimination-style adjustment strategy. At the same time, the brand's newly opened store in Suzhou has once again drawn complaints over issues such as its verification system and product efficiency. As leading brands vie for the market with stable quality and user experience, the trajectory of Cha Yan Yue Se's reputation and changes in its store layout are worth close observation. [more…]

Recently, several tea beverage brands—including Heytea, Nayuki, ChaPanda, Good Tea, Mixue Bingcheng, and Shuyi Tealicious—were reported to have jointly adjusted their full-reduction strategies on food delivery platforms. The original full-reduction discounts have been uniformly changed to 1 off 50, 1 off 70, or even canceled outright. Once the news broke, related topics quickly trended on social media, with views exceeding 180 million. Merchants say profits are thin, while netizens question why milk tea, which isn't cheap, still isn't making money. Behind this controversy lie both the pressure of platform commissions and delivery costs, and a reflection of the difficult position of the new tea beverage industry, caught between price cuts and losses. [more…]

Coffee bean prices have been soaring relentlessly, and chain coffee brands can finally no longer hold out. Starbucks Taiwan posted an announcement on its official website without warning in the early hours of February 11, announcing a slight price adjustment for some drinks starting February 12, with increases ranging from NT$5 to NT$10. The company attributed the price hike to rising raw material costs caused by abnormal weather and the international situation. At the same time, Starbucks also launched a Valentine's Day buy-one-get-one-free promotion to cushion consumers' feelings. It is worth noting that coffee futures recently broke through 430 cents per pound on the ICE exchange in the United States, setting a new 47-year high, with a gain of 118.57% over the past year. Whether this wave of price increases will prompt competitors to follow suit has become the focus of industry attention. This article will sort out the specific categories involved in this price adjustment, the extent of the increases, and the coffee bean market trends behind it. [more…]

Recently, Shuyi Tealicious has faced a backlog of unsold second-hand equipment due to mass store closures, with recyclers even disposing of machines worth tens of thousands of yuan at scrap metal prices. This tea beverage brand, once wildly popular for its "half a cup is all toppings" slogan, has seen its store count shrink by over a thousand compared to its peak after undergoing price reduction strategies and adjustments to franchise thresholds. Meanwhile, the entire new tea beverage sector is facing a reshuffle, with approximately 120,000 stores disappearing in the past year. This article reviews the rise and fall of Shuyi Tealicious, the plight of its franchisees, and the chain reactions of the industry's closure wave, while maintaining Front Street Coffee's ongoing attention to industry dynamics. [more…]

Recently, the new-style tea beverage brand Grandpa's Tea, originating from Wuhan, has been reported to have closed or withdrawn stores in multiple locations, including Zibo in Shandong, Suzhou in Jiangsu, and Poyang in Jiangxi, sparking consumer concerns about its business condition. The brand's co-founder had set an expansion target of at least 4,500 stores in 2025, striving for 5,000, but as of October 18, only 2,274 stores were in operation, a clear gap from the goal. Meanwhile, well-known tea brands like Xiamen's Sevenbus and Shenzhen's 813 Bayishan have also fallen into store closure controversies. In response to external doubts, Grandpa's Tea stated that adjustments to individual stores are normal optimization actions by franchisees and that overall operations are sound. This article will sort out the ins and outs of the incident, presenting the brand's response and industry background. [more…]

Heytea's sub-brand Xixiaocha recently closed its last store located in Guangzhou City Investment Building. From the opening of its first store in April 2020 to its complete withdrawal now, only two and a half years have passed. Xixiaocha once deeply cultivated six cities in the Pearl River Delta and opened 22 stores, focusing on affordable drinks priced from 8 to 16 yuan. Before closing, most stores were still profitable. At the same time, Heytea's main brand has continuously lowered prices since the beginning of this year, announcing that it will no longer launch products priced above 29 yuan, and all new products will be priced no higher than 20 yuan. The product positioning and price ranges of the two brands are increasingly overlapping. The last update on Xixiaocha's official WeChat public account remained on July 20, 2022, and its mini-program can no longer be searched. Heytea has not yet responded. This article reviews the rise and fall of Xixiaocha and analyzes its connection with the strategic adjustments of the main brand. [more…]

Recently, Heycha has seen store closures in many places across the country, drawing attention from consumers and the industry. Two stores in Baoji, Shaanxi, have suspended operations one after another, and stores in Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Qingdao and other places have also disappeared or reduced their scale. According to GeoHey brand monitoring data, in the past 90 days Heycha opened 12 new stores, but the number of closures reached 146, equivalent to nearly 2 stores disappearing from cities every day. After suspending franchise expansion, the brand intends to improve store product quality and selectively close stores with poor profitability, but the large number of closures is still surprising. As coffee enthusiasts, Front Street Coffee continues to follow the dynamic changes in the tea beverage and coffee markets, and this article sorts out cases from various places and industry interpretations of Heycha's current wave of store closures. [more…]

Following the closure of the last store of its sub-brand Xixiaocha, Heytea confirmed on November 3 that it will open franchising, with partnership fees kept under 500,000 yuan and franchise store formats primarily under 50 square meters. Heytea stated it will leverage a decade of accumulated experience and resources to develop its partnership business in non-first-tier cities with suitable store formats, providing partners with comprehensive support in branding, products, quality control, food safety, operations, training, and supply chain. In recent years, Heytea has accelerated its expansion into lower-tier markets, successively adjusting prices, launching IP collaborations, and shutting down its budget sub-brand. Opening franchising is now seen as a key step to further capture market share in third- and fourth-tier cities. Whether the new tea beverage sector will face a new round of involution, and whether direct-operated brand Nayuki will follow suit, remains worth watching. [more…]

Entering mid-December, temperatures across the country continue to drop, yet demand for iced drinks remains strong, and the ice machines in tea beverage shops still need to operate as usual in the severe cold of the north. Recently, an early-shift employee at Chagee arrived at the store and found the ice cube tray covered with foreign matter resembling a "spider web." Only upon closer inspection did they realize it was ice that had frozen into a thick layer overnight, preventing the machine from properly releasing the ice. This situation not only caught the staff off guard but also sparked discussions among peers about winter ice machine parameter adjustments, troubleshooting, and equipment quality. Front Street Coffee has noticed that similar problems are not uncommon in chain tea beverage stores, and how to respond scientifically has become a topic of concern for industry practitioners. [more…]

Nayuki, once hailed as the "first stock of new-style tea drinks," has delivered a less-than-stellar half-year report card: revenue dipped slightly year-on-year, and after adjustments, it swung from profit to loss. Facing multiple pressures—questions over price cuts, the impact of the pandemic, and competition from peers—Nayuki has begun setting its sights on the coffee track, seeking new growth points by investing in brands like AOKKA. Meanwhile, brands such as Heytea and Chayan Yuese are also making their own moves to save themselves. Is the collective push by new tea drink brands into coffee a move of desperation or a new trend? This article reviews Nayuki's latest performance and investment moves, and takes stock of the self-rescue paths within the industry. [more…]

Over the past year, the tea beverage market has undergone a dramatic reshuffle. According to Zhanmen Canyan data, the total number of stores in the milk tea beverage industry reached 412,600, with 142,300 new openings, but the net growth was -17,700, meaning that more than 160,000 stores exited the market in the fierce competition. Although leading brands such as Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, Guming, Shanghai Auntie, and ChaPanda still saw growth, their pace of store expansion has clearly slowed. Nayuki's stock price plummeted 93%, wiping out nearly HK$27 billion in market value. Product homogenization is severe, consumers are experiencing aesthetic fatigue with similar drinks, and the industry is accelerating into a harsh winter during the off-season of autumn and winter. [more…]

The first Heytea store in Chongqing's Beicheng district has suddenly closed. This store, which had been highly popular since opening in 2018, was once regarded as a landmark presence for the brand in the Chongqing market. The closure surprised many loyal customers, and Heytea's subsequent internal email announcing the suspension of business partnership applications caused even more waves in the tea beverage industry. From the end of its first Chongqing store to the successive closures or suspensions of stores in Zibo, Xuecheng, Binhu and other places, and then to the company's proactive halt of franchise expansion, Heytea's series of moves have sparked widespread discussion about brand strategy adjustment, store quality control, and the competitive landscape of the industry. [more…]

Recently, multiple media outlets have reported that some franchisees of Mixue Bingcheng have revealed that their stores may soon introduce coffee machines, suggesting that this tea beverage brand, known primarily for lemonade and milk tea, may formally enter the freshly ground coffee market. Currently, some new stores have received fully automatic coffee machines provided by the brand, though the exact timing for their use has not yet been determined. Notably, Mixue Bingcheng already owns Lucky Cup, a brand focused on freshly ground coffee, which has surpassed ten thousand stores. If the main brand simultaneously launches similar products, the market positioning of the two may face adjustments. This article will review the latest progress of the freshly ground coffee business pilot, the direction of product upgrades, and the various speculations from the outside world. [more…]

Recently, the new Chinese-style tea beverage brand Jasmine Naibai announced that it has secured nearly 100 million yuan in financing, led by Alibaba Local Life, with Xiangyang Capital serving as the exclusive financial advisor. This round of funding will be directed toward product research and development, brand building, supply chain upgrades, and team expansion, while further empowering franchise partners and continuously refining the lightweight model. Since its establishment in 2020, Jasmine Naibai has started with Jasmine Dragon Buds and focused on the floral fresh milk tea segment, launching series such as Gardenia, White Orchid, and Osmanthus. It now has 785 stores nationwide, with revenue growth of nearly 400%, and is expected to surpass 1,000 stores by the end of the year. The brand is also expanding overseas, opening its first stores in New York and Bangkok, promoting Eastern tea beverage culture to the world. [more…]

Shanghai recently issued the "Implementation Measures for the Administration of Food Business Licensing and Filing in Shanghai," effective from May 10, 2024. The new regulations abolish secondary-category licensing items and support mixed multi-format operations, allowing coffee shops, bars, and others to coexist in the same storefront, while non-catering stores such as bookshops and clothing stores can also apply for a business permit to make beverages on-site. At the same time, "made and sold on-site" has been adjusted to "made and sold on the premises," the 19 business catalog items have been simplified into 4 categories—hot food, cold food, raw food, and self-made beverages—and the 6-square-meter production site restriction has been removed. In response to the long-disputed "smashed cucumber" issue, the new regulations allow a dedicated area only. Whether the policy benefits can activate the market and ensure food safety still needs time to be tested. [more…]

Competition in the new-style tea beverage sector is becoming increasingly fierce, with brands constantly adjusting their strategies on products and pricing. Heytea has made a flurry of moves recently: on one hand, it announced that it will not raise prices this year and will no longer launch drinks priced above 30 yuan; on the other hand, its affiliated company added fruit cultivation to its business scope, attempting to control costs from the source. At the same time, Heytea is also facing controversies over layoffs and internal management. This article will sort out the logic behind Heytea's moves, as well as the trend of the new-style tea beverage industry extending upstream into cultivation, and will also briefly discuss the similar path in the coffee sector from brewing to cultivation. [more…]

After China Post opened a café, state-owned enterprises branching into the food and beverage industry drew attention. China Railway has also joined this trend, launching a railway cultural and creative themed restaurant at the Zhengyangmen branch of the China Railway Museum, covering healthy light meals and beverages. The beverage brand is named "Bendao Tea," featuring railway-themed decor and freshly made tea, juice, and coffee, priced at 12 to 32 yuan. However, consumers have reported that the drinks are too sweet and lack personalized customization options, and the store's location is rather remote with a hard-to-pronounce name, resulting in limited foot traffic. Previously, high-speed rail milk tea was criticized and trended on social media over price and taste issues, and high-speed rail coffee was also launched the same month. Unlike China Post's step-by-step approach with milk tea and coffee, China Railway is pursuing multiple tracks simultaneously—ambitious, but facing no small challenge. [more…]

Chinese freshly-made beverage giant Mixue Bingcheng is accelerating its overseas expansion. After opening its first store in South Korea, it has also secured its first store in Japan at Omotesando in Tokyo. From its start in Hanoi, Vietnam, to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and now to the Japanese and South Korean markets, Mixue Bingcheng's overseas stores have surpassed one thousand. Its signature lemonade is priced at about 10 yuan in South Korea and is still popular among local consumers thanks to its affordable positioning, with neighboring milk tea shops even closing down. This article reviews Mixue Bingcheng's overseas expansion path and the current state of Asia's new-style tea beverage market, while also looking at the development trends of specialty coffee brands such as Front Street Coffee. [more…]