Market Update
HEYTEA REVOLUTIONISES CHINESE TEA MARKET
WITH DIFFERENTIATED FORMULATION AND UNIQUE
MARKETING STRATEGIES, SAYS GLOBALDATA
F
usion tea drinks have emerged as
a huge sensation among Chinese
millennial due to their differentiated
formulation and convenient packaging
format. Against this backdrop, Chinese
beverage start-up Heytea is taking
young tea aficionados by storm with
its unique blend of salty cheese and
‘natural’ fruit tea base, according to
GlobalData, a leading data and analytics
company.
According to GlobalData’s ‘Success
Case Study: Heytea’, the tea brand
effectively rejuvenated the tea tradition
among young Chinese consumers by
aligning its product with millennial
behaviour, preferences and needs.
GlobalData’s Market Analyzer reveals
that the sales of hot tea in China
has increased by 11.7 percent from
$18.65bn in 2017 to $20.84bn in 2018,
and is projected to reach $31.99bn
by 2022.
Heytea is capitalising on this growth by
changing young Chinese consumers’
perception that tea is traditionally
consumed by the older
generations and giving
a run for their money
to international brands.
The tea brand registered
revenues of $87.2m in
2017, a phenomenal
revenue growth of 100
percent since its debut
in 2016.
With an aim
to expand its
geographical
footprint in other
Asian countries,
Heytea launched
its fi rst overseas
outlet in Singapore
in November
2018, followed
by another outlet
in Hong Kong in
December 2018
Shagun Sachdeva,
Consumer Insights Analyst
at GlobalData, says:
“Heytea’s success can be
attributed to its choice of
using natural ingredients,
sourcing of oolong tea leaves from
Taiwan and cheese from New Zealand
to make fresh foam as well as the
product claims such as clean labelling,
100 percent natural fruit juices, natural
rock sugar, and free from artificial
flavours.
“The company has designed innovative
marketing strategies, including cross-
industry promotions, collaboration
with beauty brands such as L’Oréal and
Pechoin and distributing
free samples to increase
b r a n d v i s i b i l i t y. T h i s
clearly demonstrates that
it has understood the
importance of innovation
in terms of taste, appeal
and packaging format, in
line with the demographic
changes in China.”
With an aim to expand
its geographical footprint
in other Asian countries,
Heytea launched its
first overseas outlet in
Singapore in November
2018, followed by another outlet in
Hong Kong in December 2018. It also
started online delivery services, in
collaboration with Meituan Dianping, in
May 2018. The company plans to open
100 additional stores in China, with
further plans to expand in the US and
European countries in the near future.
Sachdeva concludes: “Heytea, with
an ambition to position itself as
millennial-focused brand in China,
relied less on celebrity endorsements
and more on the power of free Internet
and popular social media platforms such
as WeChat, for unique, promotional
campaigns to edge past its rivals. To
increase the perceived value of its
products and overall consumption
experience, Heytea developed an
adjustable packaging, which can
simultaneously savour both layers
of the tea. The packaging also
produces a moustache of cream on the
upper lips of consumers, giving another
reason to share their experience on
social media.”
* Information is based on GlobalData’s
‘Success Case Study: Heytea – How a
differentiated product became a hot new
trend’
Drink Asia
9
March-April 2019