The first cup of milk tea in autumn hides the social intimacy value of young people

Since 2020, milk tea shops and drivers have become extremely busy every year on the beginning of autumn, as the number of milk tea orders on this day has surged, like the Double Eleven in the tea industry. This article will take you to explore how milk tea has become a new tool for young people to socialize, and the role it plays in contemporary consumer culture.

The Beginning of Autumn is originally a time node for the change of seasons. Starting from 2020, countless milk tea shops and riders are on high alert on this day every year.

"So this is the power of the Milk Tea Festival?" Whether it was the milk tea shop clerk or the rider, on the day of the Beginning of Autumn, they were all shocked when they saw the order receipts popping up continuously from the store machines.

The first cup of milk tea in autumn has become the Double Eleven of the tea industry.

Even though four years have passed, "Autumn's First Cup of Milk Tea" has become more popular every year. In the past few years, "Autumn Milk Tea" has long gone from being a hot topic on the Internet to a collective peak season for the tea industry and online food delivery.

Why this day, and why milk tea?

As the main force of tea consumption, milk tea has long been endowed with certain social attributes. On the day of the beginning of autumn, for young people who send or receive milk tea, it is more than just a takeaway.

1. Factors that young people use to judge their friends: Knowing what kind of tea the other person likes

On the morning of the beginning of autumn, Zhou Ke switched the address on the food delivery app, clicked into a milk tea shop, and skillfully selected "Osmanthus Oolong tea base, large cup, no ice, 50% sugar" plus two snacks, preparing the first cup of milk tea in autumn and giving it to a good friend who was thousands of miles away and hadn't seen for half a year.

Starting half an hour after the merchant accepted the order, she kept refreshing the rider's movement trajectory on her mobile phone.

When the phone showed that the rider was 426 meters away from his friend's company, Zhou Ke suddenly received a WeChat message from his friend: Please watch your phone later. I ordered the first cup of milk tea of ​​autumn for you.

In the social interactions of contemporary young people, sending each other milk tea has become a new emotional connection.

Long before the first Liqiu when "the first cup of milk tea in autumn" became a hot search, Zhou Ke and his friends had the habit of sending milk tea to each other. Amid busy work, a takeaway milk tea became the best way to express concern for each other after being thousands of miles apart for many years.

From the milk tea 1.0 era, when they sent each other "brown sugar dirty milk tea" and "full sugar jasmine milk tea" with ice cream, to the 2.0 era, when they sent each other light milk tea, they have gradually gotten to know each other's preferences.

As consumers have begun to pursue health in recent years, many brands have added detailed options for tea base, temperature, and amount of sugar. Today, people generally have a demand for almost "personal customization" of milk tea.

Zhou Ke took his share and took a look at the receipt. He saw the familiar “jasmine tea base, normal ice, no sugar”. He felt that if friends could remember each other’s favorite tea base, it could be considered a two-way effort.

Milk tea has become an indispensable tool for young people to socialize

At the time when the first cup of milk tea arrives in autumn this year, receiving a cup of milk tea has become a proof of "being cared for" in the hearts of many young people.

In fact, sending each other a cup of tea through takeout has long become an essential tool for young people to socialize.

Whether it's friends expressing their concern for each other, or having milk tea at work or expressing gratitude for social etiquette, milk tea can save the most time and express the right amount of thoughts in a cost-effective way.

"Saying we'll have dinner together when we're free can easily turn into an empty promise. And if we get together for a cup of coffee, we have to consider each other's time and distance. It's better to just order a takeaway and a cup of milk tea."

The fundamental reason why "Autumn Milk" has been popular for several years is that the public's long-term consumption habits have exploded at a certain time. The beginning of autumn has become the "carnival" of the tea industry for four consecutive years.

On that day, at the offline milk tea store, the only sounds could be heard from the store clerks and riders loudly asking for order numbers.

On the day of the beginning of autumn, almost all riders had several orders of milk tea in their boxes.

Although the staff at "Chahua Nong", which is closest to Zhou Ke's office building, had been prepared, they did not expect that many orders would start from a dozen or twenty orders. After milk tea was given the attributes of socializing and entertaining, many companies placed collective orders for their employees on this day.

"The hardest working clerk in the store should be the one who handles the receipt machine. There is no shift rotation and he is just spitting out orders all day long." As the clerk spoke, his hands kept pressing down on the cup lid.

According to the product manager of Chahuanong, young consumers in first-tier, new first-tier and second-tier cities are the main consumers of the brand.

It is not difficult to see that in a year when the trend of "new Chinese-style healthy tea drinks" is getting stronger and stronger, these light milk tea brands that mainly promote healthy, original leaf teas and at the same time are delicious can meet both social needs and healthy consumption habits, and are more likely to be included in the first echelon of young consumer preferences.

At the beginning of autumn this year, there are more riders waiting for orders in the milk tea shop than in previous years.

2. Fruit tea has been in business for ten years, originating from the market and integrating into the market

When people mention Guangming Market in Dongguan, they all know that it has the most authentic traditional food of Dongguan. Ten years ago, Uncle Taozi walked here and astutely smelled a business opportunity from the old market.

"When I saw that street, I was thinking about one thing: why are the vendors so sloppy? If I were to set up a stall, I would have to have a nice stall."

Ten years ago, the uncle who had just resigned from the design industry and was preparing to start his own business was almost covered with all the current popular labels. In the years when there was no concept of "Internet celebrity", he was one of the first "white-collar workers who quit their jobs to set up stalls and opened Internet celebrity stores."

As a native of Dongguan, the uncle has a special feeling for this urban district. He decided to design a small cart by himself, use his expertise in illustration to depict his favorite old town, and sell what everyone in this old town likes to drink - perfumed lemon tea.

Ten years ago, no one in Dongguan would set up a stall like this. Soon, the prototype of the "Uncle Peach" brand became well-known in Guangming Market.

The carts used to set up stalls will be placed in front of the new store.

Not only is this the first “Internet celebrity store” in Guangming Market, the uncle is also the first “food blogger” in this neighborhood.

"At that time, many people came here to eat the snacks. Some were here for the first time and some didn't know which one was the best. So I used illustrations to draw a food map and put the delicious food on it."

It was at that time that he realized that the use of comic design could actually bring about such a huge transformation.

The homemade fruit tea and original comic illustrations finally allowed the uncle to open his first physical store on the second floor of the Xinguangming Market at the end of 2019.

Just a few months after the restaurant opened, the epidemic hit and dine-in was not possible. During that period, few people even went to the market. By then, the uncle had invested all his assets in this restaurant.

He can only pin his hopes on the food delivery platform. Perhaps it is the foundation he has accumulated from years of setting up stalls locally, coupled with his illustration style, that has accumulated enough recognition for the "Uncle Peach" brand.

After joining Meituan Waimai, he found that many people actually remembered his brand.

In the busiest month, Uncle Taozi sold about 7,000 orders on Meituan Takeout, and soon became the "No. 1 on Meituan's Best-Selling List" and "High-Score Store on Dianping" in Dongguan. With this title, the brand quickly increased the popularity of its own fruit tea in Dongguan.

If you are a local, you will find that the fruit tea drinks at "Uncle Taozi" are updated very frequently. As a store that only uses fresh fruits, the fruit tea menu actually depends on what fruits are in season.

Since he started his stall, the uncle has been working hard on making products and brand packaging. On the takeaway interface, you can see that each product in "Uncle Peach" has a character personality with the help of illustrations.

For example, "troubles are in peach juice" means that after drinking it, troubles will be gone.

While "healthiness" has become an important factor affecting the tea beverage industry, issues such as fast sugar, slow sugar and glycemic index have gradually been taken seriously by the public. Uncle Peach prefers to use the flavor of the fruit itself to control the sweetness of the drink.

Every morning after buying fruits, the uncle would try the first 10 cups of fruit tea in the store and make quality control adjustments based on the sweetness of the fruits of the day.

"Good products have a good reputation. My personal life and personality are very carefree. I open a store. As long as the customers are happy drinking and the staff are happy working, I will be happy too."

Uncle Taozi and the founder himself both originated in Dongguan’s urban streets and became iconic brands of Dongguan’s local brands.

Over the years, "Uncle Peach" has accumulated many repeat customers.

Over the past decade, relying on the characteristics of his illustrations and his persistence in his products, he started from pushing a cart to set up a stall, opened his first physical store, made the leap from offline to online, and opened more branches. Now he is very proud to have won the title of "No. 1 on Meituan's Best-selling List."

In his opinion, the Meituan food delivery interface can also be regarded as a display platform for him. After all, every illustration in the product details is created by him personally.

3. The era of milk tea 2.0 is opening a new door to tea drinks

For today's consumers, "milk tea freedom" is no longer difficult to achieve, both in terms of brand and price.

Going back a few years, for young people who have lived in third-tier cities and beyond, if they wanted to have a cup of Heytea or Nayuki, they would have to travel across cities or go on a trip. In the past one or two years, those brands that used to only open in first-tier and new first-tier cities have not only opened at their doorsteps, but can also be delivered at a very low price.

The take-out format has largely solved the problems of long queues and city-specific consumption thresholds.

As major tea brands move towards lower-tier markets, consumers here have more and more options, and the concept of health is beginning to be taken seriously by more people in lower-tier markets.

With Heytea and Bawangchaji as pioneers, we first saw how many calories a cup of milk tea has. Surprisingly, a cup of Boya Juexian has only 130 calories, which is equivalent to half an avocado. Drinks that focus on health, real tea, real fruit, and zero calories and sugar have also stimulated a new group of consumers who "did not drink milk tea in the past."

The era of light milk tea is opening a new door to tea drinking for more and more people.

New milk tea brand captures new consumer blood

The opportunity for Liu Yanjun to return to his hometown of Chaoyang, Liaoning to start a business originated from the cup of "Fairy Dew" he bought from "Tao Xicha" when he accompanied his girlfriend to buy milk tea.

"I never drank milk tea before. I mostly drank coffee and juice. That time I just thought the name Fairy Dew was interesting. I tried it once and found it really delicious. Since then, I started preparing to join "Tao Xicha"."

From its opening in April to now, Liu Yanjun's milk tea shop has achieved smooth operation in one and a half months.

In the early days of opening, there were only about ten orders a day, and when business was good, there could be 30 orders. Half a month after opening, the business manager of Meituan began to help him develop a series of activities, and soon the store's orders could reach 150 orders a day. Even though "Tao Xicha" is a relatively niche brand, Liu Yanjun's store soon ranked among the top ten in Meituan takeaway water in Chaoyang.

The sudden increase in store sales is inseparable from the assistance of high cost-effectiveness.

Liu Yanjun remembers that since the launch of the "Pinhaofan" function of Meituan Takeout at the end of May, the stores have started to receive a surge in orders. Sometimes there would be more than 100 orders from Pinhaofan alone in a day.

After mid-July, the weather gradually became warmer. Coupled with the "super popular" activities and occasional live broadcasts, as well as the 18.8 yuan drink redemption coupons for two drinks, the order volume of Liu Yanjun's milk tea shop was nearly twice as much as usual.

According to the person in charge of the food delivery platform's sinking market, the "Pin Hao Fan" and "Shen Qian Shou" functions are very popular among consumers in sinking cities.

On the day of the first cup of milk tea in autumn, the number of orders for Pinhaofan increased significantly compared to usual days.

Food delivery platform activities always bring the best value for money

According to online data from Meituan Takeaway, the cumulative sales of takeaway drinks across the country exceeded 53 million cups on the day of the Beginning of Autumn alone.

Cost-effective healthy tea drinks and new tea brands that have been sinking into the lower-tier markets have helped young consumers in the sinking markets achieve milk tea freedom and have also changed the consumption habits of young consumers accordingly.

When the first cup of milk tea first became popular in the fall of 2020, if you wanted to drink a cup of "Internet celebrity" brand milk tea at that time, you would probably have to go to the shopping mall in the city center and queue up. Four years have passed, and drinking a cup of Internet celebrity milk tea is no longer a hassle.

Whether it is a brand-new brand or the most popular store, young people who know how to budget carefully can use a high cost-effective method to realize their first cup of customized coffee in autumn.

Author | Liu Yiran Editor | Che Maomao