2 yuan tea hits the "crispy" young people, selling 1.15 million cups in one day

This summer, Chinese herbal tea substitutes have unexpectedly become a new favorite among young people with their unique charm and health concept. This article explores in depth how Chinese herbal tea substitutes have become popular among young people, especially how black plum soup has become a hit, as well as the market potential and cultural significance behind this trend.

This summer, Chinese herbal tea drinks have become the "new staple" for young people.

Who would have thought that a cup of black plum soup made from Chinese medicinal herbs such as black plum, lotus leaves, and hawthorn would become this summer's "top drink" and be crazily snatched up by young people.

Not long ago, Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine sold 1.15 million doses of Wumei Decoction within 24 hours of its launch. At one point, the hospital's mini-program Internet hospital function was overwhelmed by the influx of buyers, and the server could not be opened due to excessive traffic...

Qianyun, a girl from Hangzhou born in the 1990s, is a leader and early adopter in this "tea war". After two weeks, she finally received the popular black plum soup from the Chinese Medicine Hospital. "It's a little sour, but I hope it can help me lose weight," she said.

In the summer trend of losing fat and losing weight, this cup of Chinese herbal tea substitute, black plum soup, has opened the hearts of young people.

At present, in addition to the hot sales of black plum soup, anti-hair loss tea, liver protection tea for staying up late, eye protection tea, etc. are also popular. "Chinese herbal drinks" have successfully captured the hearts of contemporary "crispy" young people and unexpectedly found a unique track for explosive growth.

The "Chinese time-honored brand" Fang Huichuntang has also felt the momentum of this explosion, saying that compared with the same period last year, sales of Chinese herbal tea drinks this summer have increased by 30%, and the proportion of young people (especially those aged 20-35) has increased significantly.

In recent years, young people have gone from questioning health preservation, to starting to practice it, and then to becoming addicted to it. They continue to find "new Chinese" health preservation methods, such as practicing Ba Duan Jin, "sunbathing the back during the dog days of summer", trying new types of scraping, electronic moxibustion... "Chinese herbal medicine drinks" have become another phenomenal hot product related to Chinese health preservation, and there are many gold-digging opportunities behind it.

01 At 1.91 yuan per cup, black plum soup is a big hit

"Stop tweeting and get back to production!"

“Don’t reply, just ship it!”

"The Q&A has been updated to 4.0, why is my black plum soup still being packed?!"

Faced with thousands of netizens urging them to ship, Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine finally “couldn’t hold it anymore”. On its official WeChat account and video account, the hospital began to apologize in a fancy way using the recently popular “cat meme” video, saying that due to the surge in orders nationwide, the hospital was rolling up its sleeves to prepare, inspect, and ship goods, and posted photos of its daily work routine after midnight. Perhaps Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine would never have expected that this “huge wealth” would actually fall on them.

It is reported that the Wumeitang and other Chinese herbal teas of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine are only sold in its Internet hospital. In terms of price, the price of a single serving of Chinese herbal tea is relatively affordable. Among them, the popular "Wumeitang 2.0" is 1.91 yuan per serving, and "Wumeitang 1.0" is only 1.49 yuan per serving. Some young people commented online, "Drinking two yuan a day can also help lose weight. Isn't it better than coffee and milk tea?"

"Tianxia Online Business" observed that more than 20 days have passed since the hospital's Wumei Soup went on sale on May 21, and the rush to buy has not subsided, and the popular "Wumei Soup 2.0" and "Wumei Soup 1.0" are still often out of stock. It is reported that Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine has been selling Wumei Soup since last year, and the "1.0 version" at that time set a record of selling more than 200,000 packets in 3 days. Now, "Wumei Soup 2.0" has set a new record with 1.15 million packets sold in 24 hours, which shows the purchasing power of young people.

The Chinese medicine drinks on Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine's Internet Hospital are currently sold out

Three years ago, Fang Huichuntang saw the consumption trend of Chinese herbal tea substitutes and invested in this track. This summer, they found that the sales data of Wumeitang increased significantly. "Compared with the same period last year, the sales of Chinese herbal tea substitutes increased by 30% this summer." The relevant person in charge of Fang Huichuntang told "Tianxia Online Business" that the main sales channel is online, and its Internet hospital sales increased by more than 50% compared with last year. In addition, young people aged 20-35 have become a new group of "Chinese herbal tea" consumers, and their proportion has increased significantly.

There are so many Chinese herbal tea alternatives, why is Wumei Soup so popular?

Fang Huichuntang believes that the reason why black plum soup has become the center of Chinese herbal medicine may be related to several factors: first, it is cheap, less than 2 yuan per pack, which is very friendly to young people who want to experience Chinese medicine health care; secondly, it has a long history and is recorded in many Chinese medicine classics. It has a unique taste and is especially beneficial for health care in summer. At the same time, the production process of black plum soup is simple, which is convenient for packaging, storage and transportation. More importantly, it benefits from the successful "star-making" of marketing.

02 Hair care drinks and slimming teas are targeted at young people with fragile skin

Many netizens recorded their first, second and Nth days of drinking black plum soup on Xiaohongshu. Qianyun got up and weighed herself and unexpectedly found that she was lighter and her intestines were smoother. "Although it doesn't taste good, it's healthy." She was very excited.

"Compendium of Materia Medica" records that black plum soup has many health benefits, such as quenching thirst and regulating the stomach, stimulating appetite and digestion, removing heat and relieving restlessness, and cooling down and relieving summer heat. Qianyun's focus is on the fact that black plum soup helps to slim down the body and reduce fat. Girls who want to lose weight can easily be attracted by this benefit point.

Wang Tian, ​​a 34-year-old boy, is attracted by another "hair care drink" that costs 1.3 yuan per bottle. Wang Tian has been working in the financial industry for more than 8 years. Working overtime and staying up late are commonplace. Three years ago, he found that he was losing hair seriously and was afraid that he would become "Xie Guangkun". Therefore, he changed various hair care products over the years, but the effect was minimal.

Just after the Wumei Soup became popular, a "hair-nourishing drink" from the Hangzhou Third People's Hospital also became popular online. This tea made from Ligustrum lucidum, Eclipta prostrata, and Lycium barbarum is suitable for people with "thin hair, premature graying hair, and thinning hair." Wang Tian and his colleagues followed suit and rushed to buy it, hoping to save their "fragile hair." A search by Tianxia.com found that the banner of "hair-nourishing drink" was hung in the most prominent position on the hospital's website. It is currently not possible to place an order. The hospital wrote: "The hair-nourishing drink is available for dispensing at 10:00 a.m. every Tuesday, with a total of 100,000 prescriptions, until all are dispensed."

In addition, a Chinese herbal whitening mask and eye protection drink from Hangzhou First People's Hospital are also hot-selling items in this round of "Chinese herbal drink" buying spree.

"The peak sales periods of Chinese herbal tea substitutes are roughly distributed in spring, summer, autumn, the end of the year and around the Spring Festival. Due to climate change and people's different health needs, there will be specific types of best-selling tea products in each season." Fang Huichuntang said that in summer, the demand for Chinese herbal tea substitutes that clear heat and detoxify, relieve heat and quench thirst is the strongest. The sales of Wumei soup, Sanqing Quhuo tea, Qingre Qushi tea, etc. will increase significantly during this period.

The World Online Business searched e-commerce platforms and found that many stores were selling "Plum Soup 2.0" and "Hair Care Drink" products. A plum and lotus leaf drink on Ali Health was priced at 0.93 yuan per bag, showing that "more than 10,000 pieces have been sold." Among the best-selling products on Fang Huichuntang's Tmall flagship store, four of the top five are traditional Chinese medicine health teas.

"Online, Fang Huichuntang's 'Hair Care Drink' can sell up to 5,000 packets a day." The strong demand has forced them to increase their operations. In their official live broadcast room, they have set up exclusive discounts, where customers can get free sour plum soup and other Chinese herbal teas when they top up their purchases.

03The rise of “ancient health preservation”

"Tianxia Online Merchants" visited traditional Chinese medicine clinics such as Fang Huichuntang and Hu Qingyu Tang and found that the people seeking medical treatment are becoming "younger".

Fang Huichuntang's offline clinic often receives young people who come to consult for hair loss, insomnia, weight loss and other problems. Everyone tries to achieve health goals through traditional Chinese medicine. The moxibustion and massage clinics of Fang Huichuntang are crowded with young people who want to experience the "ancient health care".

This trend started last year and has continued into this summer.

Last year, the ancient health-preserving exercise "Ba Duan Jin" became popular on Douyin and Bilibili. With over 1 billion views on Douyin, Ba Duan Jin exercise quickly became the top sport. At the same time, "Ba Duan Jin outfit" also became popular - a group of fashionable girls wearing Lululemon and practicing Ba Duan Jin appeared on Xiaohongshu.

After practicing ancient exercises, these young people began to indulge in "back sunning during the dog days" - wearing sun protection equipment, going downstairs to find an open space to enjoy the refreshing feeling of slowly sweating on the back "with the sky as a cover and the ground as a stove". During that period, removing dampness and strengthening the spleen once became high-frequency words on the Internet.

The reason behind practicing Ba Duan Jin, sunbathing on the back, applying San Fu plaster and drinking Chinese herbal medicine is that young people value life more. They are addicted to "ancient health preservation methods" and relieve physical discomfort through this gentler and traditional way.

Young people practice Ba Duan Jin on Bilibili

Last year, a survey conducted by the "Fun Numbers" section of Girlfriend magazine showed that more than 90% of people born in the 1990s have health awareness, and more than half have already or are preparing to embark on the path of health preservation.

It can be seen that the younger generation has a huge demand for health care and is more attentive to their own health issues. This is one of the reasons for the popularity of "Chinese medicine drinks". Coupled with the consumption trend of the rise of national trends in recent years, Chinese medicine, as a part of traditional Chinese culture, is also gaining recognition from young people and gaining new opportunities.

Fang Huichuntang said that at present, these types of Chinese herbal teas are the most popular among young people. For example, the dampness-removing and light body tea for slimming and weight loss, the kidney-nourishing and hair-nourishing drink for hair care and anti-hair loss, the good night tea for sleep aid and soothing, and the Codonopsis and Poria soup for enhancing immunity. These teas directly hit the pain points of young people's health and wellness.

Young people who "cherish their lives" have directly heated up a new track, and brands and businesses in this industrial chain are also actively embracing young people and making Chinese herbal medicines delicious, convenient and fun.