Introduction:From entering the market in 2020 with affordable prices ranging from 8 to 16 yuan, to the quiet closure of its last store in 2022, Heytea’s sub-brand, HeyTea Lite, completed its brief two-and-a-half-year journey. How did it expand across the Greater Bay Area during this period, and why did it exit the market after its parent brand adjusted its strategy? This article dissects its operational trajectory and explores the shifting trends in the budget-friendly tea beverage sector.
Heytea’s budget sub-brand, HeyTea Lite, has officially ceased all store operations — the last outlet, located at Guangzhou City Investment Tower, has closed its doors. Looking back to April 2020, its first store debuted in Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen, quickly attracting value-conscious consumers with each drink priced between 8 and 16 yuan. Now, two and a half years later, it has drawn to a close.
This brand, focused on the Greater Bay Area market, once expanded to six cities: Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Foshan, and Huizhou, cumulatively opening 22 stores. The store designs were predominantly compact, with ordering and pickup areas spanning only about 3 to 5 square meters. The site selection strategy clearly targeted bustling yet more budget-oriented commercial districts such as Huaqiangbei, emphasizing a “buy-and-go” model and delivery services. Online pre-orders, in-store pickups, or deliveries became the primary modes of consumption.
In April 2020, HeyTea Lite opened its first outlet at Huaqiang Plaza on Huaqiang North Road, Futian District, Shenzhen, with single-drink prices ranging from 8 to 16 yuan — almost half the price of Heytea’s main offerings at the time. After the successful trial of its first store, the brand rapidly expanded to other cities in Guangdong. Its product line covered five major categories: fresh milk tea, fruit tea, coffee, ice cream, and pure tea. Among them, the “Deluxe Combo” series, which combined four popular drinks such as soy milk and fruit, became a repeat favorite for many customers.
According to the brand’s self-published "HeyTea Lite One-Year Report" in 2021, it sold over 2.8 million drinks in its first year of operation, with the number of stores peaking at nearly thirty. Notably, even close to its closure, most stores remained profitable, indicating that its budget strategy still held appeal in certain markets.
However, earlier this year, Heytea announced an adjustment to its pricing strategy, making headlines with the slogan “saying goodbye to 30 yuan.” The brand reduced the prices of some drinks, including a 3 to 5 yuan cut for pure teas, a 2 to 3 yuan reduction for five fruit tea options, and a slight 1 yuan drop for cheese teas. On February 24, it further pledged not to launch any products priced above 29 yuan for the entire year, while keeping existing items at their current prices without increases. It subsequently announced that all new products would be priced at no more than 20 yuan.
In fact, there is no significant difference in product quality standards between Heytea and HeyTea Lite; both emphasize “genuine ingredients” — Heytea promotes “real fruit, real tea, real milk,” while HeyTea Lite similarly insists on not cutting corners on raw materials, making it difficult to further reduce cost structures. As the parent brand lowered its prices, HeyTea Lite also adjusted accordingly, promising that new drinks for the year would not exceed 15 yuan. The overlap in product positioning and price range between the two brands became increasingly pronounced.
Industry analysts pointed out that Heytea’s price reduction strategy aims to attract more consumers to enjoy customized drinks at reasonable prices, adjusting prices through the selection of different toppings and sizes to meet diverse needs. With competition in the new tea beverage market growing fiercer, brands are striving for a broader customer base by lowering prices to achieve thin profit margins and high sales volumes — this may well be the main reason HeyTea Lite has gradually lost its independent value.
Interestingly, data shows that HeyTea Lite’s consumer base skews younger. Statistics indicate that 95s and 00s make up 49.2% of Heytea’s overall consumers, while the proportion of same-age customers at HeyTea Lite is even higher at 61%; breaking it down, around 22% of HeyTea Lite customers are from the 90s, 39% from the 95s, and 22% from the 00s, showing that its core demographic consists of young generations with strong spending potential.
When the parent and sub-brands adopt similar strategies to compete in the same market, and Heytea’s price reductions directly clash with HeyTea Lite’s original price range, HeyTea Lite may have quietly fulfilled its mission of market exploration and ultimately chosen to exit gracefully. This shift also reflects the new landscape of the budget tea beverage sector amid broader market strategy adjustments.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
