Introduction:A well-known tea beverage brand, Chayanyuese, has recently and quietly replaced traditional toppings in multiple drinks with its own line of puffed snacks, such as crispy balls, cheese sticks, and corn kernels. This change not only affects the appearance of the drinks but has also left many customers disappointed with the flavor combinations. Why did the brand make this move? How have fans reacted? This article delves into the reasons behind the incident and the market response.
As a popular tea beverage brand, Chayanyuese has long won the favor of many consumers with its unique flavored milk teas and creative toppings. However, recently, many customers have noticed that when ordering their usual milk tea, familiar toppings—such as crushed nuts, coconut jelly, or fruit jam—have quietly “disappeared,” replaced by various types of puffed snacks launched by the brand itself, including crispy balls, cheese sticks, corn kernels, even triangular corn chips and small round cookies.
This adjustment was not made by chance. According to multiple customers, after inquiring with staff, they learned that the brand has recently updated its preparation guidelines. Aside from some drinks that still retain the original same snacks as toppings, the sprinkled toppings on most milk tea products have been changed to the aforementioned puffed snacks. For example, “Shengsheng Oolong” is topped with two crispy balls, “Cranberry Rampant” is adorned with two cheese sticks, “Peach Blossom Cove” is now accented with corn kernels, while “Osmanthus Play” and “Human World Smoke and Fire” have also incorporated differently shaped puffed snacks.
For many long-time loyal customers of Chayanyuese, such a change has come as a surprise. They noted that although they are usually happy to purchase the brand’s snack products, these primarily crispy puffed snacks, when directly sprinkled on top of the cream layer of milk tea, not only appear visually jarring but also struggle to blend with the tea and milk flavors. They can even turn soggy when soaked, severely affecting the overall drinking experience.
Many fans believe that the brand’s move is actually intended to promote its rapidly growing snack line. Data shows that Chayanyuese offers a diverse range of snacks, including bread cubes, fries, vegetable and fruit crisps, cookies, rice crackers, and pecans. Individual portions mostly range between 2.5 RMB and 5 RMB, known for their high cost-performance ratio. It is also one of the new tea beverage brands that offers the most varieties of snack items. By “embedding” snacks into milk tea, the brand may hope that consumers will “sample” them while drinking, thereby increasing the likelihood of purchasing retail products.
However, such a “creative” move has not gained widespread market approval. Many die-hard fans emphasized that they choose Chayanyuese precisely because of their fixed preferences for the milk tea flavors and topping combinations. Now, the recipe has been changed without prior notice, not only disrupting the original flavor layers but also leaving people feeling disappointed. On social media platforms, there are numerous consumer comments demanding that the brand “quickly remove these puffed toppings,” with some even bluntly stating: “Take your snacks and get out of milk tea toppings!”
In fact, Chayanyuese’s snack business has grown rapidly in recent years. It is understood that currently, the revenue ratio of the brand’s freshly prepared tea beverages to retail products is about 7:3, with snack sales rising quickly. Market data shows,between July 2023 and June 2024, Chayanyuese’s snack sales on e-commerce platforms exceeded 100 million RMB, and the brand even opened its first dedicated snack lifestyle store last August, indicating that its snack segment has become one of its operational priorities.
Although the snack products have accumulated a certain user base and market reputation, the practice of directly replacing milk tea toppings with snacks also exposes the brand’s eager mindset in expanding its retail market. How to effectively promote peripheral products while maintaining the essence of the beverages remains a continuous optimization challenge for Chayanyuese.
From this incident, it is not difficult to see that even with advantages in brand recognition and product diversification, consumers remain highly sensitive to the flavor and texture expectations of beverages. Any adjustments that lack adequate communication or consideration for user experience may trigger market backlash. For the brand, finding a balance between expanding business opportunities and maintaining existing customer satisfaction will be key to future development.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
