Tea Industry Sees Local Flavor Trend; Chaoshan Sour-Sweet Notes Rise, Small Fruit Usage Surges

In 2026, the Chaoshan-dialect film "Grandma's Love Letter" became a hit, boosting the Shantou-based brand Yibei Chaocha. The brand provided a 100-cup milk tea sponsorship to the production crew at zero cost.

The tea industry is seeing a trend toward local flavors. Major new tea players such as Heytea and Nayuki, headquartered in southern China, are developing ingredients native to Guangdong. Nayuki's oil plum, guava, duck-shit aroma tea, and yellow peel have gained market education. According to industry statistics, lemon, strawberry, and coconut remain the mainstream fruit choices in tea drinks, but the usage frequency of prickly pear, guava, and various small berries is surging. Thai milk tea has revived in recent years, with brands like OT Lingcha and Taike Tea Garden pricing around RMB 20 per cup, combining Thai milk tea with toppings such as salted cheese and brown sugar pearls. Hong Kong milk tea remains sluggish; traditional Hong Kong milk tea shops require simmering tea broth, producing high caffeine levels, and the pouring technique leads to inconsistent taste. Mainland adaptations add large amounts of milk and sugar, conflicting with the health-conscious trend. Heytea is preparing to test a "French Toast Boba Hong Kong Milk Tea" in select Guangdong stores.

Tai Ben Niu founder Yang Yuzhu proposed "topping milk tea." Tai Ben Niu's hit products include a latte topped with an ice cream "snowcap," chocolate sprinkled with popcorn, and large mango chunks in regular fruit tea. The founder noted that product design retains interactive actions such as customers crushing or assembling ingredients themselves. Emerging sweet soup and sugar water brands like Shanxin offer several times the number of toppings compared to established brands such as Honeymoon Dessert and Meet Fresh, with jars and bottles lined up for customers to choose from.

Bixing Coffee defines specialty drinks as featuring special ingredients, special flavors, and special experiences, while "blending" includes structure, balance, and emotional expression. Bixing's six signature specialty drinks form the brand's identity: the grape ice brew now uses white grapes, and "Under the Apple Tree" is defined as a scene-narrative fruit coffee. Bixing emphasizes that specialty drinks are not simply layering fruit, milk foam, or tea broth. Heytea stores are equipped with smart tea-making machines; employees say that specialty drinks and recent personalized DIY options are mainly handled by the machines. Chuntian Aged Tea, which received investment from Heytea, gained popularity for its high-end aged tea and creative specialty drinks, but customers still face a one-hour wait after opening. Employees note that different specialty drinks require complex combinations of various toppings and milk foam formulas. Tai Ben Niu sets a research and development bottom line: if a drink requires more than 10 steps, even if it has high visual appeal and social media traffic, the company must consider in-store execution and gross margin.