英语新闻丨China's new-style tea brands find a hot new market in US

After becoming established in the Southeast Asian market, Chinese new-style tea brands are now turning to dig gold in the United States, looking for new opportunities.

在东南亚市场站稳脚跟后，中国新式茶饮品牌正将目光投向美国市场，寻求新的发展机遇。

Mixue Group opened its firstbrick-and-mortar store in the US on Saturday, marking its entry into the North American market. The store was opened in Hollywood, directly opposite the iconic TCL Chinese Theatre on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California.

蜜雪集团于周六在美国开设首家实体门店，标志着其正式进军北美市场。该门店落户好莱坞，正对加利福尼亚州洛杉矶好莱坞星光大道上的标志性建筑TCL中国剧院。

New-style tea refers to freshly prepared, healthier versions of milk tea and fruit tea.

新式茶饮指的是现制现卖、更健康的奶茶和果茶。

The opening of new-style tea brand stores in the US has been gaining momentum this year.

今年，新式茶饮品牌在美国开设门店的势头日益强劲。

On Aug 1, Heytea opened a store in Cupertino in northern California. So far, Heytea, the first Chinese new-style tea brand to explore the US market, operates 35 stores in the US, according to research institute Hongcan. This makes it the brand with the most US stores among Chinese new-style tea brands. One year ago, it had just two stores in the US, which demonstrates its rapid expansion.

8月1日，喜茶在北加州库比蒂诺市开设新店。据红磡咨询数据显示，作为首个进军美国市场的中国新式茶饮品牌，喜茶目前在美国运营着35家门店，成为中国新式茶饮品牌在美国门店数量最多的品牌。一年前，喜茶在美国仅有两家门店，其扩张速度之快可见一斑。

Meanwhile, Molly Tea has opened five stores in the US, while Chagee, as China's first new-style tea brand to be listed in the US, opened an outlet in the Westfield Century City mall in Los Angeles. Less than three months later, another outlet was opened in the metropolitan Los Angeles area.

与此同时，茉莉奶白已在美国开设五家门店，而作为中国首个登陆美国的新式茶饮品牌，霸王茶姬在洛杉矶西田世纪城购物中心开设了首家门店。不到三个月后，该品牌又在洛杉矶大都会区开设了第二家门店。

In July, Lelecha opened stores in New York and Los Angeles, continuing its business model of selling both tea and baked goods.

七月，乐乐茶在纽约和洛杉矶开设门店，延续其茶饮与烘焙食品并售的经营模式。

The market is responding positively.

市场反应积极。

For example, Heytea's outlet in Times Square in New York, which was opened at the beginning of this year, sold more than 3,500 cups of tea on the first day, and its average daily sales volume exceeded 2,000 cups, according to company data.

例如，根据喜茶公司数据，今年初在纽约时代广场开业的喜茶门店开业首日就售出超过3500杯茶饮，其日均销量超过2000杯。

Molly Tea's outlets are also breaking records. According to the company, the sales revenue of its outlet in New York in October 2024 surpassed $570,000, a record for Chinese new-style tea brands. The gross merchandise value of its first outlet in Los Angeles surpassed 4.19 million yuan ($595,000) in its first month, setting an overseas store record for the company.

茉莉奶白的门店业绩同样屡创新高。据该公司透露，其纽约门店2024年10月销售额突破57万美元，创下中国新式茶饮品牌纪录。其首家洛杉矶门店开业首月商品交易总额突破419万元人民币（约合59.5万美元），刷新了该品牌海外门店业绩纪录。

Chagee and Auntea Jenny have also proved popular in the US. On the day that Chagee opened its store in the US, it sold over 5,000 cups of tea. From May 16-18, Auntea Jenny's first store in the US, located in the Flushing neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens, recorded 3,024 orders and achieved gross merchandise value of $65,000.

霸王茶姬与沪上阿姨在美国同样广受欢迎。霸王茶姬在美国开业首日售出逾5000杯茶饮。5月16日至18日，位于纽约皇后区法拉盛社区的沪上阿姨首家美国门店共计完成3024笔订单，商品总价值达6.5万美元。

Facing an increasing number of Chinese new-style tea brands in the US, Jason Smith, a US netizen, said on social media platform X that he hoped American companies "are ready for some real competition".

面对美国市场上日益增多的中国新式茶饮品牌，美国网友杰森·史密斯（Jason Smith）在社交平台X上发文称，希望美国企业“做好迎接真正竞争的准备”。

Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, said, "With the Southeast Asian market tending to be saturated, the US, with its large consumption power base, high per customer transaction rate and demand for consumption upgrade, has become a new hot spot for Chinese new-style tea brands."

北京社会科学院副研究员王鹏表示：“随着东南亚市场趋于饱和，美国凭借其庞大的消费群体、高人均消费额以及消费升级需求，已成为中国新式茶饮品牌的新热点。”

Zhan Junhao, founder of Fujian Huace Brand Positioning Consulting, said: "New-style tea brands opening stores in the US is an inevitable trend, as they compete fiercely in (China's) domestic market and look forincremental markets. Each brand adopts a differentiated positioning layout to adapt to the market, avoidinghomogeneous competition.

福建华策品牌定位咨询创始人詹军豪表示：“新式茶饮品牌进军美国市场是必然趋势，因其在（中国）国内市场竞争激烈，需寻求增量市场。各品牌采取差异化定位布局适应市场，避免同质化竞争。”

"The new-style tea market in the US is growing rapidly, and there is no dominant brand, offering a window of opportunity for Chinese brands to seize market share," Zhan said, adding that the market potential will likely attract more brands.

詹军豪表示：“美国新式茶饮市场正快速扩张，目前尚未出现主导品牌，这为中国品牌抢占市场份额提供了机遇窗口。”并补充道，该市场潜力或将吸引更多品牌入局。

Zhan noted that as promising as the market is, Chinese brands still face challenges when opening stores in the US. For example, high costs of staffing and rent squeeze profits, and there are cultural differences.

詹军豪指出，尽管市场前景广阔，中国品牌在美国开设门店仍面临诸多挑战。例如，高昂的人力成本和租金挤压利润空间，同时还存在文化差异。

Wang, the researcher, said that the brands need to adopt a long-term strategy, building core competitiveness through precise positioning, deep localization and supply chain resilience.

研究员王鹏表示，品牌需要采取长期战略，通过精准定位、深度本土化及供应链韧性来构建核心竞争力。

brick-and-mortar store

adj./ˌbrɪk.ənˈmɔːr.tɚ/

实体门店

incremental market

adj./ˌɪŋ.krəˈmen.t̬əl/

增量市场

homogeneous

adj./ˌhoʊ.moʊˈdʒiː.ni.əs/

同质化