ChaPanda beverages sold in Korea (ChaPanda Korea) ChaPanda beverages sold in Korea - The Korea Herald
SEOUL: In recent years, Chinese bubble tea chains have seeped into South Korea’s cafe landscape at a slow but steady pace, carving out a small yet vivid foothold in a market long dominated by coffee.
South Korea may seem like just another waypoint in the global march of China’s tea giants, but industry officials say its “trend-sensitive and demanding” consumers make it a pivotal testing ground for global ambitions – so much so that a milk tea boom a few years ago has already fizzled out.
The most anticipated arrival is Chagee, often dubbed “the Starbucks of tea”, a Nasdaq-listed company that debuted in April with a US$6.2bil valuation and has rapidly scaled its business.
Chagee, known for coffee-style drinks, has built a premium image with flagship stores in major cities and won a following among younger consumers through modern aesthetics and social media marketing.
The chain counted 6,700 outlets as of March, with overseas locations in the United States, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
Industry sources say Chagee recently appointed a South Korean marketing veteran as its chief marketing officer and is in final talks with local partners to establish a joint venture, Chagee Korea, as early as by the end of the year.
Chagee’s planned entry will pit it against Chinese rivals already in South Korea, a sign that fierce competition in China is pushing milk tea outlets across borders, according to industry officials.
The heaviest contender is Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, China’s largest bubble tea brand with over 45,000 outlets worldwide, which entered Seoul in 2022.
Furthermore, Mixue undercuts rivals by pricing its bubble tea drinks in the 3,000 won range, 1,000 to 2,000 won cheaper than competitors, and now operates more than 10 outlets in student-heavy districts such as near Hongik and Chung-Ang universities.
ChaPanda followed in February 2024, opening its first store in Seoul before swiftly reaching 18 locations, nearly half of its entire overseas footprint.
The Hong Kong-listed company, which operates more than 8,400 outlets in China, is best known for turning the Hong Kong dessert mango pomelo sago into a beverage and is now stepping up localisation in South Korea with a franchise system tailored to the market.
“We are growing quickly in South Korea’s health-conscious beverage market with distinctive recipes and strong product quality,” an official from ChaPanda said.
Around the same time, in March last year, Heytea entered the market, branding itself as a premium chain built on upscale ingredients. — The Korea Herald/ANN
