Fresh competition brewing for bubble tea

Sweet, milky and colourful bubble tea is wildly popular in China, where people sipping through straws from large plastic cups is a common sight in high streets and shopping malls.

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But there's fresh competition brewing in the vast market, characterised by ultra-cheap products that are striking a chord with the increasingly frugal young consumers.

Bubble tea which classically includes tapioca balls and comes in a wide range of flavours, with or without milk - has gained huge popularity in China, coinciding with an economic boom in recent decades that propelled living standards upwards.

Post-pandemic headwinds, however, have hit the economy hard, with consumers reluctant to dip into their pockets and Chinese authorities struggling to get people spending.

Many of today's biggest bubble tea chains once built followings with premium products priced around 25 to 40 yuan (about R63 to R98) and flashy branding that made them status symbols of contemporary urban life in China.