At a crossroads in downtown Shanghai, the market for bubble tea is crowded. Opposite one of ChaPanda’s 8,000 domestic stores, rival tea specialist Heytea vies for customers. Next door, another establishment is under construction.
“Teenage students, white-collar workers in their thirties, they’re drinking it every few days,” said a worker at ChaPanda. “They can’t go without it.”
Best known for the variety invented in 1980s Taiwan that includes tapioca balls or “bubbles”, flavoured milk tea beverages have proved a hit worldwide. Now mainland Chinese companies, buoyed by a recent domestic boom, are seeking to raise money and expand beyond their borders.
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