CHAGEE’s Brand Development and Business Strategies

Abstract

Milk tea, a popular beverage in numerous regions worldwide, constitutes a dynamic and fast-growing segment of the global beverage industry, with a strong presence in Asia, especially in China. Consuming milk tea has now become a new form of social interaction for young people, and the milk tea industry has evolved from the 1.0 era to the 3.0 era. With a more competitive market environment, most milk tea businesses struggle to survive. However, CHAGEE is one of the few brands that stand out and is growing against trends. CHAGEE is a brand originating from Yunnan, that took the essence of Chinese tea culture, and its goal is to become the oriental Starbucks. With that being said, CHAGEE is expanding aggressively, and it has now opened more than 2300stores worldwide. This paper analyzes how CHAGEE became a ‘Dark Horse’ within the competitive industry through the introduction of the milk tea era evolution, generation Z’s consuming behaviours, CHAGEE’s business strategies such as ‘flagship product’ strategy, and social media marketing, the milk tea industry in the global market and finally a SWOT analysis of CHAGEE.