At present, the competitive dimension of the new tea beverage industry is undergoing profound evolution. Faced with the slowdown in the growth rate of the main business and the saturation of store density, new tea beverage brands are no longer satisfied with the boundary of "one cup of tea", and collectively extend their business to diverse categories such as ice cream, snacks, and coffee. The reporter noticed that in the fierce market competition, new tea beverage giants such as Meixue Bingcheng and Xicha are deepening their product strength, brand strength, and refined operation capabilities, competing for growth space in all time periods, multiple categories, and new scenarios.
Ice cream becomes the 'summer growth pole'
More than 30 new tea drinks have been launched
The reporter noticed that the ice cream track has become a new battlefield for new tea drinks to compete for summer traffic, and various top brands have launched their own ice cream product lines.
The catering data query and analysis tool Red Meal Big Data shows that although the market size of new tea drinks will reach 187 billion yuan in 2025, the industry growth rate has dropped from 19.3% in 2023 to 6.4%. At the same time, the segmented track of ice cream has certain growth potential.
The report from Toubao Research Institute, a digital research platform, also shows that the market size of Italian ice cream in China has increased from 5.43 billion yuan in 2019 to 12.222 billion yuan in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of 17.62%. It is expected to reach 25.167 billion yuan by 2029. Therefore, ice cream with high growth potential and high seasonal traffic has become the first choice for brand expansion and attracting traffic.
According to incomplete statistics, since 2026, mainstream tea beverage brands in China have concentrated on launching over 30 ice cream or ice cream containing products, and have differentiated their cross-border paths.
From a product perspective, New Tea Drink has the advantage of cross category reuse of popular tea drink flavors. Represented by Ba Wang Cha Ji and Xi Cha, mid to high end brands focus on the core business districts of first and second tier cities, specializing in premium Italian ice cream priced between 18-24 yuan. Bawang Tea Lady blends classic tea bases such as Boya Juexian and Yishan Yue into Italian ice cream. HEYTEA's "Xilado" replicates classic tea flavors such as succulent grapes, Zhizhi peaches, and more. In the lower price range, Meixue Ice City not only enriches the ice cream category in the main menu, focusing on mint ice cream, but also creates an independent "ice cream hut".
Another cross-border layout that has attracted attention comes from the lemon tea brand Ningji. On June 2nd, General Mills Foods, the parent company of H ä agen Dazs, announced that it has reached a final agreement with an investor group, including Ningji, to license its H ä agen Dazs store business in mainland China to the investor group, including Ningji.
Testing the 'food and drink linkage'
Keep up with the trend of fresh snacks
In addition to ice cream with strong seasonal attributes, the new tea drink also extends into daily categories including packaged snacks, and has recently entered the fresh snacks market, constantly exploring new consumption scenarios in stores.
The layout of packaging snacks for new tea drinks has long been a consensus. In 2020, HEYTEA and Nayuki Tea crossed over into the snack market and launched products such as nuts and freeze-dried yogurt cubes; Cha Yan Yue Se has also sold the crushed Bi Gen fruit and bread cubes in small packages as ingredients, officially entering the era of snacks. In 2021, Meixue Ice City set up snack shelves in stores across the country, listing snacks such as French fries, melon seeds, konjac snacks, gluten, and spicy strips, which are typical representatives of the affordable route.
In contrast, Yihetang and Jasmine Milk White have a slightly slower pace and will officially join the snack army in September 2025. Yihetang positions snacks as a "social lever" and creates a micro supermarket that combines drinks and snacks. On May 29th of this year, Jasmine Milk White launched its first snack series "Xiao Ling Cui" thin and crispy three products on all channels, incorporating the brand's iconic floral tea flavor into nut thin and crispy.
Cha Yan Yue Se, which has achieved excellent results in the snack business through e-commerce channels, has not stopped exploring its business model. In April of this year, Cha Yan Yue Se explored the fresh snack business and the first fresh snack store "Ji Shi Shang Wei" landed in Changsha. The fresh food store adopts the "store in store" mode, which is embedded in the tea beauty and color milk tea shop. Its categories cover stewed delicatessen, Chinese Dim sum, fried nuts, dried fruit and candied fruit, etc. There is also the lemon tea brand Lemon Right, which achieves the linkage between freshly brewed tea drinks and fresh snacks. On June 4th, the first store of Lemon Right's "Right Fresh Snack Shop" officially opened, specializing in daily freshly baked and fresh snacks.
It is worth noting that the model of tea drink linkage with fresh food is still in the trial stage. Industry insiders point out that the new trend format represented by fresh snacks can bring short-term attention, penetration, and influence. However, fresh snacks that focus on "short-term maintenance and on-site production" involve multiple categories such as baking, cooked food, meat products, etc., and have the characteristics of multiple SKUs (minimum inventory units) and high loss rates. This will put higher demands on the existing supply chain system and store operation and maintenance capabilities of new tea beverage brands.
Deep cultivation throughout the entire period
Cross border new scenarios
The reporter noticed that behind the expansion into categories such as ice cream and snacks, there is a vision for the new tea beverage brand to build a "full time, full scene, and full category" consumer ecology.
Coffee has become the key puzzle for new tea drinks to connect consumption at all times. At the 2026 Partner Conference, Gu Ming regarded coffee as the second growth curve and set a specific goal: the proportion of coffee category in total sales will significantly increase from 10% -15% in 2025 to 20% -25%. At the same time, the company plans to increase its breakfast business and attempt to activate the morning rush hour with a combination of "coffee+baking".
Tea Baidao and Shanghai Auntie are also expanding the scale of coffee machines in their stores. At the 2025 performance conference on March 27th, Chabaidao stated that it will continue to focus on products and strengthen its multi category strategy. It is expected that the coffee business will cover 2000 stores by the end of 2026, and the proportion of coffee cups sold in dynamic stores will increase to around 15%. By the end of 2025, Shanghai Auntie has completed coffee equipment upgrades in over 6000 stores. Shan Weijun, co-founder and chairman of the board of directors of Shanghai Auntie, stated after the 2026 China Chain Catering Summit that the boundary between milk tea and coffee is melting.
New tea drinks have also emerged with refined operational products tailored to specific time periods. Bawang Tea Lady will launch the "Early Series" and "Late Series" sections in March 2026. The "Morning Series" focuses on sweet and refreshing black tea and oolong tea bases, which meet the needs of the morning; The 'Evening Series' mainly consists of' light caffeine 'products, providing consumers with low burden tea drinks suitable for evening consumption.
Meixue Bingcheng has launched its "Breakfast Series" products on mini programs in Dalian, Xi'an, Nanning, Hangzhou and other places, including dairy products such as Wuhong Milk, Wuhei Milk, and Corn Milk, with a unit price of 5 yuan. In response, the brand stated that it is currently only a partial trial and has no plans for large-scale promotion.
From a cup of milk tea to an ice cream, from a pack of snacks to a cup of breakfast coffee, the boundaries of new tea drinks are expanding infinitely. Industry insiders point out that the collective cross-border of new tea drinks is a comprehensive war about consumer scenarios, store efficiency, and user mentality. However, crossing borders is not without risks. The increase in categories means a comprehensive test of motion design, inventory management, and food safety. Only brands that truly integrate new categories with their own brand positioning and build solid supply chain and operational barriers can stand out in this refined comprehensive competition. (Looking into the New Era)