Bubble Tea – A Favorite Among Gen Z
From Slurpees to SodaStream to Squeez-it, every generation had a drink all the cool kids were talking about. Today, that drink is bubble tea. It’s a multibillion-dollar industry1 experiencing rapid growth worldwide. The latest Smartscrapers data2 suggests that there are over 9,000 bubble tea shops in the US alone.
Most of this growth is driven by the industry’s young customers. Bubble tea has become as much an icon of modern youth culture as oversized jeans and TikTok dances.
What is Bubble Tea?
While bubble tea’s appearance in Western countries may have seemed sudden, it has been around since the 1980s. Originally from Taiwan, the drink started as a blend of black tea, milk, and tapioca pearls but has since evolved into countless variations.
For example, many new versions of the drink don’t include tapioca boba at all. The chewy texture of tapioca, made from boiled cassava starch and sugar, has been hit or miss with Western customers. In response, many bubble tea shops also offer popping boba – gel-encased balls of fruit juice or syrup that burst when bitten.
Why Does Gen Z Love Boba?
In 2021, a CLSA survey3 reported that 94% of young adults (aged 20 – 29) buy boba tea at least once every three months. Most of this group falls into Generation Z, born from 1997 to 2012. While bubble tea might seem like an outlandish drink to older consumers, it aligns perfectly with the priorities of Gen Z shoppers.
- Innovation. Gen Z might feel like they’ve seen everything because what can’t they find online? Conversely, the unusual flavors and exotic appearance of bubble tea may seem like a breath of fresh air to Western youth. Bubble tea is unique and out of the box while offering a highly customizable drink for consumers with different tastes.
- Aesthetics. Gen Z is a generation subdivided into hundreds of subcultures (dark academia, cottage core, etc) centered around aesthetics. They use clothes, props, and even food and drinks to define their identities within these groups, where visuals are often more important than values. The colorful, customizable nature of bubble tea affords Gen Z a personalized drinking experience that quenches their craving for aesthetically pleasing products.
- Wellness Culture. While bubble tea isn’t healthy per sé, it might seem that way at first glance. Healthy people drink herbal tea, so gulping a tea-based drink must be better than a sugary soda, right? Despite its high sugar levels, bubble tea offers an antioxidant boost you won’t find in many other convenience drinks.
How Social Media Made Boba Famous
Bubble tea is everywhere, including on your phone; open any social media app, and you’ll find it. TikTok is primarily responsible for spreading bubble tea mania, with digital creators too happy to share their favorite blends online. This platform is known for its young audience, so it makes sense that Gen Z would be the first to follow the trend.
Old-school beverage brands would benefit from social media advertising. Before Boba took over, we had Dalgona coffees, matcha lattes, and PSLs, all of which became famous in virtual spaces.
Using the Tea Trend to Your Advantage
Despite its recent rapid rise to fame, the boba tea market is still growing4. Entrepreneurs have plenty of time to experiment with new tea flavors before the trend disappears. They don’t have to stick to drinks, though—tea can also be infused into cosmetics, personal care products, and innovative desserts.
Consider enhancing your tea-based product formulation with natural flavorings from Advanced Biotech. Find the burst of flavor and aroma you need in our range of aromatics, oleoresins, extracts, and distillates, or contact us for more information.
1 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/bubble-tea-market
2 https://rentechdigital.com/smartscraper/business-report-details/united-states/bubble-tea-stores
3 https://foodinstitute.com/focus/survey-millennials-gen-z-big-fans-of-bubble-tea/
4 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/bubble-tea-market