In recent years, various types of tea have swept the streets of Hong Kong. Taiwanese, Thai, and hot new teas in the Mainland have all tried to get a share of the Hong Kong market.
Relatively speaking, the local Hong Kong-style milk tea seems not aggressive enough.
Huang Jiahe, chairman of Jinbaijia Group and chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Catering Industry Association, has a different view. The Hong Kong market, where the tea-drinking melee, still has an irreplaceable position, "you won't lose."
He also revealed that the milk tea class he opened has attracted many people from different professions to study in the past year. Young people The proportion of people has increased significantly, "I don’t think drinking Hong Kong-style milk tea is an old cake."
Under the tide of immigration, more people are learning Hong Kong-style milk tea. "I went to Britain and Canada to have an art. Recently there have been more students like this."
Huang Jiahe has witnessed the changes in milk tea and tea restaurants over the years, saying that milk tea has had a great impact on the catering industry.
(Photo by Gong Jiasheng)
His father Huang Qiao ran the business of tea, ice rooms, and tea restaurants. Therefore, the Huang Jiahe was very fond of the development of milk tea and Hong Kong-style tea restaurants.
He said that the original Hong Kong-style milk tea originated from high-end restaurants in the United Kingdom. After entering the private sector, not only did the iron filter tools become cloth bags, the fresh milk also became condensed milk, and became the "national-grade drink" in the hearts of the citizens. You can taste Hong Kong-style milk tea in coffee shops, ice rooms and tea restaurants.
Huang Jiahe believes that Hong Kong-style milk tea has contributed to the promotion of Hong Kong’s catering industry. "I can’t say that Hong Kong’s growth started with a cup of milk tea, but Hong Kong-style milk tea has a great impact on the entire industry."
All kinds of milk tea are pouring into the Hong Kong market, but Huang Jiahe believes that Hong Kong-style milk tea will not lose out in the competition.
(Photo by Gong Jiasheng)
Hong Kong-style milk tea marketing tactics are "undefeated" in different competitions
Compared with the takeaway drinks from milk tea shops that start to "check in as a souvenir", most of Hong Kong-style milk tea is still hidden in tea restaurants, and it is relatively less "outstanding". Huang Jiahe thinks this is just a difference in marketing techniques.
For example, Hong Kong currently sells an average of 2.5 million cups of Hong Kong-style milk tea every day, and about 1 billion cups are sold a year. 100 million yuan. Hong Kong-style milk tea (in Hong Kong) is already too popular and won’t be advertised.”
At the International Tea Fair held in Hong Kong in 2009, Huang Jiahe began to promote Hong Kong-style milk tea. In 2014, he successfully put Hong Kong-style milk tea on the list of "Hong Kong Intangible Cultural Heritage". He said that whether it is in the Mainland or Overseas, Hong Kong-style milk tea is very popular, and its own company also promotes it in South Korea through a "franchise" approach. In fact, no matter what kind of milk tea, it is building its own brand, not just selling a single product.
When asked whether Hong Kong-style milk tea would lose in the "Milk Tea Melee", Huang Jiahe was very sure, "You can't lose."
Tea restaurants have risen by more than 40% due to the epidemic, many people learn to make "Hong Kong-style milk tea"
In Huang Jiahe's eyes, Hong Kong-style milk tea has driven the development of tea restaurants, and tea restaurants have led the catering industry through many difficulties.
Under the new crown epidemic, many restaurants and bars can’t stand it, but tea restaurants are tenacious against the enemy. "Government statistics show that the number of drinking rooms increased by 44% compared with the previous year, which is a very high number. The restaurant is higher."
On the other hand, Huang Jiahe, who regularly opens milk tea training courses, revealed that learning to make Hong Kong-style milk tea has recently become all the hottest thing. There are many apprentices of different professions in the class, including lawyers, professionals, housewives and so on.
Under the tide of immigration, the practice of "Hong Kong-style milk tea" has become a "smart bag." Many people who plan to leave Hong Kong specialize in learning to make Hong Kong-style milk tea.
Nostalgia for the human touch of the old tea restaurant: I want to bring my memories back
The "Haian Café" in Sheung Wan closed earlier this month. Huang Jiahe was once Shaodong of this coffee shop that witnessed history. He still remembers the time when he was a child walking down the streets.
He said that it might seem traditional and old at that time, but that human touch is irreplaceable.
North-south trips, food stalls, street stalls, coolies, shop owners and guys... all kinds of things are still in front of you. "At that time, coolies got together and saw them cooking water pipes. The economy began to recover in the 1960s, and there were a few citizens. Qian, after the construction is completed, I walk into Haian and drink a cup of milk tea. People who don’t know each other will get acquainted after seeing each other a few times. If they have a problem, they sigh each other... But Hong Kong doesn’t seem to have such an atmosphere anymore. Sometimes I really want to do it. Bring back memories."
When Hey Tea opened its first branch in Hong Kong in Sha Tin, it attracted a large number of people to queue up to buy.
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Hong Kong’s first long queue for tea in Hong Kong for more than 5 hours guests: go directly to Shenzhen, do not wait for more than five hours The crowd is not as good as the Sha Tin store. Waiting for 45 minutes, you have to drink Hong Kong-style milk tea, the more bitter the night?
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