The first official nutrition grading for milk tea drinks is here! CHAGEE has already taken the lead

Weekly Skinny

18 Mar

Earlier this month, one of the rising stars among fresh tea and milk tea chains, CHAGEE, introduced a new change in its Shanghai stores: all drinks now feature a ‘Nutritional Choice’ label. It is the first mover to take part in Shanghai's nutrition grading initiative spearheaded by the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.

CHAGEE has rolled out a comprehensive suite of visual enhancements accessible in both physical locations and online. In one of CHAGEE's Shanghai outlets, ‘Nutritional Choice’ recommendations are displayed on physical banners, digital menu screens, and within their mini-program for ordering. These labels categorize drinks into four levels: ‘Dark Green/A-level,’ ‘Green/B-level,’ ‘Orange/C-level,’ and ‘Red/D-level.’ Each level indicates lower nutritional value, helping consumers make more considered purchases about lower-sugar, lower-fat, and altogether healthier milk tea drinks.

chagee milk tea nutritional grading — *CHAGEE posted 'how-to' guideline to choose lower-sugar drinks with 'Nutritional Choice' grading labels. Image: @霸王茶姬CHAGEE on RED and Weibo*

milk tea nutritional grading in store — *Nutritional Choice' grading labels are seen in the offline promotional and menu screens. Images: @霸王茶姬CHAGEE @粉头发的狮子 on RED*

Shanghai milk tea grading online — *CHAGEE's ordering page of its WeChat mini program. Products are labeled with the 'Nutritional Choice' grading and are specified with calorie value.*

Following the introduction of 'Nutritional Choice' labels, CHAGEE has seen a surge in the popularity of its A and B level drinks. CHAGEE reports that about 70% of consumers have been opting for these healthier choices after learning about the ‘Nutritional Choice’ guide.

As early as August last year, Shanghai took a proactive step by testing a food labelling system that uses red, orange, and green labels in over 150 locations that sell sugary drinks, covering 8 districts of the city. These labels, prominently displayed as banners, encourage the public to choose beverages with less sugar.

Health advisory labels in Shanghai — *Health advisory labels in red, orange, and green. Image: Shanghai Municipal Health Commission*

health advisory labels in a supermarket in Shanghai — *The trial of health advisories in red, orange, and green at Shanghai supermarkets. Image: @食品饮料绿皮书 on RED*

CHAGEE's swift embrace of the 'Nutritional Choice' labelling system positions it at the forefront of a significant shift towards 'sugar control' in China's milk tea market. As Chinese consumers are increasingly leaning towards healthier milk tea options, we believe that many more fresh milk tea chains will soon follow suit.