**|Tech Planet
text|Xi Rui
Tea franchisees in Southeast Asia often have two tasks, serving consumers at the same time, they also need to receive waves of domestic franchise research teams.
Since the beginning of this year, more and more tea brands and leading merchants have focused on inspecting the Southeast Asian market. They travel frequently, actively participate in Southeast Asian exhibitions, and conduct store research. They are all curious about this fertile soil.
Brands such as Nai Xue's tea, Bawang Tea, Hey Tea, and Mixue Bingcheng have all made their own signboards in Southeast Asia. Michelle Bingcheng has even brought the Snow King to the county seat of Southeast Asia.
In August 2022, a report released by Momentum Works (mainly for the Southeast Asian market) showed that the annual consumption of new tea drinks in Southeast Asia was 36600 million US dollars (about 266.)800 million yuan), of which Indonesia has the highest of 1.6 billion US dollars, followed by Thailand with 7$4.9 billion.
Correspondingly, the domestic tea market is already a game between giants.
Tea drinking to the sea is not a new thing. As early as many years ago, milk tea brands such as Yidian and Coco have been explored overseas. But in this round of going global, brands are not just experimenting, standing at the current point in time, going overseas may be a step they must take.
Walking in the night market of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and the streets of Bangkok in Thailand, the "crazy fox" seems to see the shadow of Guangzhou and Shenzhen 10 years ago. He felt that there were many opportunities here, but he also realized that the milk tea market in Southeast Asia could not fully correspond to the tea market in China 10 years ago.
"Crazy Fox", who has been working in the tea industry for more than 10 years, is the founder of Youxian Fox. This is a global tea start-up service provider, since August last year, Youxian Hu has shifted its business focus overseas, for which they have also established a company dedicated to overseas business operations, Youhu International.
This year, Crazy Fox spent a lot of time to get to know Southeast Asia in depth, personally visiting Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries to inspect the local milk tea market.
Ho Chi Minh City has a lot of nightlife for young people, and they have a lot of night markets, and you can feel the strong desire of young people to consume when you get there", "Crazy Fox" told Tech Planet.
In many places, there are milk tea brands that sell more than 20 cups, and there are also brewed milk tea that sell blocks on the street, which has been eliminated in China", "Crazy Fox" told Tech Planet, "China's tea market has entered the stage of digitalization and intelligence, and the Southeast Asian market has no brand single store 10 form, there are also chain brands in the capital stage. ”
Because of the climate, the average annual temperature in Southeast Asian countries is close to 30, and there is a demand for cold drinks all year round. For tea brands, there is no off-season for selling milk tea in Southeast Asia.
At a time when the country has already tried to find a way to serve hot drinks to attract young people, the stores in Southeast Asia are still on the summer menu. Even in December, Jiang Xin, a tea franchisee who works hard in the local area, sells hundreds of glasses of lemonade a day.
The "Crazy Fox" also told Tech Planet that unlike the pursuit of healthy eating in China, Southeast Asians generally eat sweet, and milk tea has a natural attraction to them. In Southeast Asia, locals drink milk tea with little sugar.
However, at present, there is no local tea brand with more than 1,000 stores in the Southeast Asian market, and more brands with less than 100 stores.
Chen Jing, who has lived in Vietnam for many years, told Tech Planet that there are many self-created milk tea brands in Vietnam, but none of them are large-scale and not well-known. An industry insider who has been to Southeast Asia told Tech Planet that in Southeast Asia, some local milk tea brands are very similar to the early little and coco forms.
This allows Chinese brands to see opportunities. After all, in China, tea brands are already sprinting to the scale of 10,000 stores and competing in the stock market.
Nai Xue's tea told Tech Planet that Southeast Asia's climate and taste habits are Xi very close to the Chinese market, so it is the most convenient place to try to go overseas.
Jiang Xin just wanted to roll up in China, so he set his sights overseas.
In 2019, when Mixue Bingcheng expanded its store in Vietnam, Jiang Xin always paid attention to the dynamics of Mixue Bingcheng. This year, as soon as Mixue Bingcheng opened to join in Thailand, Jiang Xin immediately submitted an application. "I opened a restaurant franchise in China a few years ago, and I know that there is too much volume in China, so I pay more attention to the brand's movements abroad," Jiang Xin told Tech Planet.
Mixue Bingcheng is currently one of the brands with the deepest roots in the Southeast Asian market, with nearly 4,000 stores. Almost at the same time as Michelle Bingcheng, there was also the overlord tea girl. According to official data, there are currently nearly 100 overseas stores in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, of which there are more than 50 in Malaysia. It is already considered the leading tea brand in the local area.
And Heytea also landed in Malaysia in the second half of this year. Just this month, Nayuki's tea re-entered the Southeast Asian market with its first store in Thailand. The person in charge of Nai Xue's tea told Tech Planet that Thailand is currently the country with the best and fastest recovery of the entire Southeast Asian tourism market, including the introduction of relevant tourism policies that are also the best for global tourists (especially Chinese tourists).
And this is just a brand that has already taken steps, and there are many more brands and even tea drinks, all of which are already on the way to the sea, regarding the Southeast Asian market as the next battlefield.
Jiang Xin is the first batch of franchisees of Mixue Bingcheng in Thailand. At the time of the application, there were only a dozen or so Mixue Ice Castles in Thailand.
In foreign countries, the cost of landing a Mixue Bingcheng is similar to that in China, with an early stage of 40-500,000 yuan, including decoration, franchise fees, the first batch of materials and rent. The franchise policy is basically the same as in China.
But the process of landing a store is more complicated than you think.
First of all, you have to have a company in Thailand, and then you have to apply for a local food and catering license, and you also have to pay social security to employees," Jiang Xin told Tech Planet. From site selection, decoration to recruiting employees, each link is more difficult than in China. "Because of the language barrier, I was ready to step on the pit before I came to Thailand," Jiang Xin said with a smile.
Compared with other franchisees, who prefer to open their stores in tourist attractions with a large number of Chinese, Jiang Xin prefers places with many local people.
Chinese people will be curious and take pictures when they see it, but the consumption rate is very low," Jiang Xin told Tech Planet, whose store is on the street. Because Lisa, a member of the Korean girl group, has visited, this street has become a new Internet celebrity check-in point in Bangkok, and there are also two high schools nearby.
Since the opening of the store, the daily sales of Jiang Xindian store have been stable between 6,000-8,000 yuan. And the gross profit margin can reach 45 52%. Such a performance exceeded Jiang Xin's expectations, he did not expect the Thai people to be so tolerant of overseas brands.
Jiang Xin told Tech Planet that franchisees in Thailand can basically achieve this performance, and the business of stores with good locations will be better. This means that with the same input cost, franchisees in Southeast Asia will return to their costs earlier than in China.
In Southeast Asia, Mixue Bingcheng also captures locals with its low price. Whether in Vietnam, Indonesia or Thailand, the first impression of Mixue Ice City is that it is cheap. But the difference is that Southeast Asians prefer to think of Michelle Ice City as an ice cream parlor rather than a milk tea brand.
Some franchisees told Tech Planet that in Thailand and Vietnam, the sales of cones and sundaes are much higher than those of milk tea. "McDonald's employees came to me and asked me why everyone buys Mixue Bingcheng's cones, even if they are the same," said the franchisee of Mixue Bingcheng in Thailand.
Everyone can afford it, that's where Michelle is positioned in Vietnam," Wang Jianxin, who has lived in Vietnam for seven years, told Tech Planet. In Thailand, a cone sells for 3 pieces and lemonade for 4 pieces.
But unlike other brands, the stores of Mixue Bingcheng are not limited to the vicinity of the business district. Brands such as Hey Tea, Nai Xue's Tea, and Bawang Tea Ji are all located in the business district and take the high-end route in overseas locations.
Nayuki's first store in Thailand is in a high-end shopping mall that has just opened in Thailand.
The person in charge of Nai Xue's tea told Tech Planet that Nai Xue will still insist on building a third space in the early stage of overseas, and it will not be a street shop. "Because whether it's Southeast Asia, Europe or the United States, the pace of life is not so fast, consumers like space where they can sit and enjoy, so we will provide more space. ”
According to the latest data from Naixue, the single-day sales of Naixue's Thai stores have exceeded 150,000 baht (about 30,000 yuan) for many consecutive days, and the highest single-day turnover has exceeded 200,000 baht (about 40,000 yuan). And Nayuki's products** are not less than 10 pieces.
Similarly, Bawang Chaji also takes the high-end route in Southeast Asia. In Malaysia, he chose to invite Malay star badminton player Lee Chong Wei to endorse and position himself as the "Starbucks of the East". In Southeast Asia, the ** belt of Bawang Tea Ji belongs to the highest level, 20-30 pieces.
In Thailand, the main belt of milk tea is less than 15 yuan, but even so, Bawang Chaji, which takes the high-end route, has also become an Internet celebrity brand in Thailand.
A Chinese resident in Thailand told Tech Planet that during the pandemic last year, she didn't see customers at Bawang Chaji, but takeaway orders kept coming. Until she left the store, the clerk was making milk tea.
Franchisees who set up stores in Southeast Asia are not worried about orders, but they have to worry about not enough milk tea to sell.
"Crazy Fox" told Tech Planet that the ** chain is currently the biggest problem in Southeast Asia. "Cross-border logistics is extremely unstable because it is not possible to produce locally. ”
In fact, the cost of going to Southeast Asia is good, but the key is that the customs declaration policy of each country is different", some industry insiders said that the entire logistics and transportation cycle will be extended.
It is most obviously affected by the ** chain, and it is also the Mixue Bingcheng with the most stores.
Mixue Bingcheng has built its own logistics warehouse in Bangkok. Jiang Xinhui purchases lemons locally, and other raw materials including tea, milk tea powder, ice cream powder, small plastic cups, thick and thin straws, etc., all need to be shipped by the headquarters. Jiang Xin said that the current supply is relatively stable, and it is often out of stock in the early stage. Now peripheral products will still be out of stock from time to time.
Not only Thailand, but also Malaysia and other regions have been out of stock to varying degrees since May this year. On Xiaohongshu, a Malaysian user once posted that the local Mixue Bingcheng was out of stock and only sold lemonade.
Logistical issues are also limiting regional expansion. At present, brands in Thailand are concentrated in Bangkok. While the consumption level is high, the logistics are convenient. In other regions, logistics costs will rise.
But even if the first chain brings great uncertainty, most of the domestic brands are produced in domestic factories, and the raw materials and equipment are shipped to franchisees in Southeast Asia. Even though there are more than 1,000 stores in the Southeast Asian market, Mixue Bingcheng did not look for a local factory.
The industrial chain of the Southeast Asian market is not yet mature", industry insiders told Tech Planet, "the cost of domestic production may be much lower than that of local factories, and it also needs to face the risk of instability." ”
In addition to worrying about the lack of milk tea to sell, franchisees also need to worry about no one making milk tea in the store the next day.
In Southeast Asia, the mobility of employees is much greater than at home. The pace of life in Southeast Asia is generally slow, and franchisees often experience employees leaving their jobs after receiving their salaries.
In Thailand, many companies pay wages twice a month. "Because Thai people don't have the Xi of saving money, they will use up as much money as they send." Therefore, Jiang Xin often encounters situations where employees advance their salaries.
But Jiang Xin was lucky, and he didn't encounter any employee resignation for half a year. In order to give employees a greater sense of accomplishment in their work, Jiang Xin deliberately asked employees to teach themselves as foreigners.
Pretending to be a boss who doesn't understand anything may be more conducive to the stability of employees," Jiang Xin laughed.
How long is the bonus period in Southeast Asia?
In the view of "Crazy Fox", because of the scalability and aggressiveness of the industry, the dividend time will not be too long, and there will be opportunities in the next three years. But in Jiang Xin's eyes, next year will be too late.
When the first store was still being renovated, Jiang Xin directly won three stores in Bangkok. "If you don't take the position, you won't have a position to choose, and now there are no good spots," Jiang Xin told Tech Planet.
In half a year, Jiang Xin opened 4 Michelle Ice Castles in Bangkok. And he's not the craziest franchisee yet. He told Tech Planet that many franchisees in Thailand work in teams, with a clear division of labor, site selection, negotiation, and decoration. He was only one man.
In the past six months, Jiang Xin has entertained the research teams of many domestic tea brands in the store. This trend is telling him that he was not wrong in his decision to win four stores in one go.
By next year, there will be more signs of Chinese tea brands on the streets of Bangkok.
In terms of experience, resources and capabilities, Chinese brands do have the ability to reduce dimensionality, but "Crazy Fox" does not think that brands can win steadily when they come to Southeast Asia. "The situation in each country in Southeast Asia is different, and it is still necessary to deepen the market, through dealers or remote control, by sending a team to play, basically no play. ”
An industry insider told Tech Planet that the initial opening of the store in Thailand was not very smooth. "At the beginning, there was a misjudgment that the stores were all located near the school, focusing on the student consumer group," an industry insider told Tech Planet, "but in Thailand, the students' holidays are particularly long, and the turnover of the stores near the school is not high." ”
It wasn't until Mixue Bingcheng turned its store to the business district that the name of "Snow King" started in Bangkok. However, according to Tech Planet, Mixue Bingcheng has currently suspended its franchise in Southeast Asia and will reopen next year. In this regard, as of press time, Mixue Bingcheng has not responded.
Southeast Asian markets have great similarities and differences. 11 countries, dozens of languages, economic, cultural, religious and other developments have their own characteristics. In the view of "Crazy Fox", if it is still the same as before, it will be difficult to precipitate into a real local brand.
But for Jiang Xin, a group of people who followed the sea to pan for gold, Southeast Asia is still a hot land for gold panning. It's just that the opportunity is fleeting.