Produced by Radar Finance and EconomicsZhang Yunqi edDeep sea
Recently, Heytea Company was interviewed by the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs on suspicion of violating the regulations on the administration of religious affairs. The entry of "Hey Tea removed from the shelves of Fo Hey Tea Latte" once rushed to the hot search.
It is reported that the "Buddha Hey Tea" tea was listed on November 28, and the joint tea drink launched by Hey Tea and Jingdezhen Chinese Ceramics Museum, the packaging contains three different customized co-branded cups and refrigerator magnets around the Contemplative Arhat Statue, Fuhu Arhat Statue, and Huanxi Arhat Statue, among which "Contemplative Arhat" is the new "Internet celebrity" of Jingdezhen Chinese Ceramics Museum, which is deeply loved by the public because of its unique expression.
There are obvious religious signs around the 'Buddha Xi' tea drink of Hey Tea, and there is a suspicion of borrowing religious culture for commercial publicity. Liu Xiaoyu, a partner and lawyer of Shandong Qiding Law Firm, mentioned that the Advertising Law, the Regulations on the Administration of Religious Affairs, and the Several Opinions on Further Governing the Commercialization of Buddhism and Taoism and other relevant laws and regulations clearly stipulate that commercial propaganda is prohibited in the name of religion, and no organization or individual may carry out activities and seek benefits in the name of Buddhism and Taoism.
At present, "Foxi Tea" has been fully offline.
In recent years, Heytea has frequently co-branded with other brands. This year alone, it has co-branded brands and IPs such as Fendi, Noritake, Barbie, Genshin Impact, and King of Comedy. Among them, the co-branding with Fendi has become a phenomenon of new tea drinks.
However, there are many co-names, and Heytea has also had many rollover incidents. It is understood that before the joint interview, Heytea had caused public dissatisfaction because of the joint Durex, and netizens said "It's too disgusting", "I can't look at Heytea directly", "There is a psychological shadow". Subsequently, Heytea publicly apologized.
In addition, Mr. Wei Meng, co-branded by Heytea, was accused of "fooling" and "heavy taste" silently removed from the shelves for the second time;Co-branded with the game "Genshin Impact" was complained about "cutting leeks".
Tianyancha data shows that Heytea originated from an alley called Jiangbianli in Jiangmen, Guangdong, formerly known as Huangcha Royaltea (in order to distinguish it from the endless copycat brands, it was comprehensively upgraded to the registered brand Heytea). HeyTea is the pioneer of cheese milk caps, which is different from the traditional milk caps on the market that are rough and cheap, and HeyTea focuses on presenting high-quality tea aromas from all over the world, which is popular in the Pearl River Delta region. It is subordinate to Shenzhen Meixi West Catering Management***
In the course of its development, Heytea has carried out 5 rounds of financing, with investors including Hillhouse Capital, Tencent Investment, Meituan Dragon Ball, Temasek, Temasek, etc., raising a total of billions of yuan, and the valuation is as high as 60 billion yuan after the D round of financing in 2021.
Some market participants believe that the reason why capital chooses to invest in Heytea is mainly because it is optimistic about its development prospects and looks forward to realizing it through listing.
On March 31, 2021, Nie Yunchen, founder and CEO of Heytea, publicly denied the rumors of Heytea's listing in the circle of friends.
At the beginning of 2022, Heytea investors.
1. Zhu Yonghua, the founding partner of Meituan Dragon Ball, once said that Heytea will not consider going public within two years.
Heytea, which is not listed, is facing growth pressure. In February last year, it was reported that Heytea carried out large-scale layoffs, involving 30% of employees and all departments. In this regard, Heytea responded that the relevant rumors are all false information, and the company does not have the so-called large layoffs, and a small number of personnel adjustments before the year are based on the normal personnel adjustment and optimization of the year-end assessment.
Some market participants believe that there are not too many moats in the beverage industry where Heytea is located, and the reason why Heytea frequently chooses co-branding is mainly to increase the topic and sales.
In fact, not only Heytea, but many catering brands have "rolled" up co-branding this year. For example, the sauce-flavored latte jointly launched by Luckin and Moutai once detonated the market.
However, although cross-border co-branding has brought new opportunities and breakthroughs to brands, the brand value and market influence of both partners can complement each other, and more target consumer groups can be attracted through the joint launch of products. However, there are also some problems and challenges associated with cross-border co-branding. Co-branded cooperation also requires strict cooperation coordination and market research to ensure that co-branded products meet consumer needs and market trends. Otherwise, co-branded products may not attract consumers' attention and purchase intentions.
In addition, cross-border co-branding may also undermine brand independence and consumer trust to a certain extent. For example, Bawang Chaji co-branded "Notes on Tomb Robbery", and was later complained by fans because of the design and activity rules, and issued an apology statement and revised the event rules.
In the eyes of market participants, this joint overturn will not make Heytea hurt its muscles and bones, so that it will affect the IPO. However, if similar events occur frequently, it will inevitably affect the reputation of Heytea, and then affect the company's performance and subsequent capital operation.