Starbucks Expands Stores Selling Teavana Specialty Drinks to 52 Locations

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] Now, you can experience Teavana specialty drinks such as Matcha Lemonade Frozen Tea, Passion Fruit Cocktail Tea, and Grandma Apple Black Milk Tea at Starbucks Reserve Bar stores nationwide.

Starbucks Coffee Korea announced on the 26th that it has recently expanded the Teavana specialty drinks, previously available only at 13 Teavana Bar stores nationwide, to 52 Reserve Bar stores. Starbucks Reserve Bar stores offer the highest quality coffee experience, and by strengthening the specialized tea beverage menu alongside coffee, they have further enhanced the premium experience.

Starbucks is expanding the development of tea variation drinks that reinterpret the traditional unique flavors of tea with a modern sensibility. In September 2016, Starbucks launched its tea brand Teavana in Korea and introduced the first-ever Teavana Bar store worldwide. Currently, there are 13 Teavana Bar stores nationwide, including Ewha Womans University R branch, The Jongno R branch, and The Haeundae R branch.

At Starbucks Teavana Bar stores, the Tea Journey program is operated to provide a differentiated tea beverage experience. Customers can experience the shape, aroma, and blending of tea ingredients through scent sampling, taste the pure brewed tea through tasting, and enjoy tea variation exclusive drinks made by mixing various ingredients based on brewed tea.

The tea beverages sold at Starbucks currently include not only traditional tea drinks but also 18 types of unique tea variation drinks that combine distinctive ingredients, and the demand for tea beverages has been steadily increasing every year.

Since the launch of Teavana in 2016, sales have consistently grown by more than 20% annually, with an increasing number of customers in their 20s and 30s preferring tea beverages. The representative tea variation drink launched in 2016, ‘Grapefruit Honey Black Tea,’ was the most ordered beverage among customers in their 20s in 2019, excluding Americano and Caffe Latte. This reflects the trend-sensitive 20s customer base’s preference for tea variation drinks that blend traditional tea with unique ingredients to create distinctive flavors, as well as their interest in new beverages differentiated from coffee, aligned with the well-being trend seeking health.

Demand for green tea beverages has also steadily increased, with beverage sales growing 35% from January to March this year compared to the same period last year. Among these, green tea teabag beverages saw a 96% increase in sales in 2019 compared to the previous year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.