Bubble Tea Market by Base Ingredient (Black Bubble Tea, Green Bubble Tea, Oolong Bubble Tea, and White Bubble Tea), Flavor (Original Flavor, Coffee Flavor, Fruit Flavor, Chocolate Flavor, and Others), Component (Flavor, Creamer, Sweetener, Liquid, Tapioca Pearls, and Others), and Regional Analysis (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021–2028

Bubble Tea Market Analysis

The global bubble tea market is anticipated to garner $4,552.9 million in the 2021–2028 timeframe, growing from $2,595.8 million in 2020 at a healthy CAGR of 7.4%.

Market Synopsis

Product launch and acquisitions among market players to improve their product portfolio and to gain competitive advantage in the global bubble tea market is anticipated to drive the market growth during the forecast period.

However, availability of substitute beverages such as coffee and increase in coffee consumption since it is proven to lower the type 2 diabetes and caner is predicted to restrain the market growth. 

According to the regional analysis of the market, the North America bubble tea market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 7.8% by generating a revenue of $2,432.3 million during the review period.

Bubble Tea Overview

Bubble tea or boba is a unique Taiwanese beverage prepared by blending tea base with flavors, milk, or sweeteners and then adding tapioca pearls that sit at the bottom. The tapioca balls are derived from cassava root that contains vitamin C and calcium. The popularity of bubble tea is increasing rapidly across the world and it is available in various flavors such as mango, peach, pomegranate, and others. Black tea, white tea, green tea, and oolong tea are used as a base for preparing bubble tea which is then customized using syrups such as lychee, and strawberry. In addition, many bubble teas are prepared with pudding, syrups, fruit, jellies, yoghurt, and others. The taste of bubble tea depends on fruit flavors, syrups, fruit jellies that are used as a base flavor. Bubble tea has various benefits such as it helps to strengthen the immune system, boosts energy, and improves heart health, which makes it a popular beverage.    

Impact Analysis of COVID-19 on the Global Bubble Tea Market

The novel coronavirus pandemic had a devastating effect on several industries and the bubble tea market also experienced a negative impact owing to complete lockdown across various countries, travel restrictions, and ban on import-export that led to severe economic consequences. In addition, global supply chain disruptions have led to delay in the manufacturing process due to non-availability of raw materials. The lockdown restrictions have threatened the livelihood of millions of small tea growers in the region. The government implications on closure of cafes, restaurants, farms, factories, production units to maintain social distancing measures led to a decline in sales and demand. The travel restrictions, shortage of labors negatively impacted the bubble tea market. Also, bubble tea is facing a decline in demand due to shortage of tapioca balls that are mixed into the tea due to shipping delays in Asia. For instance, as stated on April 14, 2021, in USA Today, an American daily newspaper, Kung Fu Tea, the largest chain of bubble tea in U.S. with 250 locations, predicted that shortage of bubble tea may last longer as the demand for all bubble tea types is increasing rapidly and people want fresh, made-to-order drinks.

Government initiatives to expand the bubble tea business across various countries is helping the market to recover. The government of India is offering financial assistance for 3 years for setting up tea boutiques in India and promoting domestic production. For instance, if the tea boutique is on rental basis, then the owner is eligible to receive 50% of rent in 1st year, 40% of rent in the 2nd year, and 30% of the rent in the 3rd year with upper ceiling of 12 lakh rupees in three years. With rising concern over plastic waste, various bubble tea business owners are taking various initiatives such as adopting eco-friendly measures by serving the bubble tea in paper cups and using paper straws and encouraging customers to bring their own tumblers. For instance, Whale Tea, the largest beverages and deserts shop in China, is serving drinks in paper cups or recyclable plastic cups and offering paper straws. Such initiatives are anticipated to boost the production and demand for bubble tea in different countries.

Health Benefits Associated with Bubble Tea Consumption to Drive the Market Growth 

The global bubble tea industry is witnessing a rapid growth as the popularity of bubble tea is increasing due to its various health benefits and delicious taste. Along with antioxidants, bubble tea endures strength to the body as it contains milk, which is an excellent source of calcium and makes bones stronger. Bubble tea is the primary source of energy for your brain and heart muscles as it contains carbohydrates. The beverage contains caffeine, it which is an excellent stress buster as it reduces tense muscles in the body. In addition, bubble tea acts as an immunity buster as it is rich in antioxidants that block any oxidative stress accumulation. Moreover, fruits such as mango, lychee, and strawberry added to the bubble tea are excellent source of vitamins. Adding green tea as a base ingredient to the bubble tea prevents the free radical damage and it can boost weight loss process. All these advantages are anticipated to drive the bubble tea market demand during the forecast period.  

To know more about global bubble tea market drivers, get in touch with our analysts here.

Growth in Coffee Consumption to Restrain Market Growth 

Coffee is another popular beverage across the world which is rich in antioxidants, manganese, niacin, potassium, and other nutrients. Coffee is proven to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, stress, and heart ailments. Due to high caffeine content, the coffee consumption boosts the energy thereby reducing fatigue and increasing alertness. All these advantages make coffee a great substitute for bubble tea which is predicted to restrain the market growth during the forecast period.

Introduction of New Flavors to Create Excellent Investment Opportunities

The launch of new bubble tea flavors such as different fruit flavors like banana, apple, kiwi, lychee, watermelon, and others are anticipated to create enormous growth opportunities in the market. Other flavors of bubble tea include almond, ginger, coffee, and others. In addition, the launch of distinctive fruit flavors such as avocado, coconut, grape, green apple, lemon, jackfruit, plum, passion fruit, and others are estimated to generate huge growth opportunities in the market. Also, different toppings such as cookie crumbs, red bean, ice cream, fresh fruit, cheese cream, and others can be added to the bubble tea. Various options are available for adding pudding such as barley, caramel, taro, chocolate, mocha, sesame, lavender, rose, and others. All these factors are estimated to generate huge growth opportunities in the upcoming years.

To know more about global bubble tea market opportunities, get in touch with our analysts here.

Source: Research Dive Analysis

The black tea base ingredient sub-segment is anticipated to have a dominant market share, and it is predicted that the market shall generate a revenue of $1,864.8 million by 2028, growing from $1,082.9 million in 2020. Black tea derived from camellia sinensis is rich in antioxidants and offers various health benefits. The black tea as a base ingredient in bubble tea offers various benefits such as increasing alertness, boosting energy, improving metabolism, heart health, and others. Furthermore, it improves metabolism, gut health, helps in preventing dental cavities, kidney stones, osteoporosis, diabetes, and high cholesterol. All these benefits have made black tea an extremely popular base ingredient in preparation of bubble tea. All these benefits are estimated to boost the demand for black ta sub-segment of the bubble tea market during the forecast period. 

The green tea base ingredient sub-segment is predicted to have the fastest growth in the global market and is expected to register a revenue of $1,381.8 million during the forecast period. The popularity of bubble tea with green tea as a base ingredient is increasing rapidly among the health-conscious individuals. Green tea contains healthy bioactive compounds that improves the brain functioning, boosts the fat burning process, protects the brain from ageing, prevents the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and reduces the inflammation. In addition, green tea contains catechin that are natural antioxidants that prevent cell damage and reduce the formation of free radicals. Green tea also reduces the risk of some forms of cancer such as colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and others. All these associated benefits with the use of green tea as a base ingredient in the preparation of bubble tea is predicted to drive the growth of green tea sub-segment during the forecast period.

Source: Research Dive Analysis

The fruit flavors sub-segment of the global bubble tea market is anticipated to acquire a dominant market share and surpass $2,820.3 million by 2028, with an increase from $1,586.2 million in 2020. This growth can be majorly owing to a variety of fruit flavors available in bubble tea that enhance the taste and endure pulpy, natural fruit taste to the bubble tea. Various fruit flavors available in bubble tea are honeydew, peach, mango, lychee, avocado, plum, strawberry, banana, jackfruit, lemon, watermelon, pineapple, kiwi, and others. The customers have a wide range of options to choose the fruit flavor as per their choice. These aspects are estimated to drive the growth of fruit flavors sub-segment during the forecast period.

The chocolate flavor sub-segment of the global bubble tea is anticipated to have fastest growth and surpass $345.6 million by 2028, with an increase from $189.1 million in 2020. The chocolate flavor bubble tea is becoming extremely popular in which chocolate powder is blended with tea to enhance the taste; it can also be served with ice. Adding chocolate flavor to tea provides various health benefits like stimulating the functioning of brain and relieving physical stress. The chocolate flavor bubble tea reduces the risk of heart diseases and reduces the formation of free radicals promoting cellular health and preventing different types of cancer. These benefits are estimated to drive the growth of chocolate flavor sub-segment during the forecast period.

Source: Research Dive Analysis

The liquid sub-segment of the global bubble tea is anticipated to have dominant market share and surpass $1,703.4 million by 2028, with an increase from $930.2 million in 2020. The combination of bubble tea with liquid flavors such as green tea, black tea, oolong tea, and others is rising globally as liquid bubble tea can be combined with various fruit juices and syrups. This aspect is estimated to boost the demand for liquid sub-segment during the forecast period.

Source: Research Dive Analysis

The Market for Bubble Tea in North America to be the Most Dominant

The North America bubble tea market accounted $1,429.3 million in 2020 and is projected to register a revenue of $2,432.3 million by 2028. The growth in consumption of tea and various flavors available in bubble tea such as coffee flavor, fruit flavor, original flavor, chocolate flavor and others are estimated to drive the demand for bubble tea in this region. The growing popularity of tea-based fruity beverages and decline in demand for carbonated drinks due to high sugar content that leads to chronic diseases such as obesity is estimated to drive the demand for bubble tea in North America during the forecast period. In addition, the consumption of bubble tea with green tea and black tea as a base ingredient offers various health benefits such as prevention of type 2 diabetes, heart ailments, reduced risk of cancer, and other is anticipated to drive the bubble tea market demand in the upcoming years.

The Market for Bubble Tea in Asia-Pacific to be the Fastest Growing

The share of Asia-Pacific bubble tea market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 7.8% by registering a revenue of $1,267.2 million by 2028. Asia-Pacific countries are one of the largest tea producers in the world and growth of bubble tea market is attributed to high prevalence of tea culture in countries like Japan, India, China, South Korea, and others. Furthermore, the growing health consciousness among individuals regarding benefits of bubble tea that is excellent source of energy that boost the immune system and availability of different bubble tea flavors with variety of base ingredients such as white tea, oolong tea, black tea, and others is estimated to drive the growth of Asia-Pacific bubble tea market during the forecast period.

Competitive Scenario in the Global Bubble Tea Market

Product launch, acquisition are common strategies followed by major market players to stay ahead in the competition.

Source: Research Dive Analysis

Some of the leading bubble tea market players are Kung Fu Tea, Bobabox Limited, Bubble Tea House Company, Cuppotee, Gong Cha, ShareTea, Sumo's (M) Sdn Bhd, Ten Ren's Tea Time, The Bubble Tea Company, and ViVi Bubble Tea.

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis for the Global Bubble Tea Market:

• Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The tea leaves are used as a base ingredient for preparation of different types of bubble tea. The number of raw material suppliers that supply tea leaves as a basic raw material are small in number. In addition, the number of tapioca balls or tapioca starch providers that is used in bubble tea are small in number that increases the bargaining power of suppliers.
  Thus, the bargaining power of suppliers is high.
• Bargaining Power of Buyers: Buyers have low bargaining power as the number of buyers is high and are basically direct consumers or the café owners that buy bubble tea for residential or commercial purpose. As bubble tea is available in different flavors, with different base ingredients and different components such as creamer, flavor, tapioca pearls, and others the switching cost is high. 
  Thus, the bargaining power of the buyers is low.
• Threat of New Entrants: The companies entering bubble tea market has less legal barriers as well as the investment cost is low. In addition, the high inclination towards sustainable packaging with the use of paper cups, and paper straws instead of plastics is anticipated to attract the new entrants. 
  Thus, the threat of the new entrants is moderate.
• Threat of Substitutes: The availability of substitute product such as coffee which quite popular due to its health benefits and high caffeine content that provides instant energy is a major substitute in the bubble tea market. Also, it entirely depends upon the consumer which beverage to choose. 
  Thus, the threat of substitutes is moderate.
• Competitive Rivalry in the Market: The competitive rivalry among industry players is high. The growing demand for bubble tea due to introduction of various flavors such as chocolate, fruit, coffee, and others and growing focus on enhancing the product portfolio and business capacity increases the competitive rivalry.
  Therefore, competitive rivalry in the market is high.