Frontier News | HEYTEA Launches Its First Milk with “Double No” Certification, Says It Has Been Gradually Applied in Stores

36Kr has learned that HEYTEA announced today the launch of its first milk with "double-free" certification - Yuanmu 3.8 milk, which is certified as free of antibiotics and hormones. Currently, this milk has been gradually used in HEYTEA's products in its stores.

It is reported that this milk uses 100% fresh milk as the basic raw material. Through methods such as carefully selecting pure pastures and using closed production lines, it achieves a healthy and pure quality. After being tested by authoritative institutions such as the Food and Drug Testing Laboratory of the Anti-Doping Center of the General Administration of Sport of China, the results show that 69 types of antibiotics and 272 items including hormones were not detected.

HEYTEA has long been investing in the research and development of milk. Previously in 2023, they launched their first "real milk specially for new tea drinks" - 3.8 Yuanmu Zhennai, with a protein content of 3.8g/100mL, which was first used in the Roasted Brown Sugar Boba Milk product. According to Yu Feng, the vice president of HEYTEA's supply chain, this product went through more than half a year of testing and adjustment of the R & D direction to make the taste more natural.

Then in 2024, HEYTEA launched the skimmed version of 3.8 Yuanmu Zhennai. Different from traditional skimmed milk, this skimmed milk retains more of the sweet flavor of milk. And the 3.8 Yuanmu milk launched this time is an upgrade of the previous products in terms of the "double-free" quality.

This new product was born in the industry's first dairy innovation workshop jointly established by HEYTEA and the National Engineering Research Center for Maternal and Infant Dairy Health. It is also the industry's first milk to obtain the certification of being free of antibiotics and hormones. It is reported that the two parties will focus on the innovative development and application of dairy raw materials for new tea drinks next.

HEYTEA also has corresponding industrial layouts in the livestock and production sectors, including cooperating with Sanyuan to establish an "antibiotic - and hormone - free certified breeding pasture". It is reported that the certified pasture has its own thousand - mu alfalfa planting base. Each batch of feed will undergo strict testing, and the drinking water will go through 37 professional tests.

In addition, HEYTEA and Sanyuan have built a pure factory. After the raw milk is squeezed out, it is instantly cooled to below 4°C and transported to the nearby factory under temperature control throughout the process. A closed pure production line is configured for Yuanmu 3.8 milk, and the production line needs to be professionally cleaned before each processing. According to the relevant person in charge of the factory, the pure factory also sets up three "checkpoints" of human taste testing at key links, including the acceptance of raw milk, the factory production process, and the finished product.

From the pasture to the factory, HEYTEA's investment in milk raw materials is gradually going deeper into the upstream of the industrial chain. Behind this, as the ready - to - drink tea industry has developed to date, market competition is not only a race in scale but also a test of the depth of the industrial chain layout.

It is worth mentioning that HEYTEA is at the forefront in terms of customized raw materials. According to HEYTEA, as of now, the exclusive customization rate of the mainstream raw materials used daily in HEYTEA stores is close to 100%. It is the new tea drink brand with the most exclusive customized raw materials.