After a year of soaring popularity, you're already surrounded by kale.
In the summer of 2024, an unfamiliar shade of green began to spread across the menus of tea - beverage brands.
It's not the common matcha, nor does it come from any fruit juice. Instead, it's "kale", a vegetable more commonly found in the supermarket's vegetable section. These green leaves, originally used as salad ingredients or Western - cuisine side dishes, are now squeezed into cups and have become the most unexpected star in the new tea - beverage industry. Before this, the wholesale price of kale in the domestic market was less than one yuan, and it often suffered from slow sales. So, when it was turned into a beverage and introduced to the public, it was hard for the outside world not to be skeptical: Can a vegetable that couldn't sell well suddenly become popular just by being made into a fruit - vegetable tea?
The market's response exceeded expectations. After the first kale fruit - vegetable tea was launched, it quickly ignited the market. Subsequently, various brands followed suit, and products featuring kale rapidly became a consumption trend. For a time, not only did catering brands rush to include it in their menus, but it also became ubiquitous in the retail industry.
The origin of all this can be traced back to July 2024. At that time, HEYTEA was the first to add kale to its tea beverages and serialized it into the "Super Plant Tea" series two months later. Since then, this vegetable, which was previously limited to the niche health - conscious circle due to its taste, has entered the mainstream consumer's view.
One year later, this green storm shows no sign of stopping. Recently, on the first anniversary of the launch of the "Super Plant Tea" series, HEYTEA announced that the cumulative sales of the entire series had exceeded 100 million cups. So, how exactly did this phenomenal consumption boom occur in recent years?
An Anti - Intuitive Success
The popularity of kale represents a rare anti - intuitive success in the new tea - beverage market.
Previously, the common strategies for creating popular beverages in the industry mostly involved using scarce fruit ingredients, such as grapes that need to be peeled one by one or yugan fruits that only grow in South China; or tea bases with unique flavors, such as oolong tea and jasmine green tea; or cross - border ingredients, such as oat milk and cheese.
Although kale is rich in various vitamins and is known as a "superfood" and has long been popular in Western countries, it has always remained on the periphery of the domestic market due to its strong bitter taste and differences in eating habits. Its main use was for export, and it was even once used for green - belt planting. Although some brands, like Gaga, had launched kale and green apple juice, they failed to achieve large - scale consumption, so it hardly attracted widespread attention in the tea - beverage industry.
It wasn't until July 2024, during the Paris Olympics, that HEYTEA launched the "Champion Slimming Bottle" (later renamed the "Kale Slimming Bottle"). Through a marketing campaign leveraging the sports craze, kale became closely associated with the concept of "slimming". With a precise product positioning, kale beverages were transformed into a consumption symbol.
More importantly, this product solved the problem of being "hard to swallow" through the R & D approach of new tea - beverages. By combining kale with apples, lemons, and chia seeds, it not only diluted the bitterness but also added a refreshing and layered taste. As a result, consumers truly fell in love with kale, changing from "having to drink it for health reasons" to "willing to drink it casually".
With these dual advantages, kale's image was reshaped: it is no longer just the leftover vegetable in the supermarket's freezer but a trendy health item for young people to check in on their social media. Ultimately, the more fundamental reason is that young consumer brands represented by HEYTEA have keenly grasped the new generation's almost obsessive pursuit of health. From the early days of "soaking wolfberries in a thermos" to now paying for a cup of vegetable - based drink, young people are always swinging between health - preservation and enjoyment, hoping to have the best of both worlds. Understanding this, HEYTEA, through beverage innovation, provides them with a solution that "satisfies all desires" - it not only meets consumers' enjoyment of drinking beverages but also aligns with their health needs and reshapes it into the lifestyle of urban white - collar workers.
The data also speaks for itself: In July 2024, the "Champion Slimming Bottle" became an instant hit across the country as soon as it was launched. It sold over 1.6 million cups in just 10 days, and many stores ran out of stock and had to wait for restocking. Later, it was renamed the "Kale Slimming Bottle". Driven by the overwhelming market demand, HEYTEA continued to launch a new product, the "Fire - Reducing Slimming Bottle", on September 19th, forming the "Super Plant Tea" series, with a daily maximum sales volume of nearly 300,000 cups.
It only took kale a short year to transform from an obscure niche ingredient to a star in the beverage industry. Consumers are willing to pay for "vegetable beverages", and a new round of word - of - mouth communication has been formed. This once again confirms the timeless truth: In a consumption environment where the tea - beverage industry is facing increasing homogenization and widespread pressure, differentiated innovation can still inject continuous vitality into brands.
HEYTEA, which sparked this boom, has undoubtedly once again demonstrated its R & D ability as a "manufacturer of popular tea - beverages", adding another footnote to its differentiation strategy.
The Full - Scale Spread of the "Kale Craze"
Kale quickly ignited the entire industry.
The tea - beverage sector responded most rapidly. In August 2024, NAIXUE's Tea launched the "Domineering Kale Kiwi", combining kale with green kiwis. In September, Suguo Fresh Fruit Tea also introduced two "Super Fruit - Vegetable" products, integrating kale, kiwis, pineapples, and other fruits and vegetables.
After November, the actions became even more frequent: Shanghai Auntie launched the "Kale Slimming Bottle", containing kale and sunshine roses; Cha Baidao introduced two vegetable - based juices, such as the "Light - Digestion Kale", with avocados and other ingredients; and Lelecha successively launched the "Fresh - Blended Slimming Bottle" and the "Fresh - Blended Glowing Bottle", made by mixing more than ten kinds of fruits and vegetables, including kale, celery, and red cabbage.
In the second half of 2024, kale could be found on the new - product menus of almost every leading tea - beverage brand. Meanwhile, HEYTEA didn't stop innovating. Based on the kale element, HEYTEA continued to make efforts and launched bottled products such as "Kale and Cucumber" and "Mate Energy Slimming Ice" in the summer of 2025, presenting different forms of beverages.
Coffee brands also tried to get a share of the pie. In May 2025, Luckin Coffee cross - bordered into the market and launched the "Kale Light - Body Fruit - Vegetable Tea", with sales exceeding tens of millions of cups within a few weeks of its launch. This fully proves the diversity of kale's application scenarios - it can not only thrive in the tea - beverage market but also cross over to the coffee sector.
In fact, the spread effect didn't stop at the tea - beverage field. Single - item kale products have opened the doors to more industries and product categories, gradually building a rich "kale universe".
The wave soon extended to the retail industry. At the end of 2024, Sam's Club launched Welexian's "Kale Composite Fruit - Vegetable Juice". This product quickly made it onto the "Must - Buy New - Year Goods in Sam's Club in 2025" list of Xiaohongshu users. It was marked as having monthly sales of over 200,000 units on the Sam's Club APP, and it often ran out of stock. Many consumers received a "Restocking in Progress" notice when placing orders through the express - delivery service.
Pupu Supermarket and Hema also responded quickly, each launching their own brand - related products: Pupu Supermarket launched the "100% HPP Kale Composite Fruit - Vegetable Juice", and Hema introduced the "NFC Kale Mixed Fruit - Vegetable Juice", the "Kale and Celery Squeezing Cup", and the "Kale Oatmeal Cup". These products have jointly promoted kale beverages to penetrate deeper into the daily family consumption scenario.
Meanwhile, food brands have also incorporated kale into various products: Baixiang launched "Kale Light Noodles", introducing the concept of super plants to the staple - food field; Huatiancui Coffee developed freeze - dried kale powder to meet the demand for convenient health - preservation; and Jianai launched kiwi - kale flavored fruit - vegetable yogurt, continuing the innovation of healthy flavors in the dairy sector. Not to mention the numerous small and large brands that have launched kale fruit - vegetable powder.
According to media observations and statistics, as of April 2025, among the words related to superfoods on social media, "kale" ranked second only to "nutrition" and was the second - most - mentioned term among all words reflecting dietary trends. According to a report by CCTV News Channel, since 2025, the search volume for "fruit - vegetable juice" has increased by 507% year - on - year, and the comment volume has increased by 204% year - on - year. The take - out volume of beverages containing "kale" has increased by 44 times year - on - year.
From freshly - made tea - beverages to packaged drinks, from the coffee sector to food innovation, kale has gradually become a symbol of health and slimness, able to flow freely among different product categories and help brands connect with consumers' mindset towards healthy eating. This is the real industry - detonating effect of the "Super Plant Tea".
However, even though kale has become a common sight in the industry, the "Super Plant Tea" series still maintains its leading position. The reason might be that, unlike some peers who rely on pre - made concentrated juice, HEYTEA has always attached great importance to using fresh ingredients in its products since its establishment and has continued this practice in its kale - related product series. According to HEYTEA's official information, the entire "Super Plant Tea" series has consumed nearly three million catties of fresh kale. This persistence has in turn pushed HEYTEA to invest in and upgrade the quality of its raw materials, even driving the overall quality improvement of the entire supply source.
Turning to Upgrading Upstream Raw Materials
The planting scale of kale in China was originally small, and it used to appear on the supplier lists of only a few importers as raw materials for imported salads. However, with the popularity of the "Super Plant Tea", the supply side has witnessed rapid changes.
The planting scale is expanding rapidly. In October 2024, the largest kale - planting base in Asia in Gaomi, Shandong, received a large number of procurement orders. Orders came in one after another. The person - in - charge recalled, "As soon as a new crop grew, people rushed to pay the deposit." To meet the demand, the base had to temporarily convert 200 mu of export orders to domestic sales and urgently speed up the construction of 60 greenhouses. Workers worked day and night, shortening the harvesting cycle from 60 days to 45 days.
In the spring of 2025, the trend of "superfoods" remained strong. With the market demand far exceeding the supply, the price of kale has been rising. A farmer in Shandong once told the media, "This vegetable has little flavor, and even sheep don't like it. It used to be just for weight - loss products." A few years ago, its wholesale price was only a few cents per catty, and it was often unsellable. Now, the wholesale price per catty has risen to 3.5 yuan when sold by the ton, and the retail price is stable at 5 yuan per catty. After going through wholesalers and entering Western restaurants or healthy - food stores, it can even be sold for 15 yuan per catty. For farmers, kale is changing from a marginal crop to a new source of income.
Meanwhile, the industrial chain is also being upgraded. The supply model of kale has shifted from "standard - based procurement" to "customized planting". Take HEYTEA as an example. To ensure that consumers can drink healthier beverages, HEYTEA took the lead in cooperating with high - standard upstream planting bases to explore