A number of niche local tea brands have opened their stores in the most high-end shopping malls in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Local tea brands are scrambling to expand nationwide, but relying solely on niche ingredients and regional exclusivity is clearly no longer sufficient.

"This viral Xinjiang yogurt shop is finally coming to Guangzhou" — "Is there any Sweet Fermented Oat Milk Tea available in Zhejiang?!"... This summer, a wave of little-known local tea beverage brands is being repeatedly requested by consumers on social media platforms to "move into the big cities".

From Xinjiang's Chabalei, to Nanjing's Shanxia Naisi, to Minnan's Lihou Teahouse, and Ningxia's Chananzi, these brands carrying distinct regional labels are accelerating their expansion beyond their home markets, opening stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and core business districts across the country.

01. Niche Local Tea Brands Are Marching Nationwide in Groups

Xinjiang's Chabalei will open its first local store at Guangzhou's Meilin World Mall this month. Adding new entries into cities like Nanjing, Wuxi, and Fuzhou since June this year, Chabalei now operates approximately 150 stores nationwide, entering a new city almost every month.

Shanxia Naisi, a Tibetan milk brand born in Nanjing, has in less than two years secured locations in top-tier shopping malls including Nanjing MixC World, Hangzhou Intime in77, Shanghai Global Harbor, and Shenzhen One Avenue, with over 20 stores all situated in prime high-rent districts.

Lihou Teahouse, a Minnan-style tea brand, and Yunnan's Shangshan Hetea have also built a footprint of more than 20 stores across cities like Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Ningbo.

△ Image source: Official Xiaohongshu account of Chabalei

These brands generally adopt two distinct strategies. The first is "expand as fast as possible", represented by Chabalei and Shanxia Naisi, which rapidly scale up in core business districts to seize market opportunities and amplify brand exposure.

The second approach is "take root first, then expand". Taking Ningxia's Chananzi as an example, instead of advancing into multiple cities simultaneously like Chabalei, it follows the rhythm of "deeply cultivating one region per year". Leveraging Ningxia's characteristic local produce such as goji berries, rice, and Lianhu lake tomatoes, it first concentrated resources to fully penetrate the Ningxia market. After establishing a solid foothold, it expanded to Hainan, then to Hebei and Hubei, setting up a local operation team each time it entered a new province. This strategy may seem slow, but over more than two years since its founding, the brand has already operated over 50 stores.

Ju Cha, which built its unique identity using Henan's schizonepeta herb, took root in Henan for 8 years before finally opening its first out-of-province store in Shenzhen last year, and now operates 8 stores in the city.

No matter which strategy they adopt, one trend is abundantly clear: local tea brands that previously focused primarily on regional markets are now viewing the entire national market as their new growth frontier.

02. Regional Tea Brands' National Expansion Cannot Rely Solely on "Regional Exclusivity"

However, while store formats can be replicated quickly, directly copying local characteristics does not always work.

Gansu-based brand Fangha has experienced such a "misstep".

Fangha delivered impressive performance in Northwest China: it turned beloved local staples that Lanzhou residents have enjoyed since childhood, such as sweet fermented oat milk tea, gray bean porridge, and soft pear, into trendy beverages. It expanded all the way from Gansu to Ningxia, Shaanxi, Qinghai, and Xinjiang, reaching 150 stores. But when it transplanted this exact strategy to Shanghai, opening 8 stores, all outlets closed down within two years.

In an interview with the media last June, Shi Yajuan, Marketing Director of Fangha, put it bluntly: "Opening stores in a new location by simply copying your original products is a dead end."

△ Image source: Official Xiaohongshu account of Fangha

Looking back at how it operated in markets closer to its home base: In addition to Gansu-style milk tea, targeting Shaanxi locals' preference for rice wine, Fangha did not directly sell the traditional drink. Instead, it added smoothies, water chestnut popping boba, and sparkling elements, reimagining this "old Shaanxi beverage" into a form acceptable to young consumers.

Henan's Ju Cha has also carried out localized transformations. After entering Shenzhen, it specifically launched "Ju Cha Select" stores, with the main menu featuring familiar milk teas and fruit teas. Its most Henan-characteristic products such as schizonepeta lemon tea and "Jade Inlaid with Gold" drinks are only placed in a special selection zone to test market response. It then used delivery discounts to bring prices down to 15-20 yuan, encouraging customers to place an order and give it a try, rather than driving away out-of-town consumers with overly unfamiliar local flavors right from the start.

Both brands are essentially doing the same thing: preserving their local distinctiveness while lowering the consumption barriers caused by regional cultural differences.

The strategies of Fangha and Ju Cha have also debunked a common industry misconception.

In recent years, ingredients such as oil orange, wampee, kale, Tongren matcha from Guizhou, Yunnan whole-leaf tea, Aksu apples from Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia milk skin have been successively tapped by tea brands as selling points. Each new ingredient is more niche than the last, to the point that using these unique local materials has almost become a standard growth tactic for new tea brands.

But this strategy is rapidly losing its effectiveness.

On one hand, niche ingredients inherently come with high consumer awareness barriers — ingredients that are familiar to local residents do not necessarily appeal to out-of-town customers. On the other hand, as more and more brands are chasing "niche" and "regional exclusive" selling points, this type of differentiation is itself rapidly diminishing.

For niche local tea brands that are expanding nationwide, relying solely on regional ingredients can hardly support long-term competitiveness for national expansion. Compared with top national chain brands, they need to take "local roots" as their core business logic, and build unique brand recognition rooted in local cultural heritage, food traditions, and exclusive consumer experiences.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Red Catering Network", written by Zhou Feifei, edited by Fang Yuan, and republished by 36Kr with authorization.