Ready-to-drink milk tea has to mention Assam, which has been available since 2009 and has become the most commonly purchased beverage by consumers due to its smooth and enjoyable taste and affordable price. According to the 2019 annual report of Uni-President Central Holdings, the Group's revenue was 22.019 billion yuan, of which the revenue of the milk tea business increased by 13.1%, maintaining a double-digit growth rate for three consecutive years, and its beverage business has also helped Uni-President become one of the largest food and beverage conglomerates in Taiwan and even in China.
As a Taiwan-funded enterprise focusing on the mainland market, Tongyi Central Control began to take root in the nineties of the last century, mainly producing instant noodle food and non-carbonated beverages, such as ready-to-drink tea and fruit juice drinks. Uni-President has a clear layout in the mainland, divided into eight production blocks by region, with a high urban penetration rate, and Guangzhou Uni-President in the South China market alone has 10 beverage production lines, with a monthly production capacity of about 6 million cases.
The diversity of unified milk tea drinks is also unique in the ready-to-drink milk tea industry, which can be divided into three categories from appearance. The most talked-about Assam milk tea does not contain creamer, using imported milk from New Zealand to give the milk tea a smooth and delicate taste, while the tea is made of Assam black tea, one of the world's four major black teas, the dark red tea soup is mellow and sweet, and it is more sweet when mixed with sugar and milk. Assam Milk Tea 500ml is only 4.5 yuan, and there is also a 1.5-liter family sharing bottle.
In addition to Assam milk tea, there are also rock salt cheese milk tea and sencha milk green milk tea, the former adds Danish cheddar cheese powder and deep well rock salt, the taste is smooth and has a hint of sesame saltiness, and the latter uses green tea as the tea base to integrate the fragrance of jasmine tea. It is also packaged in plastic bottles, and the price is also 4.5 yuan, but the capacity is slightly less than that of Assam milk tea, which is 450 ml.
Uni-President not only delves into the taste of the formula, but also subdivides consumer demand, and has successively launched carton milk tea and Assam milk tea. The carton milk tea is made of Yunnan tea leaves, and the tea leaves are crushed, torn and rolled through the CTC process, so that the tea raw materials are uniform and pure, easy to brew, and have a strong taste. The flavors include wheat, chocolate, and strawberry, which are common drinks around the campus, and 250ml is only 2.5 yuan, and the box is also very convenient.
In order to dilute the attributes of the enterprise, the English logo assam replaces the previous "unity" word, and the packaging design is similar to a mini milk can, which has won the gold medal of the Pentawards Global Packaging Design Award, but the bottle cap is difficult to unscrew and is often criticized. Compared with Assam, the formula of small milk tea is more sophisticated, and the creamer is used instead of non-dairy creamer, and the taste is more silky, and the price of 360ml is 6 yuan. It has plain flavor and chocolate flavor, the latter has dark chocolate added, the milk flavor is not as strong as the latter, and the tea flavor is lighter, and it is commonly found in convenience store hot cabinets.
Unlike the mainland market, Taiwan's 1998 Ice Room Tea Collection was launched earlier than Assam Milk Tea, and its name was inspired by Liang Qichao's "Ice Room Anthology", and essay contests are often held. There are 3 common flavors, black tea milk tea, oolong tea milk tea, and green tea milk tea, but the formula is old and contains creamer. In addition, they are all packed in 400ml cartons, and the shelf life is only 16 days, and the transportation cost is high.
It is worth noting that Uni-President milk tea has been complained by consumers that the bottle contains gelatinous objects, and after investigation, the foreign body is due to the deterioration formed by the bottle after opening the bottle for a long time, and it is recommended to drink it within 6 hours after opening. Do not drink if the bottle is swollen or leaking before opening.
