Taiwan Today

The sound of ice cubes clinking in a stainless steel cocktail shaker is music to the ears on one of Taiwan’s typically hot and humid summer days. If you are the curious type and choose to follow the sound to its source, in most cases, instead of ordinary fruit juice or punch, visitors to Taiwan will find something refreshing and new to their palates—pearl bubble milk tea, one of Taiwan’s best-known specialty drinks.

The beverage originated in the mid-1980s at Chun Shui Tang, a teahouse in central Taiwan’s Taichung City, when manager Liu Hsiu-hui added milk and her favorite dessert, fenyuan or tapioca balls, into some of the tea drinks. The rich and ice-cold sweetened tea with frothy foam “bubbles” on the top and the little black tapioca “pearls” at the bottom received a surprisingly good response from customers.

Today, the mixed beverage has spread everywhere in Taiwan. It is served with its signature extra large straws at cafés, night market stalls, small restaurants, teahouses and most commonly, specialized bubble tea shops that primarily sell only to take-out or delivery customers and have limited or no seating.

Numerous varieties of bubble tea have been developed since Liu’s breakthrough some 20-odd years ago. Besides the Assam black tea used in the original recipe, the delicious treat can be made with green, oolong, baozhong and almost any other type of tea, and with or without milk, according to customer taste. Pudding, coconut, lychee or mesona jelly cubes can also be substituted for the tapioca balls. For those who prefer something fruitier, a splash of juice ranging from grapefruit, kumquat, lemon, mango, pineapple, passion fruit and strawberry can be mixed in, and richer flavors like chocolate, sesame and taro root are also available. Customers are able to choose the amount of sugar and ice they want in their drink, and most of the varieties can be served hot on request.

The popularity of the beverage in Taiwan is conspicuous. There are an estimated 50,000 teashops around the country serving up a total of 1.5 billion cups of bubble tea or similar tea drinks each year, says Jacky Wang, CEO of Possmei International Co. Ltd., a consulting company that helps international clients set up their own bubble tea businesses overseas. According to an online survey conducted in 2010 by Pollster Technology Marketing Ltd., nearly 50 percent of the respondents selected bubble pearl milk tea as the most likely local night market treat to appeal to the taste buds of foreign visitors in Taiwan.

Going Global

The drink with the chewy tapioca texture has been spreading to other parts of the world in the last 20 years, with the initial inroads made in nearby places that have large Taiwanese expatriate communities such as Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, mainland China, Southeast Asian nations, South Korea and the United States, according to Wang. But it was not until recent years that the Taiwanese invention has become available in more far-flung areas like Europe and the Middle East. Wang estimates that the celebrated drink can now be obtained in 25 to 30 countries worldwide.

Initially, bubble tea was mostly served at small Taiwanese and Chinese restaurants in overseas cities with ethnic Chinese communities, where it was consumed as a drink that came with a meal. Wang says that these businesses were often careless in selecting ingredients and preparing the drink. The increasing number of specialized bubble tea shops overseas, however, has resulted in the demand to replicate the authentic flavor of bubble tea. As the birthplace of the beverage, Taiwan was the first country to come to mind for teashop owners when they thought about making the best-tasting bubble tea, Wang says.

Despite the mounting interest, however, Wang says bringing Taiwan’s favorite drink to the world market has not always been an easy task. For the past 20 years, he says Possmei has supplied bubble tea ingredients and production equipment to dozens of overseas companies, but many of his clients ended up failing. To help them sustain their business, Wang says he began expanding his operation about 10 years ago to provide turnkey services for entrepreneurs who want to open bubble tea shops abroad. “Besides supplying [equipment and ingredients], we’re offering integrated services, including personnel training, marketing, branding and interior design,” Wang says.

Such efforts have proven successful, according to Wang. Bobo Q, one of his clients, opened its first shop in Berlin, Germany in February 2010 and is now on the way to launching its 20th branch in that country. And Bubbleology, a teashop that opened in April this year in London with assistance from Possmei, ran out of some of its supplies within two weeks because business was so good.

Along with Possmei and other companies, 50 Lan, one of the most popular bubble tea brands in Taiwan, has also been working to take the refreshing beverage worldwide. Avon Ma, CEO of Taichung-based Ya-Lan Co. Ltd., which manages about one-third of 50 Lan’s 400-odd chain stores, believes that, in addition to using ingredients from Taiwan, following strict standard operating procedures and maintaining quality control are the keys to success in the bubble tea business. For that reason, Ma says she decided to take a more conservative route in opening branches abroad. Instead of entering the market in the West right away as many suggested, she made her first move by establishing the KOI Café in 2007 in Singapore, which is close enough that she can make frequent visits in person to attend to every detail of the operation.

KOI serves most of the drinks 50 Lan offers in Taiwan and follows the same recipes, as well as offers a few of its own smoothies and freshly brewed coffee. Despite being a latecomer to the Singaporean market, the brand has grown steadily from a single shop to a chain of eight stores in three years. The most well-known practice of 50 Lan and KOI is their “two-hour policy,” which means all the cooked tapioca balls must be disposed of if not sold in two hours, as the “pearls” tend to become slimy after that long. According to Ma, each KOI teahouse currently serves an average of 2,000 to 3,000 cups of bubble tea per day, with 90 percent of those drinks containing tapioca pearls. Following the success in Singapore, KOI is scheduled to open its first branch in mainland China by the end of summer this year.

Apparently, Ma is not alone in believing that relying on made-in-Taiwan recipes, ingredients and know-how give her a large advantage in business. Assad Khan, founder of London’s Bubbleology, says the training he received at Possmei before opening his shop is what differentiates his authentic Taiwanese bubble tea business from the competition.

The Taiwanese Way

Overseas teashops that source all their supplies from Taiwan instead of low-cost countries face higher operating costs, however, and that overhead is often reflected in their prices. Wang says most of his clients sell their bubble tea for more than similar beverages from other teashops, with prices ranging from approximately 3 to 4 British pounds (US$4.90 to $6.50). Nevertheless, he says that his clients do not worry that the higher prices will scare customers away; instead, they take pride in making their bubble tea in the Taiwanese manner. “Bubble tea from Taiwan is considered the Louis Vuitton product of the market, while similar products from other countries are regarded as knockoffs at best,” Wang says.

But Wang has ambitions greater than just popularizing the chewy beverage. He hopes bubble tea will become the foremost representative for Taiwanese food one day, equivalent to sushi for the Japanese and pizza for Italians. To achieve this goal, Wang says businesses should adopt a different operating style and a more global mindset. While bubble tea in Taiwan is an inexpensive grab-and-go drink at prices ranging from NT$20 to $50 (US$0.69 to $1.72) per cup, Wang says he expects it to hit the high end of the market through better branding. “We want to rival Starbucks coffee,” he says. “Our goal is for bubble tea drinkers to carry a cup of bubble tea on the street and feel as chic as if they were carrying a cup of Starbucks coffee.”

In addition, Wang is confident that “the only drink that people can chew” has the potential to bring other elements of Taiwanese culture to the world stage. “Once we successfully market the drink, Taiwan’s other specialty foods and even art forms such as traditional dramas and glove puppetry can gain more exposure along with it,” Wang says, adding that the beverage will make people interested in Taiwan and want to learn more about its customs. “Bubble tea is Taiwan’s culinary treasure,” he notes. “In fact, the fun aspect and wide variety of bubble tea make it a symbol of Taiwan’s vibrant and diverse culture.”

Taiwan’s Favorite Tea Storms London

When Assad Khan, founder of the Bubbleology teashop in London, tried his first pearl bubble milk tea in New York a few years ago, he thought it was pretty awful, but when he gave it a second chance, he became an addict. “I drank it again and again and I just can’t stop getting enough of it,” Khan says. “I love it very much.”

Back then, Khan was working as a trader for JPMorgan Chase & Co. When he returned to the United Kingdom and was unable to find the delicious beverage in London, he thought of opening up his own teashop.

He journeyed to Taiwan in mid-2010 to search for the right suppliers and recipes for pearl bubble milk tea, and as with many visitors, experienced a growing affection for the island. In the end, he wound up quitting his lucrative job in the financial industry to open a bubble teahouse in London’s Soho area in April this year. The small shop has been a massive hit, selling an average of 500 to 1,000 cups of bubble tea per day.

Khan says he has made a conscious effort to ensure that all equipment and ingredients used in his shop come from Taiwan. The whole concept for the store is not only to promote bubble tea, but also showcase Taiwan’s culture, he says.

When Khan was in high school, he chose 20th-century Chinese history as one of his elective courses. He studied the subject for two years, which equipped him with a certain level of background information about Taiwan. It was not until his trip to Taiwan, however, that he felt as if his studies had truly paid off. “When I went to Taiwan, I found it amazing because I can associate, I can understand Taiwan because I studied it when I was young,” Khan says excitedly.

Cultural Spokesman

Since then, he has made it a personal mission to help more people understand and appreciate Taiwan’s culture. Khan says that Taiwan “is not just a country that produces high-tech gadgets and computers. It has some of the most amazing hills, valleys and mountains in the east and some of the most amazing beaches in the south. [Taiwan has] some of the most vibrant night life. And, the people in Taiwan are so friendly.”

Calling bubble tea “a projection of Taiwan’s culture,” Khan says his goal is that within a couple of years of introducing the delightful treat, when an average British person is asked where Taiwan is, they will be able to point out its location on the map as well as understand the cultural differences between Taiwan and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. “One of the easiest ways for a country to export its cultural heritage is through food and beverage because … everyone needs food and drink,” he explains. “If people like the food and drink, you’ve got an amazing gastro diplomacy and soft power. People will pick it up.”

Speaking in a general sense, however, Khan says that Taiwan has yet to realize the full potential of the specialty drink. He observes that at most bubble tea shops in Taiwan, customers order a drink and then walk off. Often no seating area is available, or, if there is, the chairs and tables are made of inexpensive plastic. To make pearl bubble milk tea more popular, he says some changes should be made, especially in marketing.

Coffee is a good example, he says, as for many years it was the cheapest drink people could find in Europe and the United States, just as bubble tea is now in Taiwan. But after Starbucks “rebranded” the coffee experience in the 1980s, the drink moved upscale and now people can find lots of glossy coffee shops copying Starbucks, Khan notes.

To follow that high-end business model, he created a fun and comfortable environment at Bubbleology with a living-room setting, vibrant music and staffers in lab coats who call themselves “bubbleologists.” Khan says it is a place people can hang out, socialize and proudly tell their friends that they have visited. “People are here because they want to be cool and they want to be seen as cool,” he says.

Compared with coffee, the drink Starbucks bases its empire on, Khan believes bubble tea will be able to attract a more loyal following. “Tell me the last time you see parents taking their children to a coffee shop in London. But, already, you’ve got young children drinking bubble tea, which is amazing,” he says.

Khan says he was surprised to realize that in Taiwan, people feel it is cooler to have coffee than bubble tea. “In London, it’s now cool to have bubble tea and it’s not cool to have a cup of coffee. We’ve started that trend,” Khan says with breezy confidence. “Guess what—that trend is going to move back to the East, and to Taiwan at some point.”

—Audrey Wang

A Responsible Stakeholder for Food Safety

Public concern over food contaminated by the plasticizer diethylhexylphthalate (DEHP) has risen since a persistent examiner at the Republic of China’s (ROC) Department of Health (DOH) discovered the toxic chemical in bottled sports drinks on May 19 this year. Although most commonly used to produce plasticware, the toxic substance and similar compounds have turned up in locally produced jellies, jams, syrups and health food, as well as juice additives that give bubble tea a fruitier flavor.

The ROC government has worked around the clock since day one to handle the plasticizer crisis in a completely transparent manner. The DOH took swift action to demand that food manufacturers recall all tainted products, as well as to inform the World Health Organization and countries that had received export products containing the clouding agent. An emergency response task force was also established on the same day the news of the plasticizer broke in May to handle new developments in the crisis and coordinate resources among relevant government agencies.

Shortly thereafter, a comprehensive nationwide investigation was launched to trace and spot-check food products to ensure they are plasticizer-free.

The DOH set May 31 as the “D-Day” for pulling five types of food items—sports drinks, juice, tea, syrup and jam, as well as tablets and powders—from the market unless manufacturers could provide safety certificates for them. By June 6, the DOH had inspected more than 16,000 food suppliers and retailers and removed roughly 22,130 suspect products from store shelves. In addition, more than 400 companies were being investigated for manufacturing or using plasticizer and more than 900 products had been identified as potentially contaminated.

“We’ll work to restore consumers’ confidence in Taiwanese goods and the made-in-Taiwan brand,” ROC President Ma Ying-jeou said shortly after the crisis began. “The government has an obligation to reveal the real situation to the public, even if it is an ugly truth.”

The Ministry of Justice had been tasked with tracking down unlawful operators and they would be punished to the full extent of the law, President Ma said. Medical consultation services also had been made available at hospitals around the nation, he said, and the government would assist citizens in filing compensation claims if necessary.

Another government response to the crisis includes the establishment of emergency hotlines and websites to keep the public abreast of the latest developments. In addition, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States has been in close contact with the US Food and Drug Administration to prevent tainted foods from entering the US market.

To renew consumer confidence, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has established a new traceability system for the five types of food items, which must now carry safety certificates. A database for such products that also bear the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) seal is set to go online and become open to the public soon. In addition, the government has moved to toughen food safety laws to deter future use of harmful food additives. On June 10, the legislature passed two amendments to the Act Governing Food Sanitation. The first raises the maximum fine for manufacturers and distributors of banned substances from NT$300,000 (US$10,345) to NT$6 million (US$207,000) and stipulates that violators may have their business licenses revoked immediately if the violation is considered significant. The act previously said that food companies faced revocation of their business licenses only if they were found to have committed a second violation within one year. The second amendment to the act raises the maximum jail term violators face from three to seven years.

“The crisis is a huge blow not only for Taiwan’s bubble tea, but also for the food and drink industry as a whole,” says Jacky Wang, CEO of bubble tea supplier Possmei International Co. Ltd. As soon as he heard that one of his upstream suppliers might have used the banned substance, Wang says his company issued instant recalls for all ingredients it had shipped out, including those already at retail locations as well as those still on the way to their destination. In the meantime, the bubble tea turnkey service provider submitted samples of all its supplies for analysis by the SGS Group, a professional testing company based in Switzerland, to ensure that all the ingredients Possmei exports are plasticizer-free. According to Possmei, the results of the tests showed that its ingredients for bubble tea were free of plasticizer, while some of the juice concentrate it had purchased from suppliers contained traces of the substance.

In the wake of the crisis, Jacky Wang says Possmei’s priority is guaranteeing that clients have a sufficient supply of safe food products. “The crisis is expected to have a significant impact on the bubble tea market in the short term as some consumers may turn away from the drink,” says Wang, who began visiting his clients in June to explain how the company was dealing with the food scare. The entrepreneur also believes, however, that the island’s food industry will emerge stronger for having faced such adversity. In fact, some local firms have already bolstered their reputation as a result of the crisis. I Mei Foods Co., Ltd., a leading local brand that has operated its own food safety testing lab for years, for example, has not had any products recalled for the use of plasticizer and has seen its sales increase since the scare began.

Wang says he is confident that, after the “trial,” local food manufacturers will be more cautious when it comes to food production. “I believe that in the future, foods from Taiwan will only become safer and better than they were before,” he says.

—Audrey Wang

Write to Audrey Wang at audrey@mail.gio.gov.tw