LiHo's DIY bubble tea kits emerged due to consumer feedback on social says SG MD

Royal T Group's LiHo Tea Singapore has partnered exclusively with Shopee to roll out its DIY bubble tea kit. Customers will be able to purchase it online via Shopee’s website, and will be available all day. According to LiHo Tea, the DIY bubble tea kit came about as the current circuit breaker law does not permit bubble tea stores to remain open. Hence, LiHo decided to bring bubble tea straight to the comforts of its consumers’ homes and also let it serve as a temporary remedy for missing its beverages.

Rodney Tang, managing director of Royal T Group told Marketing that the idea came about as the brand engaged with consumers on its social media platforms such as Telegram. “We monitor closely and take note whenever suggestions and feedbacks are given. This helps us to be able to cater to their needs in these trying times and at the same time, to not lose the support and faith in our brand from the consumers that we have achieved thus far,” Tang said, adding that:

We felt the need to do even better and react fast as a homegrown brand.

As such, while complying with the government rules, LiHo Tea launched its bubble tea DIY Kit campaign, and aims to encourage consumers to stay at home and attempt to make a bubble tea. The campaign was first launched in 24 April, and according to LiHo, its milk tea kit was sold out within 15 mins while the black tea oat latte was sold out within 30 mins during the launch date. With the positive response to its bubble tea kit, LiHo said that it may explore adding more variations in the near future.

In addition, LiHo Tea confirmed that it will be selling its bubble tea kits post-COVID-19 with a better and premium packaging. According to LiHo, its parent company Royal T Group is transitioning into new retail, as the brands under the group progress into online from traditional offline. For its bubble tea kit campaign, LiHo Tea also collaborated with the food brands under Royal T Group. These include Woo Ricebox, Paik's Bibim, Tino's Pizza, Gong Yuan Ma La Tang. 

“This serves as a chance for our food brands to be further highlighted along with the bubble tea. Bubble tea on its own has already achieved a large scale of followings and we believe that this will continue to do so as long as we keep up the with the trends and serving our consumers quality and variations,” Tang added.

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This initiative comes following Tealive's venture into the eCommerce space, beginning with the sale of DIY bubble tea kit during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period in Malaysia. Homegrown tea brand Tealive's CEO Bryan Loo took to Instagram prior to the launch to survey the interest of consumers regarding the DIY kit. According to him, he was "immediately overhelmed by the tremendous response" and an online store, shop.tealive.com.my, dedicated to selling the DIY kits was launched. Within the first few days of the launch, Tealive sold "hundreds of kits", and said it will be introducing more plant-based milk options MILKLAB, an Australian barista milk company, to complement consumers' DIY creations.

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