HEYTEA's Worldly Sip: How a Tea Brand is Brewing Global Culture

SHENZHEN, China – December 29, 2025 – This holiday season, a warm glow is spreading across more than 100 HEYTEA locations worldwide, from Shanghai to Seattle. The source is not just the festive lights but a strategic partnership with POP MART’s wildly popular IP, Twinkle Twinkle. Launched on December 22, the “Twinkle Twinkle for Winter” campaign marks the tea innovator’s first-ever globally synchronized co-branded launch, revealing a sophisticated strategy that extends far beyond seasonal cheer.

The collaboration is a multi-sensory experience. It features custom character designs of the small, glowing Twinkle Twinkle creatures, two exclusive co-branded drinks—Tiramisu Milk Tea and Tiramisu Rich Chocolate—and a suite of themed merchandise. Select cities are also hosting immersive themed stores and a pop-up “Inspiration Bus,” transforming the simple act of buying a beverage into a shareable cultural moment. While seemingly a festive promotion, this synchronized global event offers a clear window into how HEYTEA, the originator of "new-style tea," is methodically brewing a global brand identity.

A Calculated Partnership with a Rising Star

The choice of POP MART’s Twinkle Twinkle is far from arbitrary. Created in 2020 and propelled to fame after partnering with the collectible toy giant in 2024, the IP has become a cultural phenomenon. Its characters, small yellow beings with a warm glow, are described as a "spiritual haven for adults," resonating with a message of hope and resilience. This emotional connection, combined with the addictive "blind box" sales model, has fueled a collecting frenzy. Limited-edition figures have seen their value skyrocket on resale markets, and the IP generated an impressive RMB 390 million in the first half of 2025 alone.

By aligning with Twinkle Twinkle, HEYTEA is tapping into a pre-existing, passionate global community. POP MART itself is on a meteoric international rise, with its non-mainland China revenue growing an astonishing 375% in 2024. Its success, particularly in North America, is driven by social media virality and a deep understanding of emotional consumption. For HEYTEA, this collaboration is more than a marketing campaign; it's a "proof point" of its ability to coordinate product, design, and experiential marketing on a global scale, leveraging a partner whose audience overlaps and amplifies its own. The strong social media buzz preceding the launch confirmed the high level of anticipation from consumers in diverse markets.

The Blueprint for Cultural Connection

This global campaign is the culmination of a strategy HEYTEA has been refining for years: using cultural collaborations to build local relevance. Rather than imposing a monolithic brand identity, the company has consistently partnered with names that resonate within specific cultural contexts. In the past year alone, it has joined forces with high-fashion brands like alexanderwang and Sandy Liang, art world icons like Yayoi Kusama, and even Broadway hits like Wicked.

Each partnership is a carefully constructed event, complete with limited-edition products and immersive offline experiences designed to generate organic social media engagement. This approach allows HEYTEA to spark cultural conversations and connect with younger audiences in a way that feels authentic to each market. By selecting partners with strong local or cultural cachet, developing visually distinct concepts, and designing in-store experiences that become natural social moments, the brand builds a localized presence while maintaining its core global identity rooted in inspiration and creativity. The Twinkle Twinkle campaign simply scales this proven model to a worldwide stage.

Innovation as a Universal Language

At the heart of HEYTEA's global appeal is its relentless focus on product innovation. As the brand that introduced the world's first cheese tea in 2012—using real cream cheese, fresh tea, and real milk—it has always positioned itself as a pioneer. This commitment to "real ingredients" remains a cornerstone of its identity, distinguishing it in a crowded marketplace.

Internationally, this philosophy translates into a delicate balance of consistency and adaptation. The brand has introduced more than 20 localized drinks designed to reflect regional tastes. These often feature lighter flavor profiles, lower sugar options, and plant-forward elements to align with wellness trends prevalent in markets like the U.S. and Europe. Classic products like "Coconut Mango" have already sold nearly 2.5 million cups overseas, proving the universal appeal of its core offerings. The Twinkle Twinkle collaboration reinforces this product-centric approach. The introduction of the Tiramisu Milk Tea and Tiramisu Rich Chocolate marks the brand’s first globally synchronized seasonal product release, creating a shared taste experience for customers from London to Los Angeles. For HEYTEA, this is less about promotion and more about using product storytelling to create moments of comfort and warmth across cultures.

America's New Tea Party

The United States has emerged as a critical stage for HEYTEA’s global ambitions. Since opening its first U.S. store in late 2023, the brand has undergone a rapid expansion, now operating 36 stores across key cities including New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Boston. This makes it the fastest-growing and largest new tea beverage brand in the country. The appeal of the U.S. market, according to the company, lies not just in its scale but in its "openness to new tastes and ideas."

This belief is embodied in its New York City flagship, the HEYTEA TEA LAB in Times Square. The store, which sold over 3,500 cups on its opening day, is designed as a creative showcase to reinterpret Chinese tea culture for a global audience. It features exclusive drinks and a curated environment that encourages exploration rather than simple consumption. By strategically placing its stores in landmark business districts and cultural hubs, HEYTEA is positioning tea not just as a beverage, but as a cultural medium capable of creating connection through shared sensory experiences.

The Engine Room Powering a Global Experience

Supporting these flashy collaborations and rapid storefront expansions is a robust and increasingly sophisticated operational backbone. To ensure a consistent and seamless customer journey across vastly different markets, HEYTEA has invested heavily in technology and logistics. The brand has extended its HEYTEA GO digital platform overseas, allowing customers to order ahead and bypass queues.

In a significant move, HEYTEA launched a self-operated delivery model in the U.S. in early 2025, making it the only new tea beverage brand in the country with its own integrated delivery system. This behind-the-scenes capability is crucial for maintaining quality control and a reliable customer experience. Furthermore, the company has established a complex supply chain, including regional storage centers on both U.S. coasts and partnerships with leading suppliers like Sysco for localized sourcing of fresh ingredients. This "Regional Central Warehouse + Forward Warehouse" model ensures that from the premium tea leaves sourced from China to the fresh fruit sourced locally, the commitment to quality that defined the brand at its inception is maintained, no matter where in the world the cup is served.