In the LuOne shopping mall in Huangpu District, one pop-up milk tea
shop is drawing in huge volumes of customers by relying on nostalgia for
an old brand of candy.
The Happy Lemon shop has partnered with
the Shanghai-based White Rabbit candy company, a confectionary icon that
has delighted generations of Chinese with its original vanilla
nougat-like candy.
Through August 18, Happy Lemon is offering a
White Rabbit candy version of its milk tea to coincide with the
company’s 60th anniversary this year.
A large cup of the tea, with
no add-ins, costs 19 yuan (US$2.75), six yuan more than Happy Lemon’s
large regular milk tea. Since the drink was released last month, long
lines have appeared, with customers queuing up for hours, even on
workdays.
“First, you wait in line to grab a wristband, then you
come back at the corresponding time,” said one older man in line, who is
a self-proclaimed fan of White Rabbit candy. “In total, I’ve waited for
four hours. After getting the wristband, I walked around the mall for
three hours and bought a coffee (before coming back).”
The irony
of buying a drink while waiting to buy another drink was not lost on
him, nor was he alone. A handful of other customers in line were sipping
cups of tea purchased from other chains. At the time, more than 200
people queued up to purchase the White Rabbit drink.
Jiang Xiaowei / SHINE
Apparent scalpers pour over their haul outside the LuOne shopping mall.
Many people in line said they expected to wait four to five hours for
their drinks. When asked how long they would be willing to wait, most
drew the line at about eight hours. One group of middle-aged women in
line discussed a plan to sell their drinks outside. Quite possibly, they
were huangniu, or “yellow cattle” — a colloquial term used to describe
scalpers.
An article published on WeChat by Shanghai Observer news quotes huangniu prices at 60-100 yuan a cup last week.
“I think up to one-third of these people (in line) could be huangniu,” one person told Shanghai Daily.
Happy
Lemon is not the first company to capitalize on Chinese consumers’
fickle tastes, and it is not the first to rely on limited edition
products.
Western companies have adapted to the local market by
introducing eyecatching — and often oddly satisfying — flavors of
classic snack foods, like wasabi Oreos and Lay’s lemon tea potato chips.
KFC
and McDonald’s currently offer Shikoku grapefruit and Spanish red grape
seasonal ice cream flavors to draw in curious customers.
Shanghai’s
affinity for the White Rabbit brand is proving to be a massive public
relations success for both the company and the milk tea operator.
Curiously
enough, Happy Lemon was not required to apply for a food vendor’s
license to sell the drinks at this location. In a statement to media
outlets, Zhu Liang, deputy director of the Shanghai Huangpu District
Administration for Market Regulation, quoted Article 40 of the Shanghai
Food Safety Regulation.
“The organizer of an exhibition has the
right to sell food products related to the exhibition,” he said. “But we
previously put on record the relevant qualifications and certificates
of the food being sold.”
In addition to passing an inspection
seven days in advance of the “exhibition,” staff must clean kitchen
equipment every four hours to adhere to code.
For anyone who wants
to buy into the hype without waiting for hours in line, there is a
White Rabbit gift shop conveniently located a stone’s throw from the
Happy Lemon cashier. There, brand fanatics can buy candy, pins and
stuffed white rabbits.
Outside the shop, one woman was holding a
White Rabbit logo tote and watching the long line of people. When asked
where she purchased her bag, she replied, “Sold out. Come back
tomorrow.” Apparently, she works for White Rabbit.
To the side,
two women working for a Chinese travel company recorded a short product
review video — sipping their drinks and leaving red lipstick smears on
their straws. After the camera was turned off, one said, “I used to put
six or eight (White Rabbit candies) in my milk tea. This drink tastes
like there are maybe one or two pieces.”
“Have you ever had Coco’s milk tea? It tastes a lot like Coco,” she said.
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