At the end of November and into the beginning of December, Chinese tea chain CHAGEE launched two unlikely collaborations almost simultaneously, one with American denim maker Levi’s and the other with the immersive exhibition Meet van Gogh.
The Levi’s team-up is actually a three-way collaboration between the Chinese-style tea chain, the denim brand and urban artist Zinan Lam. Between 29 November and 1 December, CHAGEE and Levi’s launched a pop-up workshop event. On the first day, attendees worked with recycled jeans and denim material to create a collage. Over the weekend, anyone who purchased CHAGEE teas will get a place at a further accessory workshop. From 2 December on, the collaboration merch from CHAGEE and Levi’s, will include denim bags, notebooks, hairclips and phone cases, and will be available across China.
The partnership with the Meet van Gogh exhibition was launched on 29 November. This is to celebrate the travelling exhibition opening its Nanjing leg on 20 November. This time, CHAGEE not only opened a pop-up branch at the Meet You Museum, where the exhibition is hosted but also launched a co-branded tea drink. Taking inspiration from Vincent van Gogh’s Harvest in Provence, the tea uses two different grains, genmaicha and buckwheat, for a harvest-inspired autumnal flavour. Standard merch such as paper bags, cups, postcards and magnets are included.
17 November marks the 7th anniversary of the Yunnan-based brand, which has been expanding ambitiously both at home and abroad. It has opened over 5,000 locations in the past 7 years. Its gross merchandise value (GMV) reached 10.8 billion RMB (1.49 billion USD), making it the 4th largest tea chain in China.
CHAGEE has already opened over 50 locations in Changsha, home to SexyTea (茶颜悦色), faster than it had planned. The brand has also entered university campuses in Shanghai. Going overseas (出海), CHAGEE is establishing itself in Southeast Asia and will open its first US branches in Spring 2025. The once “imitator” is now one of the leaders, CHAGEE’s ambition of overtaking Starbucks this year might not be so outrageous after all.
