Pet economy remains strong in 2024. In late November and early December, we saw two clashing campaigns between the leading new Chinese-style tea chain HeyTea and boutique coffee shop chain M Stand.
On 29 November, M Stand released its seasonal holiday campaign which includes a new menu and merch. The winter menu includes a cinnamon tiramisu latte and an apple cinnamon mousse cake. Coffee beans and drip coffee bags are also included on the menu. But the most important part of the collection is the pet hats and woollen tote bags which can bring warmth to both the owner and their furry friends. M Stand has been working to tap into the pet economy for some time. In early November, M Stand was reported to be one of the places in Xuhui Binjiang that provides “parking” spaces for pets outside their door.
A few days later, tea chain HeyTea launched its own collection of pet-inspired drinks and merch called the “Warm Winter” (温暖过冬) collection. Combining 8 popular products like bubble tea and triple matcha, HeyTea’s winter menu comes with plush patches, pet scarves and a furry shoulder bag for your hot drinks. Pet-related events like talks and craft workshops were held in 5 cities across China. This is also not HeyTea’s first time dabbling in pet-related releases. In 2020, HeyTea launched its first pet-friendly location with an outdoor interaction zone and exclusive merch.
It was reported that within 1 hour after preorders opened this Double 11 on 14 October, 32 pet product brands saw their preorders double compared to last year and 73 brands matched their first-day amount last year in just one hour. In 4 hours, 6 pet-related brands earned over 10 million RMB (1.38 million USD) in transactions. It was against this background, as well as the tea and coffee sector slowing down and many chains exploring IP collaboration and IP building, that we saw tea and coffee chains starting their own pet-related products, and vice versa.
