---
title: "Hema, Pangdonglai, Olé Launch \"Cold-Brewed Whole-Leaf Sugar-Free Tea\" — Every Bottle Contains Real Tea Leaves"
description: "HPP cold-brewed tea, a new beverage combining high-pressure processing (HPP) sterilization with cold brewing, is appearing in refrigerated sections at retailers like Hema, Dingdong, Pangdonglai, and Olé. These teas feature visible whole leaves, a filter to prevent leaf ingestion, and a 90-day shelf life under refrigeration, offering a premium alternative in the competitive sugar-free tea market."
author: "FBIF"
publisher: "New Distribution"
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published: "2025-11-02"
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original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/SK02WiT1_cNYm2LfKCGJIQ"
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citation: "FBIF. “Hema, Pangdonglai, Olé Launch \"Cold-Brewed Whole-Leaf Sugar-Free Tea\" — Every Bottle Contains Real Tea Leaves.” New Distribution, 2025-11-02. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/hema-pangdonglai-ole-launch-cold-brewed-whole-leaf-sugar-free-tea-every-ce7fba46/"
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# Hema, Pangdonglai, Olé Launch "Cold-Brewed Whole-Leaf Sugar-Free Tea" — Every Bottle Contains Real Tea Leaves

> HPP cold-brewed tea, a new beverage combining high-pressure processing (HPP) sterilization with cold brewing, is appearing in refrigerated sections at retailers like Hema, Dingdong, Pangdonglai, and Olé. These teas feature visible whole leaves, a filter to prevent leaf ingestion, and a 90-day shelf life under refrigeration, offering a premium alternative in the competitive sugar-free tea market.

**Source** | FBIF Food & Beverage Innovation **ID** | FoodInnovation **Author** | FBIF

A new "resident" has recently appeared on supermarket refrigerated shelves: HPP cold-brewed tea. In the past, this space was almost exclusively dominated by milk, yogurt, and juice. But in recent years, more and more consumers are seeing tea beverages in the cold case. These teas are distinctive—the bottle contains not only tea liquid but also whole tea leaves, with a filter at the mouth to prevent leaves from entering the mouth. The ingredient list shows only "water, tea leaves," and it states "requires refrigeration at 0-8°C, shelf life 90 days," with prices ranging from 5 to 9 RMB. Bingye HPP cold-brewed tea; Image source: Bingye

Why does a bottle of tea need to be in the cold case? Why can a bottle of "overnight tea" sell for 90 days on the shelf? This is the quietly emerging HPP cold-brewed tea, a new type of tea beverage combining ultra-high-pressure cold sterilization (HPP) technology with cold brewing. Currently, HPP cold-brewed tea has appeared in channels such as Hema, Dingdong, Pangdonglai, Olé, and Yonghui. In October this year, Bingye, a brand under Weikexian, successfully entered the refrigerated shelves of overseas supermarkets with its HPP cold-brewed tea. [1]

On October 24, the Hema app showed that its private-label HPP cold-brewed tea had over 10,000 reviews, with a positive rating between 99.6% and 99.7%. Meanwhile, on the instant retail platform Pupu, its private-label Youci HPP cold-brewed tea also received over 8,000 positive reviews. Pupu's HPP cold-brewed tea; Image source: Xiaohongshu @Pupu Magic Mirror

CMI data shows that from 2024 to 2025, sales of freshly brewed tea (cold-brewed tea) surged 261% year-on-year, with volume up 68%. Tang Zheng, deputy dean of Weikexian's HPP Innovation Research Institute, told FBIF that sales of Bingye's HPP whole-leaf cold-brewed tea in 2024 far exceeded expectations, and Weikexian has begun building new production bases for its growing product lines.

A bottle with tea leaves steeping inside, yet daring to claim a 90-day shelf life; as "overnight tea," it sells at twice the price of ordinary tea drinks—this differentiated HPP cold-brewed tea is trying to carve out a new niche in the red ocean of sugar-free tea with "visible tea leaves" and HPP sterilization technology.

**A "Contradictory" Bottle of Tea is Taking Over the Refrigerated Case**

Walking to the freezer, picking up a tea beverage from the shelf, and seeing a 90-day shelf life on the ingredient list—would you be confused? After all, this product challenges a concept passed down by consumers for years: overnight tea is undrinkable. Bingye HPP cold-brewed tea; Image source: Bingye

And this isn't just "overnight"—it's even 90 days and nights. Facing consumer doubts, HPP cold-brewed teas choose to answer with technology and craftsmanship. The core technology behind HPP cold-brewed tea is HPP (High Pressure Processing), a technology widely used in juices in recent years and now gaining attention in the beverage industry. Almost all HPP cold-brewed tea producers label their packaging with "HPP" slogans, telling consumers that this 90-day-shelf-life tea uses new technology, no preservatives, only new tech. Image source: Facebook @KFS Jinshi Food Safety Technology

In March this year, Taiwan-based Jinshi Food Safety Technology also launched HPP cold-brewed tea.

Tang Zheng explained to the author that after HPP sterilization, the residual levels of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms in HPP cold-brewed tea are nearly zero, and they do not proliferate during refrigerated storage, ensuring no harm to the human body within the shelf life: "So our Bingye HPP cold-brewed tea is not only drinkable overnight, but also drinkable after 90 days in refrigeration."

On the shelf, HPP cold-brewed tea indeed looks like a bottle of tea that has been steeped for a long time: with whole leaves, a filter, and requiring refrigeration. However, unlike the tea left overnight at home, it has undergone multiple rounds of extremely rigorous testing before entering the market. In the Bingye laboratory, the technical team conducts shelf-life validation at different temperatures: "We test sensory, physicochemical, and microbiological indicators every week," Tang Zheng explained. Such tests ensure the product maintains stable flavor within 90 days of refrigeration. However, HPP cold-brewed tea still has high cold-chain requirements: "If left at room temperature for a few days, the taste and color deteriorate rapidly." Tang Zheng also revealed that the team is working on a room-temperature version, "but the sensory changes are still quite noticeable." Bingye HPP whole-leaf cold-brewed tea; Image source: Bingye

Compared to the room-temperature sugar-free teas that have left an impression on consumers over the past decades, HPP cold-brewed tea presents several distinct "unconventional" features:

* **Form**: The bottle contains whole tea leaves. The bottle mouth is equipped with a special filter to prevent consumers from accidentally drinking tea leaves, avoiding safety risks. Most sugar-free teas contain only tea liquid, with no visible leaves.
* **Transportation**: It requires low-temperature refrigeration throughout, with a 90-day shelf life. Most sugar-free teas have a shelf life of about 9-12 months and are stored under conditions like "avoid direct sunlight or high temperatures."
* **Ingredients**: Its ingredient list contains only water + corresponding tea leaves + flowers (such as jasmine, rose, etc.), while most sugar-free teas add ingredients like vitamin C and sodium bicarbonate beyond water and tea.
* **Price**: Positioned as mid-to-high-end, with a single bottle priced at 5-9 RMB, 1-3 times the price of mainstream sugar-free teas.

This product is using "visible real tea" and "full cold chain" freshness to open a brand-new subcategory in the fiercely competitive sugar-free tea market. Bingye HPP cold-brewed tea; Image source: Bingye

**Who is Betting on HPP Cold-Brewed Tea?**

Speaking of cold-brewed tea, consumers are actually familiar with it—replacing hot water with cold water for steeping tea leaves, extending the steeping time, and completing the cold brew by refrigerating or adding ice. Lin Shihang, a nutritionist who graduated from the Institute of Food Science and Technology at National Taiwan University, said that compared to hot-brewed tea, cold-brewed tea reduces the intake of caffeine and catechins, so some people prefer the unique flavor of cold-brewed tea. [2] Bingye HPP cold-brewed tea; Image source: Bingye

Pangdonglai has also noticed consumers' love for cold-brewed tea. The cold-brewed teas sold at Pangdonglai are round bottles with a variety of flavors, including Xinyang Maojian, Longjing green tea, cucumber Longjing, passion fruit jasmine, jasmine tea, lemon black tea, and Dongding oolong. In-store promotions at Pangdonglai describe it as "extracting the original flavor of tea with time," with each bottle undergoing over 8 hours of low-temperature cold steeping. The cold-brewed tea seal label also reminds consumers to "drink within the day." From the ingredient list, Pangdonglai's cold-brewed teas are divided into sweetened and unsweetened; pure teas like Pu'er and Xinyang Maojian are unsweetened, with ingredients only water + tea leaves, while products like lemon black tea and passion fruit jasmine tea also include rock sugar. From photos shared by netizens, Pangdonglai's homemade cold-brewed teas are priced between 6.8 and 15.8 RMB, and netizens say that because the shelf life is only 1 day, the product often has discounts in the evening. Pangdonglai's cold-brewed tea; Image source: Xiaohongshu @Crane visits Pangdonglai

In addition to short-shelf-life cold-brewed teas, Pangdonglai and Yonghui also sell HPP cold-brewed teas with a 90-day shelf life. A Xiaohongshu netizen from Henan shared a photo of the HPP cold-brewed tea they bought at Pangdonglai—Bingye HPP whole-leaf cold-brewed tea. Bingye's parent company, Weikexian, focuses on HPP healthy beverages and is also the OEM for HPP cold-brewed teas for private labels like Hema and Pupu. Tang Zheng said that in 2020, inspired by Heytea and Naixue's cold-brewed fresh teas, they used Weikexian's HPP technology to solve two major pain points of new tea drinks' cold-brewed teas, and in late 2021, they pioneered the launch of HPP cold-brewed tea in the industry. Bingye currently offers HPP cold-brewed teas in flavors such as Lapsang Souchong, osmanthus oolong, and jasmine white bud. The product packaging is ice-grid shaped, and the ingredient list shows a 90-day shelf life, requiring low-temperature refrigeration, with ingredients of water + corresponding tea leaves + flowers (such as jasmine, rose, etc.). On the official flagship store, Bingye's slogan reads: "Visible whole leaves, drinkable freshness." On the product introduction page, Bingye highlights features like "whole-leaf cold brew, no tea powder, HPP low-temperature freshness lock." On the Weikexian flagship store, 12 bottles of Bingye HPP cold-brewed tea are priced at 92 RMB, approximately 7.67 RMB per bottle. Bingye HPP cold-brewed tea; Image source: Bingye

On e-commerce platforms like Tmall, we noticed another familiar name—Ruguo. This brand, which became known for HPP juice drinks, is now also trying HPP cold-brewed tea. In March this year, Ruguo launched two HPP cold-brewed teas, osmanthus oolong and jasmine snow, with a 60-day shelf life, requiring storage at 0-7°C. On the Ruguo official flagship store, 6 bottles of HPP cold-brewed tea are priced at 39.77 RMB, approximately 6.28 RMB per bottle. Ruguo HPP cold-brewed tea; Image source: Xiaohongshu @Ruguo

In addition to the two brands focusing on HPP, retailers like Hema, Dingdong, Pupu, and Olé have also launched private-label HPP cold-brewed tea products. Hema Fresh sells three HPP cold-brewed teas: Jin Jun Mei black tea, Zhenwang jasmine tea, and Baiya Qilan oolong tea, all with a 45-day shelf life, ingredient list of water + different tea leaves, priced at 5.9 RMB. The "nutrition choice" label on these three products displays the "sugar-fat index," with all three rated A-grade. According to Hema's "nutrition choice" labeling principles, these three products are suitable for people who need to strictly control sugar and fat intake. Hema's HPP cold-brewed tea; Image source: Xiaohongshu @Shen Xiaohu (Shenzhen Hema)

Dingdong Maicai's private label Dingdong V5 has also launched three HPP cold-brewed teas: Anxi Tieguanyin oolong tea, Guapian green tea, and Xinyang Maojian green tea, with the same 45-day shelf life, requiring storage at 0-6°C, ingredient list also only water + different tea leaves, priced from 5.8 to 11.6 RMB. Pupu's private label Youci has launched two HPP cold-brewed teas: rose black tea and white chrysanthemum Tieguanyin, with a 90-day shelf life, requiring storage at 0-8°C. Pupu's cold-brewed tea is a flower tea, with ingredients including rose and jasmine flowers in addition to water and tea, priced at 5.3 RMB. Olé's private label has also launched HPP cold-brewed teas, including flavors like Longjing spring and jasmine white bud, with a 90-day shelf life, requiring storage at 0-8°C, priced at 8.9 RMB. Many private labels are making HPP cold-brewed tea, and it has also been placed on shelves in offline channels like Pangdonglai, Yonghui, Lawson, and 7-Eleven, establishing a certain presence offline. Dingdong V5's HPP cold-brewed tea; Image source: Dingdong Maicai App

**Sugar-Free Tea Declines, Where Does HPP Cold-Brewed Tea Go?**

HPP cold-brewed tea is innovative and different, but this innovative product is also facing the "cold" of sugar-free tea. The sugar-free tea segment has seen negative growth this year; Mashangying retail monitoring data shows that in February and March this year, sugar-free tea recorded negative year-on-year sales growth for two consecutive months. Pinyinhui observation data shows that the number of new sugar-free ready-to-drink tea SKUs launched in major domestic channels is less than one-fifth of the 333 SKUs in the same period last year. Besides the overall cooling of the sugar-free tea market, the "small but new" HPP cold-brewed tea market also has urgent issues to address.

First, HPP cold-brewed tea has not yet achieved 100% industrial production and still requires manual intervention. Tang Zheng introduced the production process of HPP cold-brewed tea: "Extraction and sterilization are completed simultaneously through HPP technology." In the production process, after machine screening of tea leaves, workers manually select high-quality leaves and hand-fill bottles, then install the tea filter, followed by quantitative filling of purified water, and finally, HPP ultra-high-pressure cold sterilization completes extraction and sterilization. In this environment, HPP not only accelerates extraction but also completes sterilization, preserving the refreshing and sweet characteristics of cold-brewed tea compared to hot-brewed tea. HPP cold-brewed tea process; Image source: Bingye

Second, HPP cold-brewed tea has a higher price relative to other sugar-free teas. Tang Zheng said that initially, putting tea leaves in the bottle was because Bingye wanted consumers to feel they were drinking tea, not a tea beverage, which also brought higher costs: "Because the tea leaves stay in the bottle, the tea must not only taste good but also look good, so we use high-grade tea leaves." Full cold-chain transportation, increased tea costs, and HPP processing all contribute to the significant price difference between HPP cold-brewed tea and other sugar-free teas. Facing such a high-priced product that challenges conventional perceptions, younger consumers may be more willing to pay. Hema HPP cold-brewed tea; Image source: Hema App

Ma Zhenzhen, marketing manager at Weikexian, introduced that from the data, Bingye's target consumers are currently Gen Z, because the overall product concept is younger, and these consumers are more willing to try new things and experience innovative results. Therefore, compared to consumers who insist on hot-brewed tea and firmly refuse overnight tea, younger consumers are more willing to make these new attempts. Ma Zhenzhen believes that HPP cold-brewed tea is currently a niche high-end market with high growth potential. However, limited by cost, supply chain, and consumer acceptance, "it may be difficult to become mainstream in the short term, but it represents an important trend for sugar-free tea and the entire beverage industry toward fresher, more natural, and higher-quality development."

References:
[1] Wen Lan, "Weikexian Bingye Cold-Brewed Tea Goes Overseas to Southeast Asia, HPP Technology Breaks Through the Sugar-Free Tea Beverage Market," October 14, 2025, Food Board;
[2] "Nutritionist Analysis: 30 Seconds to Understand How to Brew Cold Tea? Caffeine, Nutrition at a Glance!," December 8, 2024, Learn Eating Good Food Class.


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- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: FBIF
- Published: 2025-11-02
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- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/SK02WiT1_cNYm2LfKCGJIQ

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