The Vibrant Milk Tea Market in Vietnam

Vietnam Insider has just announced that Vietnam ranks in the Top 3 Southeast Asian countries with the highest milk tea consumption, following only Indonesia & Thailand. In Vietnam, the diversity of milk tea brands across all scales has exceeded 100 brands, with over 30 domestic and international brands being the most popular and well-known. Notably, Tocotoco is the leading brand in terms of branch expansion speed with 300 domestic stores, while also achieving a prominent Share of Voice on social media.

Join Kompa as we highlight key information about the milk tea market in Vietnam on social media over the recent period:

Over the past 7 months, Tocotoco has been the leading brand in terms of Share of Voice in the milk tea industry, accounting for 31.5% – equivalent to 78,426 discussions, followed by Gongcha & Bobabop. Throughout these 7 months, the active presence of brands through incentive programs, promotions, and branch expansions helped drive up the volume of discussions and customer awareness. Additionally, the Ho Chi Minh City market has become more vibrant with the appearance of Phê La – a famous milk tea brand from Da Lat.

Contributing to the lively discussions in the milk tea market are the 'enthusiasts,' primarily female students, who remain a 'potential customer' segment, followed by office workers, and more specifically, a segment clearly identified in the report belonging to the Banking industry. Brands may consider launching specific campaigns to boost consumption growth among the Banking sector audience.

The choices and preferences of milk tea 'enthusiasts' are quite consistent with the volume they generate for brands – meaning when customers are interested in and love a brand, they tend to interact positively, create discussions, and review those products. It can be seen that Tocotoco still holds the highest preference rate and positive customer feedback index, followed by Gongcha, while Bobabop has dropped to 3rd place in terms of preference, yielding its position to KOI Thé.

KOI Thé's community campaign 'Go Green with Eco Bag' in July created a highlight for the brand, bringing in a significant amount of positive discussion and customer love. This is understandable,as research by the prestigious organizationReputation Institute(2017) indicates that “up to 91.4% of customers make purchasing decisions from brands associated with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).”; Customers do not only care about product quality and brand reputation when making choices; they are also paying much more attention to how a brand engages in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. They also take pride in being a part of making the environment better through these activities.

Furthermore, promoting and selecting the right Brand Ambassador also helps a brand win the hearts of customers. Understanding that their target audience consists of students, Tocotoco made the right choice by collaborating with DJ Mie to launch their new product 'Instant Milk Tea,' allowing milk tea enthusiasts the opportunity to showcase their brewing skills anywhere while still enjoying their favorite drink.

In conclusion, Vietnam has become an attractive and dynamic playground for the milk tea industry, not only for foreign brands but also for domestic ones, offering Vietnamese customers countless culinary experiences and cultural exchanges that are gradually being adapted into a unique culinary identity of Vietnam. This is a positive development and a bright future for brands to innovate and bring even more unique products to the market.

Kompa is a data technology company (AI, machine learning) leveraging Big Data to provide data analytics solutions and equip customers with valuable Insights to optimize their business operations across various aspects such as Marketing, Finance, Operations, and other fields.

Kompa has accompanied hundreds of small, medium, and large enterprises in Vietnam for over 20 years, including: Vingroup, Masterise Homes, Vinamilk, SSI, MB bank, Tan Hiep Phat, Shopee, Vietjet Air…