A massive amount of milk tea in Vietnam’s major cities is produced using fake ingredients, with health specialists agreeing that these unidentified additives only contribute to other side-effects of long-term milk tea consumption, such as obesity, kidney failure, and even infertility. The milk tea craze is sweeping the country, leaving locals of all age groups and professional backgrounds flocking in droves to the growing number of vendors popping up throughout Vietnam to satisfy its cravings for the sugary drink. Milk tea has distinct varieties spread throughout various Asian cultures, but in Vietnam, the sweet drink typically refers to the famed Hong Kong bubble, or boba, tea – a mixture of a juice and chewy pearls. Unfortunately, businesses trying to make a fast buck on the fad are resorting to ingredients of unknown quality or origin to boost their profits. Hang Buom Street in Hanoi’s Old Quarter has long been a wholesale hub for milk tea ingredients. The vast majority of products sold on the street are of unknown origin, but that has not stopped customers from purchasing the dubious ingredients in vast quantities. A Hanoi market watchdog recently reported two cases of massive quantities of ingredients of unknown origin being sold on the street, with thousands of fake and unlabelled plastic bags of ingredients already prepped for distribution. In Ho Chi Minh City, some shop owners in Binh Tay Market, District 6, shared tips online for milk tea sellers seeking out shortcuts to elevating their profits. A large milk tea… [Read full story]
A push from Gong ChaMore than three years ago, the family of Nguyen Hoai Phuong, a young businessman in Ho Chi Minh City, decided to join a new area of business—opening a Taiwanese milk tea franchise in Vietnam.His decision came after he and his family members had made numerous leisure and business trips to Taiwan, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea (ROK). They actually had a chance to enjoy some tasty cups of milk tea at Gong Cha before Phuong came up with the idea of bringing the drink back to Vietnam.“Seeing young people in Taiwan, the ROK, and Singapore…... [read more]
A 14-year-old Vietnamese girl who was hospitalized over alleged bubble tea poisoning had admitted that she was trying to commit suicide with weedkiller, but the confession came when it was too late for doctors to save her. T.T.U., from the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, was admitted to the Children’s Hospital No. 1 in Ho Chi Minh City on January 18. She was diagnosed as being poisoned by milk tea by doctors at a local hospital before being transferred to the Ho Chi Minh City clinic for better treatment. Bubble tea, also known as pearl milk tea, is a favorite drink among Vietnamese youth. U. failed to…... [read more]
The milk tea market is heating up day by day as a number of foreign giants have been opening franchise stores in Vietnam, reviving the trend that once hyped up the beverage market. A push from Gong Cha More than three years ago, the family of Nguyen Hoai Phuong, a young businessman in Ho Chi Minh City, decided to join a new area of business—opening a Taiwanese milk tea franchise in Vietnam. His decision came after he and his family members had made numerous leisure and business trips to Taiwan, Singapore, and South Korea. They actually had a chance to…... [read more]
The shop doesn't have any signage nor a single chair for its customers, but young people in Ho Chi Minh City just don’t mind. Old Daddy’s shop, as many people call it, uses a sidewalk outside the Opera House as its business venue and prepares the famous milk tea right next to a fence. Plastic cups of milk tea prepared by a fence outside the Saigon Opera House. Photo credit: VnExpress It stands behind a showy Highlands Coffee store. But the milk tea shop never looks intimidated, thanks to long lines of customers waiting from 6 p.m. almost every night…... [read more]
Short Story (28-01-2007) A cup of tea in a year-end afternoon by Tran Chinh Vu It was getting less cold and the image of spring was seen green on some thin branches of bang lang trees in the lane and on the isolated milk tree in the yard. It was so lonely and empty that afternoon amid the noises echoed from vehicles on Nguyen Trai Road. The cup of tea had just been put on the table, but its sweetness still lingered on his lips. And there were clusters of the countryside flowers, the bushes of wild trees grown by…... [read more]
