The reporter visited Chengdu: Many milk tea shops said that they could not go to the ice because of "affecting the taste" and "company regulations"
Ms. Wang, a citizen of Chengdu, is a milk tea lover. Recently, she found that whether she buys milk tea online or offline, she has encountered the problem of not being able to go to the ice.
"When I bought it, I told the clerk not to add ice, but the clerk refused, saying 'adding ice is the company's formula regulation'." Ms. Wang was very puzzled about this. Why was the simple request of "no ice" rejected?
In addition to Ms. Wang, many netizens also reported encountering similar problems.
Is this the overlord clause that the milk tea shop is forced to add ice cubes to reduce the cost, or is there really another reason?
Regarding the questions of consumers, recently, reporters from the West China Metropolis Daily and the cover news visited more than ten milk tea shops of different brands in Chengdu, and interviewed industry insiders and lawyers.
Is it really difficult to spit milk tea to ice?
Ms. Wang is a milk tea lover and drinks a cup almost every day.
Recently, she "planted" a new strawberry milk jelly, but when she purchased it, she found that there was only one option for this drink, "normal ice", and the temperature could not be adjusted.
She couldn't drink iced drinks due to physical reasons, so she told the clerk or notes to remove ice when purchasing, but after purchasing five or six times, she still got drinks without ice.
A clerk explained to Ms. Wang that the company has regulations on recipes, and there are cameras in the store, all clerks must strictly implement them, so this drink really cannot be iced.
Ms. Wang disagreed with the store clerk's statement, "About one-third of a drink is ice, are they unwilling to use ice due to cost considerations? Should we think from the point of view of consumers? I said all. Is it so difficult to go to the ice because of physical reasons?"
In Ms. Wang's view, consumers have the right to choose independently, and it is not difficult to achieve ice removal.
Statistics "can't go to ice" are mainly fruit tea
Compared with the traditional "milk + tea" combination, "fruit + tea" is regarded as healthier by many consumers, so many milk tea brands have launched fruit-based tea drinks.
According to data released by iiMedia Research, in the first half of 2021, among the new types of teas preferred by Chinese consumers, the fruit series ranked second, second only to the milk tea series.
The reporter's online statistics found that the combination of "fruit + tea" seems to always encounter the embarrassment of "can't go to ice".
Can fruit tea really not be iced?
It is understood that ice removal is to mix and shake the ice cubes with the drink and then pour out the ice cubes, so that after the drink is seasoned, there is only a cool feeling without seeing the ice cubes. Some stores have frozen drinks before, so you can leave the ice cubes out. .
The reporter counted 14 tea brands online, including Heytea, Naixue, Lelecha, Chabaidao, Doke, Michelle Bingcheng, etc.
Among them, the 15 categories of Lele Tea only have the options of normal ice, smoothie, less ice, and less ice. The three drinks of Dakou Grape, Dakou Mango and Dakou Meilong Melon are specially noted that they cannot be iced.
There are a total of 9 types of milk teas in Chengdu’s local Internet celebrity milk tea brand Tea Baidao that cannot be iced.
A total of 14 beverages on the Shuxia Line, which specializes in fruit tea, cannot be de-iced, and are marked with "not accepting remarks" after the temperature option.
A little bit can be iced except for the smoothie series.
In the past two years, with the popular price of Michelle Ice City, there are 5 drinks online that do not have the option of ice removal.
Visits affect the taste, etc. and become a hindrance to de-icing
"Hello, please use ice for this cup of milk tea." "I'm sorry, this drink cannot be iced." Recently, the reporter visited more than ten milk tea chain brands near Chunxi Road in Chengdu and found that in addition to smoothies Outside the series, Yidian and other beverages in Michelle Ice City can be de-iced, but other brands have products that cannot be de-iced.
"Company regulations" and "affecting the taste" are the main reasons why the clerk explained that the ice cannot be removed.
In a Chabaidao store located on Chunxi Road, Chengdu, the reporter tried to communicate with the clerk about going to the ice, but the clerk said that it is not allowed to go to the ice, which is the company's policy.
At the same time, the reporter also got the same answer in another store of the brand.
Afterwards, the reporter walked into a Marumatang store that specializes in "hand-made fresh fruit tea".
The store clerk said that some fruit drinks cannot be iced because it will affect the taste.
Immediately afterwards, the reporter visited a number of milk tea stores. As for the reason for not being able to go to the ice, four milk tea stores, including Xiaojuan Village in the house and Nai Xue's tea, all said that it would affect the taste.
"If you remove the ice, it will not be this formula and this product," said the clerk.
During the ordering process in the store, although the reporter strongly expressed the desire to buy ice-free drinks, no clerk was willing to compromise. Some clerks would recommend other ice-free drinks for coordination, while individual clerks directly stated that they could not Go ice.
A clerk of a Shuxia store told reporters: "We don't have ice in our house, only ice or hot."
Online, although there are 5 drinks in Michelle Ice City that do not have ice-free options, when ordering on the spot, the clerk said that except for the ice cream series, other drinks can be ice-free.
People in the industry go to ice or affect the speed of issuing orders
The seemingly uncomplicated step of removing ice, why can't the milk tea shop satisfy consumers?
What is the reason?
To this end, the reporter consulted a number of milk tea industry professionals.
Mr. Ren is the manager of a milk tea shop of a certain brand. He told reporters that adding ice to milk tea can reduce the cost. There is no doubt about it, but the company first considers the taste of the drink. Companies, companies can adjust to the needs of consumers.”
Mr. Lin is the regional head of a milk tea brand in Chengdu, and has worked for several milk tea brands before.
"Most milk teas are delicious on ice, and the clerk said that they couldn't get ice, maybe just to comply with the company's regulations," he said.
At the same time, he revealed that in addition to the smoothie products that cannot go to ice in his store, although some products indicate that they cannot go to ice, as long as consumers put forward demands, they will try their best to satisfy them.
Was the inability to go to ice due to cost?
Mr. Lin said, "Going ice is nothing more than replenishing water or tea. The cost does not change much. It may be troublesome to go to ice. The clerk is afraid of affecting the speed of ordering, so he is reluctant to do it."
The lawyer's statement needs to be clearly marked or highlighted in advance
Is "Can't Go to Ice" an Overlord Clause?
In this regard, the reporter interviewed Huang Hongbin, a lawyer from Sichuan Discovery Law Firm.
He pointed out that consumers who buy milk tea actually signed a consumption contract with the milk tea shop invisibly, and the requirements such as "can't go to ice" are pre-drafted by the milk tea shop for repeated use, and were not negotiated with the other party when the contract was concluded. It is a standard clause in legal nature.
In this type of consumption contract, the responsibility of the milk tea shop is to provide milk tea with the specified formula and ensure that it is clean, hygienic and of good quality.
In most cases, it is not the store's responsibility to remove or add ice.
If the formula contains ice and the milk tea shop clearly marked it in advance or reminded the buyer in a prominent way that the milk tea "cannot be iced", then the buyer has the right to choose whether to buy it or not. At this time, "cannot be iced" does not exclude the buyer's main rights , this clause is not the "Overlord Clause".
On the contrary, if the formula does not contain ice or is not clearly marked as "can't go to ice", and the milk tea shop does not inform consumers about "can't go to ice" in a conspicuous way before placing the order, and does not explain it as required by consumers, but If a consumer refuses to go to the ice after placing an order, this clause may belong to the "Overlord Clause", which is suspected of infringing on the consumer's right to know, the right to choose the right to choose goods or services, and the right to fair trade. After the milk tea shop was complained and reported Administrative penalties such as warnings and fines may be imposed.
Huang Hongbin said that from the perspective of the development of the milk tea market, consumers have formed a concept of milk tea consumption with free matching. In order to cater to consumers and increase milk tea sales, most merchants have set up three options according to the type of milk tea: hot, normal temperature, and ice.
If the store has formulated tough sales rules such as "can't go to ice", it will bring discomfort to consumers such as restricted freedom and unrespected choices to a certain extent. May be suspected of infringing consumer rights.
Finally, Huang Hongbin believes that although "inability to remove ice" hinders consumers' pursuit of "freedom of milk tea", it is not necessarily an illegal act.
In order to eliminate the obstacles on the road to "freedom to ice" and improve the overall service quality of the milk tea and even the beverage industry, on the one hand, the market needs to hand over the right of choice to consumers, so as to promote businesses to face up to consumers' demands.
At the same time, consumers need to continuously improve their legal awareness, and relevant departments will further strengthen market supervision to regulate the market behavior of merchants.
West China Metropolis Daily-Cover reporter Zhong Xiaolu
Intern Zhong Kunliang Man Yiting