Trendy drinks make commonplace fruit cup of tea for Gen-Z

For 24-year-old Sun Ailin, persimmon is an old-fashioned fruit that is in her childhood memory and never makes it onto her supermarket shopping list, but she has developed a soft spot for the sweet orange fruit this autumn.

Sun now consumes about five persimmons a week, but not in its original form. After lunch every workday, the IT white-collar worker routinely orders a bottle of tea drink made with persimmon.

“It tastes a little like cheese. With minced ice, green tea, and konjac jellies, the drink makes persimmon tasty,” said Sun.

The persimmon tea drink, rolled out in late September by Chinese popular drink chain, has gained favor among many young consumers like Sun.

Data from the Chinese e-commerce platform Meituan showed that in October, sales of persimmon-themed food and drinks rose over 200 percent month on month.

China’s top persimmon producer, Fuping County in northwestern Shaanxi Province, is one beneficiary of the innovative persimmon products trend. The annual output of fresh persimmon in Fuping stands at about 250,000 tons, and processed dried persimmon is 60,000 tons.

“The majority of our persimmons are processed into dried fruits,” said Chen Taoliang, owner of a local farming cooperative. The consumptionleveraging power of popular food and drink brands has put other fruits under the spotlight before. Coconut coffee, ice cream, and milk tea are hot sellers this summer.

Liu Zhenwen, a catering company owner and veteran tea drink developer, estimated that the persimmon products can be sustainable as some brands are developing fruit puree to extend its sales season.

“Even if persimmon turns out to be a fleeting star, there would be other fruits emerging on the stage via trendy drinks,” Liu said.