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Boba Trends in 2024
Boba is Booming
Boba, originally from Taiwan, gained popularity in the UK back in 2011. This blog explores boba trends in 2024 and creative boba drinks for your menu. It quickly became the drink of choice for younger consumers with 5.5 million tags on Instagram. Boba’s popularity stems from its flavour range, Instagrammable appearance, and customisability. Popping boba demand has continued to surge, with a CAGR of 10.70% from 2022 to 2029 and the market value at a huge £1.76 billion in 2021 (without any sign of stopping!).
Beautiful Boba
Boba shops are not just focusing on the taste but also on the visual appeal of their drinks. Intricate and colourful presentations, often featuring layers of contrasting colours, edible flowers, and unique toppings, are becoming a social media sensation.
Healthier Boba Pearl Pairings
Boba shops are responding to health-conscious consumers with organic and nutritious options, like offering oat or almond milk in their milk tea drinks. Within the bubble tea market, the green tea segment is expected to expand by 10% CAGR. Certainly, this is may be due to the association of nutrients in green tea that promote good health. Other perfect pairings include matcha, which offers a rich and earthy flavour that contrasts perfectly with fruity flavours. This drink has been increasing in popularity over the last couple of years and expected to take off in 2024!
Bold Boba Twists
Boba pearls are versatile and can be enjoyed in various ways beyond the traditional bubble tea. Below are some of the boba trends we saw in our research:
- The fusion of boba with desserts – For example, Cinnamon Apple Pie Boba or Crème Brulee Boba Tea
- Boba slushies
- Boba with fizzy drinks
- Boba in cocktails
- Boba as a dessert garnish
- Cold foam on top of your boba drinks
Boba Fruity Flavour Favourites
The fruit flavour segment dominated the market in 2022 with a market share of 38%. As a result, mango, lychee and passion fruit are finding their way onto the boba bestsellers lists, offering a burst of tropical freshness. Mango was the most commonly paired flavour, for example, in drinks like Mango Berry Boba and Tropical Mango Boba. Boba comes in a wide array of flavours, and the combinations are continuously evolving with the most common fruit flavours in our research being:
- Mango
- Passion fruit
- Strawberry
- Lychee
- Watermelon
- Peach
Boba Best Practice
Bubble tea menus are built for customisation, with an extensive range of taste, texture and colour combinations. The most important aspect when visiting a bubble tea shop, is that customers feels they are in charge of coming up with their own specialised tailor made recipe.
All boba on the market is vegetarian, with a vast majority of options being vegan too! This allows shops to be inclusive to a wide range of dietary requirements.
The average serving size of boba pearls across top London boba stores ranges from 12g to 70g, with the average boba pearl weight being 50g per a drink!
Wondering how much people are charging? The ARP for one boba drink in 2023 ranged from £3.65 to £5.09, with a medium drink being around £4.45.
The bestselling flavours were:
- Mango, Passion fruit (bestseller in 5/8 stores)
- Lychee, Strawberry (bestseller in 3/8 stores)
- Apple (bestseller in 2/8 stores)
Our Boba Menu Suggestions
We have created a menu of boba drink suggestions based on trending boba flavours for 2024.