A popular milk tea brand in China has suspended one of its stores after a viral video showed an employee using bare hands to mix drinks and picking up fallen ingredients to put back into a customer’s cup, triggering widespread outrage over food safety.
The incident unfolded in Fujian and quickly dominated discussions on Weibo, where the phrase “Chagee staff mixing drinks with bare hands” surged to the top of trending searches on January 6.
What the video showed
The widely shared clip, first posted on Douyin, appeared to show a uniformed female employee squeezing ice, stirring milk tea with her bare hands, and collecting ingredients that had fallen onto the counter before placing them back into a drink. A sarcastic caption accompanying the video read, “Good thing I didn’t wash my hands.”
The footage spread rapidly across Chinese social media, prompting immediate backlash from viewers concerned about hygiene standards at milk tea chains, a sector that serves millions of drinks daily across China.
Company response and investigation
Following the public reaction, Chagee released an official statement confirming that the incident occurred at one of its outlets inside Baolong Plaza in Longwen District, Zhangzhou City.
After reviewing surveillance footage, the company said the employee had been attempting to imitate an online trend known as “Indian style milk tea” to attract views. The video was filmed near closing time, using ingredients that had already been discarded for the day.
Chagee stated that none of the drinks shown in the video were sold to customers. The ingredients were thrown away immediately afterward, and the store underwent cleaning and disinfection according to internal procedures.
However, the company also acknowledged that the employee initially provided false information during questioning, claiming the actions took place after closing hours in an attempt to downplay the seriousness of the incident.
Disciplinary action and store closure
Chagee said the employee involved and other staff members connected to the incident have been dismissed for violating company rules and providing inaccurate statements. The store where the video was filmed has been suspended indefinitely while internal processes and staff training are reviewed.
The brand emphasized that its standard operations rely on automated drink making systems, where orders are prepared through machine controlled processes after scanning digital codes, minimizing direct human contact with ingredients.
Despite this, Chagee admitted the incident exposed gaps in training and supervision.
“We are outraged by this behavior,” the company said in its statement. “It runs completely counter to our commitments on food safety and business integrity. We will not tolerate any action that compromises consumer health.”
A broader issue for China’s milk tea industry
The scandal has reignited scrutiny of China’s booming milk tea market, which has seen repeated controversies over hygiene, marketing ethics, and employee conduct in recent years.
For international readers, the case illustrates how quickly reputational damage can spread in Asia’s hyper connected consumer markets. A single viral video can lead to store closures, dismissals, and nationwide debate within hours.
It also highlights a growing challenge for fast expanding food and beverage chains across the region. As competition intensifies and social media drives attention seeking behavior, brands face rising pressure to enforce strict standards on the front line, before a few seconds of footage undo years of brand building.
Source: Vietnam Insider