Publication Type
Magazine Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
5-2020
Abstract
The global bubble tea market was valued at US$1.96 billion in 2016 and is projected to reach US$3.21 billion by 2023. However, the bubble tea craze comes as a heavy price to the environment. Since plastic cups and straws—used to contain and consume the drinks—are non-biodegradable, most of these end up in oceans and cause severe harm to animals that mistake the plastic for food. Used bubble tea cups also cannot be placed into “Plastics”-designated recycling bins as they contain too much liquid and leftover “pearls”, usually made of tapioca. To date, there have been efforts to address bubble-tea-related waste, but there appears to be a lack of compelling examples on the market that offer sustainable solutions to the wasteful manufacture and packaging of bubble tea drinks.
Keywords
business operations, bubble tea, beverage, Singapore
Discipline
Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Food and Beverage Management
Publication
Social Space
ISSN/ISBN
1793-7809
Publisher/Conference
Lien Centre
Copyright Owner and License
Lien Centre for Social Innovation
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Citation
Singapore Management University.
#Thirsty4Change: Bubble tea goes sustainable. (2020). Social Space.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lien_research/195
Additional URL
https://socialspacemag.org/thirsty4change-bubble-tea-goes-sustainable
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Food and Beverage Management Commons