Hello!
We last talked about the shocking truths behind tapioca pearl production and for this week, let’s look at how big of an appetite Singaporeans have toward tapioca pearls.
Did you know that as of January 2020, Singapore had 61 bubble tea brands? And among these 61 brands, 16 were surveyed by Statista in 2019 and the total number of outlets were… a whooping 181 outlets! Mind you, this excludes the other 45 bubble tea brand outlets and new outlets that have surfaced in 2020, totalling at least 226 bubble tea outlets!
What does having 226 bubble tea outlets look like on our tiny red dot? If we divided the total land area of Singapore (725.7 km2) by the number of bubble tea outlets, this would mean that you’ll be able to get your bubble tea fix every 1.8km which takes roughly 10 minutes by bus in Singapore! Talk about convenience, whereby bubble tea stores are only a stone’s throw away!
I didn’t manage to hear from local bubble tea chains on how much tapioca pearls Singaporeans consume, but I did find a video by Xiaxue who visited Playmade and the barista shared that each outlet produces approximately 50 kg of pearls per day! If we did the math, this would mean a total tapioca pearl consumption of 4,124,500 kg per year in Singapore! Referencing this recipe from The Flavour Bender, 3.2 million kg of tapioca starch per year is needed, which implies that 14 million kg of cassava roots are needed to sustain Singapore’s bubble tea pearl industry!
What do fellow Singaporeans think about this issue?
As promised, allow me to share more about the survey I conducted following last week’s post, which consists of three main sections – general background, bubble tea consumption and environmental action (which I’ll be sharing in my next post).
General Background of Respondents
Of the 47 respondents who responded to the survey, the majority were students aged 19-24 years old. To gauge whether the respondents had any interest in environmental issues, I used a proxy – whether they were planning to pursue, currently enrolled in or have graduated from an environmental course and 47% of respondents fell in this category. I will further elaborate on the significance of this factor in my analysis of their responses in the next post!
Bubble Tea Consumption
Here’s a pie chart of the bubble tea consumption of the respondents, and only 25% of respondents consumed bubble tea at least once a week, with the majority consuming bubble either once a month or less!
What about their tapioca pearl consumption? Tapioca pearls are definitely a favourite among the respondents, because 75% of respondents had pearls in their go-to bubble tea orders, and 68% regularly get them with their bubble tea!
I ended this section by posing the question of whether they had ever thought about the environmental impacts of tapioca pearls, and all 47 respondents indicated that they have never thought about it at all. Indeed, we import most of our goods and don’t witness the ugly truths behind the supply chains that are sustaining our bellies. Yet, the mere awareness of such an issue is so important because this gets people to start thinking more about what goes into the manufacturing of products (this was evident in the responses from my respondents!), helping to raise the environmental consciousness of Singaporeans who are often on the consuming end!
To be continued next week 🙂
Hi Yee Qi! It’s quite disheartening to find out that many do not think about the waste that drinking bubble tea can create. I don’t really drink bubble tea myself since I get stomach upsets easily, but it was still very interesting to see what goes behind the production of bubble tea!
This really got me thinking, if more people came to know of the environmental impacts of bubble tea, would it actually be effective in encouraging them to turn to more sustainable options when drinking bubble tea (e.g using a reusable carrier instead of a plastic carrier)? How else do you think we can educate the public on the environmental impacts of drinking bubble tea?
Hello Sarah!
I totally agree with what you’ve mentioned on whether knowing about the environmental impacts of consuming bubble tea would actually spur people to do something about it! I think that definitely, awareness is always the first step to any form of change we want to see, because if people don’t even know that a problem exists, why would they think of solving it? Yet, every individual would respond to this new awareness differently, and not everyone would be affected enough by the truth to do something about it. Moreover, if people decide to take action, how easy is it for them to take action? By this, I’m referring to the accesibility and sustainability of these environmental-friendly options. Would the person be willing (or even remember) to bring your resuable carrier or straw each time he or she heads out? And even if the person forgot to bring them out that day, would he or she choose not to purchase bubble tea so they could skip the plastic? There’s this huge inertia that one needs to overcome in order to really adopt a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly lifestyle, and I’m sure many of us struggle with this too!
I think that social media plays a part in raising awareness on these types of issues, with the “Say No to Straws” movement that gained momentum on Instagram and led to the big change in Singapore’s food and beverage industry. However, not everyone is on social media and the algorithms may make it difficult for these messages to reach a majority of the population. Posters at the bubble tea stores would definitely help to raise awareness, but I feel that this needs to be matched up with efforts by the bubble tea stores themselves to be more environmentally conscious as well. It could be making sure to ask every customer if they require a plastic carrier or straw, or even incentivsing people to use their own tumblers or straws! More importantly, those who are aware of such issues and want to make positive change definitely need to help spread the awareness and be environmental advocates in their own social circles!
Hope this answers your question and thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Hi Yee Qi & Sarah-Ann,
I’ve got to ask… why is a carrier even a thing ? What’s wrong with people’s hands ? You know… I had never even seen such a thing before I moved to SG.
jc
Hello Dr Colemnan!
Hmm, I think carriers are quite embedded in our daily lives, even from the plastic bags that given out at the supermarkets to the plastic carriers given with our drinks. Since bubble tea stores don’t usually have seating areas for customers to sit and enjoy their drinks, this means that customers would have to carry their bubble tea around. Having the carrier makes it more convenient, and customers wouldn’t have to freeze their hand off holding their cup of iced bubble tea. Maybe that’s why people don’t refuse carriers when collecting their bubble tea? It’s interesting that this phenomenon is observed quite exclusively in Singapore, though this isn’t something we should be proud of. 🙁
Hi Yee Qi!
Based on your findings, it seems like tapioca pearls are the go-to topping for Singaporean bubble tea lovers. However, instead of consumer tastes, could stereotype play a role in its popularity? Cause I believe most people when ask to picture bubble tea would immediately visualise a cup that contains them.
Also, bubble tea is usually marketed with them containing pearls, which could reinforce the notion among consumers that tapioca pearls are the best topping for bubble tea. As an infrequent consumer of bubble tea (my last cup was back in January believe it or not), I’m guilty of having this perception and hence always pick tapioca pearls as my topping.
Cheers
Yu Xun
Hello Yu Xun!
I love that you brought this up, because I totally agree that how bubble tea is being marketed definitely plays a big role in shaping the buying patterns of customers! Just like the image I included in my post, I think we all recognise a cup of bubble tea from the pearls within them, and if the pearls are absent, they’ll just look like cups of… tea.
Now that I think about it, tapioca pearl toppings get marketed the most compared to the other toppings! Playmade stands out for its unique range of tapioca pearl flavours (that also come in a variety of pretty colours, raising its marketability), and other stores sell variations of tapioca pearls – black pearls, golden pearls, brown sugar pearls and honey pearls. (Wow, there must be something about its shape, size, colour and chewiness that makes pearls so popular!)
So while I would definitely agree that the way bubble tea is marketed with pearls definitely shapes consumer patterns, I think its tastiness and potential for product development (and hence, novelty!) are important factors to why tapioca pearls are so popular and continue to be many people’s go-to topping!
Hi Yee Qi,
What a gigantic improvement in your blog – congratulations ! This post epitomises all the attributes I knew you could demonstrate.
I have a serious Q. Were you surprised that none of your respondents had ever thought about the impacts of the pearls themselves ?
I have a somewhat frivolous Q – I don’t understand the concept of ordering boba tea without the pearls – I mean, isn’t that why it’s called boba ?
And a frivolous comment. WTH is with that Xiaxue preparing food with her hair not at least tied up but preferably covered ? Am I the only one who was thoroughly grossed out by that ?
jc
Hello Dr Coleman!
I’m glad you enjoyed reading the post and thank you for your questions! To be honest, I think I wasn’t expecting people to have ever thought about the impacts of the pearls themselves. Maybe it’s because I only started thinking about it after starting this blog and I’ve been a bubble tea fan for… years! Perhaps it’s because other environmental issues concerning bubble tea consumption (mostly, single-use plastics) are really ‘loud’ and get publicised so much that whenever people think of bubble tea, that’s all they think about (the straw in the turtle’s nostril). Another reason could be the fact that we aren’t able to directly see the impacts of us consuming tapioca pearls on the environment compared to when we hold the plastic in our hands which trigger images of plastic pollution that pop up in our heads. It’s a good thing that I did this survey, because 47 more people have now gained a new awareness of such an issue!
On the concept of ordering bubble tea without the pearls, I totally agree! I wouldn’t ever order a cup of bubble tea without any toppings because then it’ll just be a cup of… tea. When I was crafting the introduction to my second post on tapioca pearls, I found out that the “bubble” in bubble tea don’t actually refer to the pearls but instead, refers to the foam that is created from the shaking of the tea! (Shocking, right? I always thought the “bubble” in bubble tea referred to the pearls.) However, “boba” in boba tea definitely refer to boba, so I guess it’ll be even harder to skip the tapioca pearls for people who know bubble tea as boba tea… perhaps they could call boba tea “bubble tea” instead when skipping the boba?
Thank you also for bringing up the concept of food hygiene, I completely missed that when I watched the video! Well, at least we can be assured that the baristas cover up their hair when making tapioca pearls? 🙂
Hi Yee Qi,
Thanks for your thoughtful reply !
I truly thought “bubble” was the anglicisation of the word “boba”. Funny.
jc