Chagee answered a caffeine scare by comparing per-100ml, not per-cup

On 26 December 2025, caffeine content claims about Chagee's 'Wanli Mulan' tea drink went viral on Weibo, with some consumers reporting they couldn't sleep after one cup. The topic trended nationally, and Chagee's US-listed shares fell as much as 15% intraday before closing down 2.54% at a post-IPO low.

Chagee's response that evening compared its caffeine level 'per 100ml' to a latte's, calling the two 'roughly equivalent' and 'significantly lower than an Americano.' Journalists checking the brand's own published ingredient data found the problem: Wanli Mulan contains 31.8mg of caffeine per 100ml, but the actual cup sold is 470ml — meaning a single drink carries over 140mg of caffeine, close to two espresso shots' worth, far above what a standard latte delivers per serving. The per-100ml framing was accurate on its own terms and misleading about what a customer actually drinks.

The 'latte equivalence' framing drew its own round of criticism as a 'concept swap' — comparing unit density instead of total dose, in a case where the total dose is what matters to a customer who can't sleep. The controversy landed on top of a year in which Chagee's US shares had already fallen more than 50% since its April Nasdaq debut, and market value had shrunk by roughly $5.49 billion, or nearly 72%, from its post-IPO peak.

Chagee compared caffeine per 100ml to a latte, but the 470ml cup holds over 140mg, near two espresso shots, making the framing misleading and shares fell 15%.

The per-100ml comparison was true and irrelevant — customers buy a 470ml cup, and total dose is what determines whether they can sleep that night.

Choosing a unit of measurement that made the comparison favorable, in a crisis response written under pressure, reads as spin once anyone checks the numbers — which happened within a day.

The response answered the wrong question: consumers asked 'how much caffeine is in my cup,' and the brand answered 'how much is in 100ml,' a framing chosen for the answer it produced.

In a crisis response, match your unit of measurement to what the customer experiences — an accurate comparison in the wrong unit reads as evasion the moment someone does the math.

Chagee did not revise its caffeine-comparison framing after the criticism; its shares remained near post-IPO lows amid the broader controversy.