Mother Pearl: Hong Kong’s Vegan Bubble Tea Brand Opens Wellness & Production Hub

Mother Pearl, a plant-based beverage chain in Hong Kong, has opened a new two-storey flagship store serving bubble tea and cocktails and featuring in-house pearl production.

Hong Kong-based vegan bubble tea chain Mother Pearl is expanding both in size and scope.

After closing its Lyndhurst Terrace store in the city’s Central area, the brand has moved to a bigger, two-storey flagship in the nearby Lan Kwai Fong district.

The new outpost will feature its signature bubble tea drinks, as well as grab-and-go food, refined-sugar-free cocktails, and dairy-free gelato. Right behind the venue is a 186 sq m production hub for its tapioca pearls, which can cater to 160,000 beverages a year.

The facility isn’t a contract manufacturing operation, instead making pearls exclusively for the company’s own outlets. Mother Pearl directly sources its herbs and botanicals, and its in-house R&D kitchen produces the boba and other components for its drinks.

Mother Pearl doubles down on refined-sugar-free philosophy

Founded in 2020, Mother Pearl was born out of founder Po Chen’s drive to find healthier bubble tea options for her kids. The brand is rooted in wellness and sustainability, paired with a strikingly vivid aesthetic through its drinks.

The company doesn’t use any pre-mixed synthetic powders and syrups, instead opting for low-glycemic sweeteners like coconut nectar, blackstrap molasses, allulose and monkfruit sugar, alongside superfood ingredients like blue spirulina and activated charcoal. Aside from the tapioca pearls (which are soaked in a mixture of coconut nectar and alkaline water), it makes its milk alternatives in-house too.

Mother Pearl’s current menu includes Cheeky Collagen, an osmanthus oolong drink with peach gum, snow swallow, charcoal pearls and osmanthus syrup; Berry Bright, a strawberry and blue spirulina drink with oat milk and detox charcoal pearls; and Nut & Smoke, a bubble tea with hojicha rice froth, golden oolong oat milk, chestnut pearls, and nate de coco.

“Since we founded Mother Pearl, our vision has always extended far beyond a single cup of bubble tea. We set out to reimagine what a beverage brand can be – a companion that helps people build personalised food and lifestyle rituals, without compromising on taste or experience,” said Chen.

“This expanded flagship is our most complete expression of that vision yet: a space where you can grab a mindful daytime drink, then stay for a relaxed evening social, all with the same commitment to transparent, refined sugar-free formulation.”

The ground floor grab-and-go counter offers bubble tea, coffee, gelato and light bites, and the first floor hosts a cocktail lounge championing low- and high-ABV drinks with botanicals and functional ingredients.

Mother Pearl cited research suggesting that conventional cocktails contain 15-40g of added sugar per serving, making the removal of refined sugar a core principle for its cocktail programme. The menu draws on traditional Chinese botanicals like pearl powder and aged tangerine peel, and most drinks have an alcohol-free alternative.

It was developed over six months and currently comprises 10 drinks. Empress Wu, for instance, combines gin and Green Chartreuse with maraschino liqueur, five-spice syrup, pineapple juice, orange bitters, and an optional helping of skin-boosting pearl powder.

Another highlight is Price of Time, a hot drink brewed in a coffee siphon, in which bourbon is infused with dried orange peel (or chen pi), bitters, black cardamom, star anise, mint tea, goji berry, and dried preserved plums.

Dual operating model widens revenue base as Mother Pearl eyes expansion

The brand described its new flagship as a “physical manifestation of its positioning as an all-day social wellness hospitality brand, rather than a conventional bubble tea shop”.

It has a team of 20 employees, four of whom work in R&D, and the 160,000-cups-a-year capacity is oriented towards hospitality rather than industrial output, which explains why the facility isn’t meant for third-party manufacturing.

That said, the wellness hub does function as a reference build for Mother Pearl’s B2B services. It offers cross-brand co-creation, in-house independent R&D, and bespoke hospitality space design (Chen is a former art director).

Customisation is available across herbal drink formulations, interior aesthetics, co-branding campaigns, and plant-forward menus, extending to tea bases, add-ons, and Japanese-style froth and packaging design at product level, as well as beverage R&D and in-store operational support.

The ground-floor business is open during the day until 10pm, while the bar operation opens at midday and runs until midnight or later. This split structure extends its lease across two revenue-generating parts, which Mother Pearl says widens its revenue window and connects the brand with two distinct customer occasions without the cost of a second site.

That model raises operational standards as well, since the same venue must maintain consistent hygiene, supervision and service quality across both daytime retail and evening hospitality modes.

Mother Pearl will now focus on refining this dual operating model, expanding its 10-strong refined-sugar-free cocktail menu, strengthening its B2B offerings, and responding to growing consumer demand for lower-sugar, functional beverages in Hong Kong. It will also explore opportunities to roll out the wellness hub in other locations in the city.