First MD Location Of Tea Franchise Opens

ROCKVILLE, MD — The first location of Hey Tea in Maryland held its grand opening on June 20 at 891-F Rockville Pike in Wintergreen Plaza. The chain, based in China, is known for creating a cheese-infused tea.

The Rockville store took over the site formerly home to Sweetfrog, located between Wingstop and Paisano’s Pizza, according to The MoCo Show.

Grand opening specials run June 20 to 22, including a buy one get one free offer per order and a city-exclusive fridge magnet available while supplies last.

The company said it doesn't use the dairy creamers and instant tea powders that some of its competitors use.

Store hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Sunday.

The company said it has operated 3,400 stores, in over 300 cities worldwide. Other locations in the U.S. include Tysons Corner in Northern Virginia, plus several in New York.

Here's the Hey Team history, from its website:

In June 2011, a young person, experiencing frustration with the challenge of discovering tea drinks that were both pure in ingredients and delightful, decided to open a tea shop that served the type of tea he loved.

In August 2011, he made the decision to name the brand 'Royal Tea' in English (later altered to 'HEYTEA' in 2016 due to trademark registration issues). This name choice was simple yet clear: to create the best tea drinks he loved and share them with everyone. Soon after, he realized that this endeavor had the potential to 'Think Big. Think Different', and establish a brand that resonated
with young people.

In December 2011, he created the first cup of freshly-brewed cheese tea, beta version, in his kitchen. On May 12, 2012, the first small store, approximately 30 square meters and modestly decorated, opened on Jiangbianli Alley in Jiangmen City.

In 2012, HEYTEA revolutionized the tea industry by introducing the first-ever Cheese tea, combining authentic real tea with real dairy cheese. Unlike other brands that rely on low-quality ingredients such as artificial creamers or instant tea powders, HEYTEA is committed to providing customers with only the finest, highest-quality tea. The humble store along the Jiangbianli marked the beginning of the 'New Style' tea, because of its use of upgraded, genuine high-quality ingredients in its products.

From 2017 to 2019, HEYTEA developed a series of teas using real fruits and fusing them with Cheese, from the first [Very Strawberry Cheezo] to [Very Grape Cheezo].

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