艾媒咨询 | 2026年中国凉茶饮料消费趋势洞察白皮书

当前中国凉茶饮料行业正处于从传统快消品向健康饮品生态转型的关键窗口期，作为承载中医“治未病”理念与岭南饮食智慧的国家级非物质文化遗产，这一品类已成功从区域性民间饮品升级为全国性普及的健康消费品，尽管相较于行业增长高峰期，当前整体增速已有所放缓，但在宏观经济波动加剧及新兴饮品品类激烈竞争的双重压力下，凉茶行业依然展现出较强的市场韧性与抗风险能力。
根据全球新经济产业第三方数据挖掘和分析机构iiMedia Research（艾媒咨询）最新发布的《2026年中国凉茶饮料消费趋势洞察白皮书》数据显示，2025年中国凉茶饮料市场规模达255.0亿元，行业已从跑马圈地的爆发期进入精耕细作的存量博弈期。83.4%的凉茶饮料消费是以自饮为核心，其中76.3%为强功能驱动。消费者购买凉茶饮料产品的首要决策因素为“清热降火”（54.2%），其次为“口感偏好”（46.3%）；重点关注产品的功效宣称及认证（46.1%）、口感试饮体验（45.0%）和配料表成分（43.6%），整体呈现“功效优先、体验为核、成分敏感”的特点。同时，消费者对不同包装有着非常理性的场景认知，根据不同需求精准选择适配的包装形态。
艾媒咨询分析师认为，存量博弈背景下，凉茶行业的竞争逻辑已从规模扩张转向价值提升，消费者的需求特征将成为驱动行业产品创新、渠道优化与品牌升级的核心导向。在产品层面，“清热降火”的传统核心需求仍将长期存在，但消费者需求正从单一功能向多元化延伸，低糖、无糖产品及添加益生元等功能性成分的创新产品，将成为破解行业增长瓶颈的关键。未来，只有精准把握消费者需求变化，持续推进产品创新、渠道升级与品牌赋能，将传统凉茶文化与现代健康消费理念深度融合，才能推动凉茶行业突破存量瓶颈，实现可持续增长，进一步巩固其在植物饮料领域的核心地位。
China's herbal tea beverage industry is currently in a critical window period of transitioning from traditional fast-moving consumer goods to a health beverage ecosystem. As a national intangible cultural heritage that embodies the traditional Chinese medicine concept of "preventive treatment" and Lingnan dietary wisdom, this category has successfully upgraded from a regional folk drink to a nationally popular health consumer product. Although the overall growth rate has slowed compared to the industry's peak growth period, the herbal tea industry continues to demonstrate strong market resilience and risk resistance despite the dual pressures of intensified macroeconomic fluctuations and fierce competition from emerging beverage categories.
According to the latest "White paper on China herbal tea beverages consumption trend insights in 2026" released by iiMedia Research, a global new economy industry third-party data mining and analysis institution, China's herbal tea beverage market reached 25.50 billion yuan in 2025, and the industry has entered a refined stock competition phase from the explosive expansion period. 83.4% of herbal tea beverage consumption is centered on personal consumption, of which 76.3% is driven by strong functional needs. The primary decision-making factor for consumers purchasing herbal tea beverage products is "heat-clearing and fire-purging" (54.2%), followed by "taste preference" (46.3%); consumers focus on product efficacy claims and certifications (46.1%), taste trial experience (45.0%), and ingredient list components (43.6%), presenting overall characteristics of "efficacy priority, experience as core, and ingredient sensitivity." Meanwhile, consumers have very rational scenario perceptions of different packaging formats, precisely selecting suitable packaging forms based on different needs.
iiMedia Research analysts believe that under the background of stock competition, the competitive logic of the herbal tea industry has shifted from scale expansion to value enhancement, and consumer demand characteristics will become the core driver for industry product innovation, channel optimization, and brand upgrading. At the product level, the traditional core demand for "heat-clearing and fire-purging" will continue to exist in the long term, but consumer demand is extending from single functions to diversification. Innovative products such as low-sugar, sugar-free products, and those with added functional ingredients like prebiotics will become the key to breaking through industry growth bottlenecks. In the future, only by precisely grasping changes in consumer demand, continuously advancing product innovation, channel upgrading, and brand empowerment, and deeply integrating traditional herbal tea culture with modern health consumption concepts, can the herbal tea industry break through stock bottlenecks, achieve sustainable growth, and further consolidate its core position in the plant beverage field.