Gravi-Tea is a new Bubble Tea and Crepe Shop which is coming to Washington Township, NJ! They will be located in the Plaza 42 Shopping Center, which is most known in town as the home to Kohl’s.
As the name and graphics indicate, they are bringing a space theme to the booming bubble tea and crepe business!
Be sure to like their Facebook page!
The location is directly on Route 42 / Black Horse Pike with Shoppers Lane running alongside. They center also is home to PetSmart, Ashley Furniture, and McDonald’s. At-Home is across the street.
Very specifically in the center they will be located in the area between PetSmart and Ashley Furniture, directly next to Mariner Finance (and Rice King is close also)
Gravi-Tea
Several weeks ago we heard from a friend of the owner who is familiar with the new location, and shared with 42Freeway that Gravi-Tea was coming to Township.
It wasn’t necessarily a secret at the time, as the front glass of the new shop was already featuring images showing the store was coming!
We don’t know a ton about the new business at this time and will update again as they get ready to open, but we know they are a locally owned business… and this would be the local resident’s first business!
When we chatted with the contact they said the targeted opening date was May 1st, but…
We reached out for an update on that date and haven’t heard back yet. Based on our experience tracking new businesses I expect the opening to be after that. Hopefully still in the month of May.
Bubble Tea: Huge Growth in the USA
(Content below is presented from a prior post, on another Bubble Tea location)
While similar stores define themselves as “Fresh Fruit Tea Beverage” retailers, I believe most categorize them in the general Asian beverage market which is recognized as Boba / Bubble Tea.
The bubble tea (USA) market was valued at $2.4 billion in 2019 and is estimated to reach $4.3 billion by 2027
Allied Market Research
Let’s get one thing out of the way… I may have had bubble tea once in my life, so what I present here is gathered from other sources. But I am well aware of it’s growing impact in the US and our area.
Bubble Tea seems to be where this tea shop product category started, originally as a drink served in Asian restaurants. The beverages grew popular on its own and new varieties were added, and soon the once side item became its own food store category.
An article at Allied Market Research describes Bubble Tea as:
Bubble tea (also known as pearl milk tea, bubble milk tea, boba juice, boba tea, or simply boba) is a Taiwanese tea-based drink invented in Tainan and Taichung in the 1980s. Most bubble tea recipes contain a tea base mixed with fruit or milk, to which chewy tapioca balls (known as bubbles, pearls, or boba) and fruit jelly are often added. Ice-blended versions are usually mixed with fruit or syrup, resulting in a slushy consistency.
Allied Market Research
Some may wonder where the Bubble Tea product and market came from… meaning it seems to have just gotten popular over the last few years.
An article at Eater.com gives a very detailed history of Bubble tea and the Bubble Tea culture, tracing the start of the tea back centuries ago… but it really didn’t evolve into what we see today until the 80s.
The Eater article goes on to say that it took a Congressional Act in 1965 to remove the restrictions on Asian immigration (and South and Eastern Europeans) to rapidly increase the Asian influx into the USA… who brought along their culture and cuisine.
Including Boba Bubble Tea.
Boba Bubble Tea in the USA predominately started on the West Coast and has worked its way across the country and globe
Another article at Eater.com explains more about the drink itself, and how to order.
There are some confusing concepts in the name and Eater does a good job explaining
The word “boba” can refer to either a broad category of chunky drinks — including everything from iced tea with tapioca pearls to fresh juice loaded with fruity bits — or black tapioca pearls themselves.
Eater.com
In the US, the East Coast favors bubble tea (name), while the West prefers boba.
Links and Location
Gravi-Tea
5851 Route 42
Turnersville, NJ 8012