Spilling the Tea: Building a Consumer Brand
Details
Date: Tuesday 8th September, 6:15-9 PM UK Time
Location: 1 Warwick by Maslow’s
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## About the Speaker
Yandis Ying is the Founder and CEO of Dot Dot Tea, one of the UK’s fastest-growing premium bubble tea brands.
Launched in London in 2023 as a small high street café, Dot Dot has quickly grown into a nationally recognised retail brand, creating low-sugar bubble tea made with authentic loose-leaf tea, real fruit and popping boba.
Every drink is brewed, bottled and packed at Dot Dot’s own Bubble Tea Brewery in North London, giving the founders control over quality, innovation and production as the business scales.
Dot Dot is now stocked by leading retailers and hospitality partners including Harrods, Selfridges, Planet Organic, Ocado, Costco, Virgin Atlantic Upper Class and Nobu Hotel.
The brand has received several industry awards, including the UK Soft Drinks Award 2026, Gold at the LUNCH! Innovation Challenge and a Startup of the Year finalist place at The Grocer Gold Awards 2026. Yandis also secured four offers on BBC’s Dragons’ Den.
Before founding Dot Dot, Yandis worked in technology at Google and Sapient, specialising in digital strategy and innovation. She is also a mother and passionate about inspiring more women and young founders to pursue ambitious ideas and build brands with confidence.
## Session Overview
How do you turn a small neighbourhood café into a nationally stocked consumer brand?
In this honest founder conversation, Yandis will share the story behind Dot Dot Tea, from developing its first products and building an in-house brewery to securing major retail partnerships and appearing on Dragons’ Den.
The session will explore what it takes to build a product-led business in a competitive market, balance authenticity with commercial growth, scale manufacturing without compromising quality and create a brand that stands out on the shelf.
Expect an open discussion about product development, retail growth, investment, resilience and the realities of building a consumer business from the ground up.
## Key Themes
- Moving from café to national retail brand
- Building a distinctive consumer product
- Balancing authenticity with mainstream appeal
- Scaling manufacturing while maintaining quality
- Securing major retail and hospitality partnerships
- Fundraising, investment and Dragons’ Den
- Founder resilience and lessons learned
- Building a business alongside family life
## Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave with practical insights into:
- Turning an idea into a scalable product-led business
- Building a memorable consumer brand
- Creating products customers genuinely want
- Pitching to retailers and investors
- Scaling without losing quality or purpose
- Navigating the highs, lows and uncertainty of entrepreneurship
Sign up for this event here! Please note that clicking attend on Meetup will not give you the correct QR code to enter this event. Please sign up for your Universe ticket using the link.