OMG Bubble Tea adopts Greiner’s K3 cup

Lithuanian beverage brand OMG Bubble Tea is using Greiner Packaging’s K3 cardboard-plastic cup for its 250 ml ready-to-drink products as the company expands its presence across European retail and increasingly into the US market.

The project extends the K3 format beyond categories where it is already widely used, such as dairy and desserts, demonstrating its suitability for colourful on-the-go beverages that need to combine shelf impact, functionality and consumer convenience.

Cardboard sleeve separates from the plastic cup

A central feature of the packaging is Greiner Packaging’s New Tear Tab, which allows consumers to separate the cardboard sleeve from the underlying polypropylene cup after use.

The packaging therefore divides into two main material components, making separation more straightforward before disposal and helping consumers direct paperboard and plastic into the appropriate collection streams where suitable infrastructure exists.

Existing production requirements shaped the design

Rather than developing an entirely new packaging system, Greiner worked with OMG Bubble Tea to adapt the K3 cup to the brand’s existing filling and production concept.

This approach allowed the company to introduce the new packaging without fundamentally changing the consumer experience or the production requirements associated with the ready-to-drink product.

PP cup supports product presentation

The polypropylene cup provides the rigidity required for retail distribution while the outer cardboard sleeve creates a larger surface for graphics, branding and product communication.

Bubble tea is a highly visual category, with colour and flavour differentiation playing an important role in purchase decisions. The combination of structural plastic and printable fibre therefore allows the packaging to balance performance with stronger shelf presence.

Retail-ready bubble tea continues to grow

Bubble tea originated primarily as a freshly prepared foodservice product, but brands are increasingly developing pre-packed versions for supermarkets, convenience stores and other retail channels.

This shift creates different packaging requirements. Ready-to-drink formats need longer shelf stability, efficient transport and consistent presentation while retaining some of the novelty and visual appeal associated with the original beverage experience.

Hybrid structures aim for easier material separation

Cardboard-plastic combinations can reduce the amount of rigid plastic used compared with some conventional cup structures while providing additional stiffness and decoration opportunities.

However, their recycling performance depends on the ability to separate the components. Features such as the Tear Tab are therefore intended to make this step more intuitive for consumers and improve the likelihood that the materials enter the correct waste streams.

Packaging supports international expansion

OMG Bubble Tea has been selling the 250 ml products across Europe since summer 2025 and is now increasing distribution in the United States.

Using a packaging format that can be produced consistently across growing volumes can help the company maintain brand identity while entering additional retail markets.

K3 moves into new beverage applications

The collaboration demonstrates how packaging technologies originally established in one food category can move into emerging beverage segments as consumer formats evolve.

For Greiner Packaging, the OMG project broadens the application range of K3 and highlights the role of separable hybrid structures in combining retail presentation, consumer convenience and material-efficiency objectives.