On Aug. 25, the typically quiet Tutor Hall Café buzzed with students and faculty; Sharetea, an international boba chain, had set up shop. Traffic continues to be up at the cafe as students and faculty explore the catalog of drinks. 

Sharetea offers eleven flavors, including classic pearl milk tea, fruit tea, Thai tea, matcha tea and ice-blended coffee. Uncaffeinated drinks include tiger milk, flavored with brown sugar. The shop is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. near the Viterbi School of Engineering and accepts dining dollars.

Leonard Tham, USC’s senior director of campus dining, said that in the past the University tried to create its own USC-branded boba shop, but it did not gain as much traction. He said Sharetea’s authentic recipe and years of industry experience have successfully resonated with students.  

“The tea that [Sharetea uses] is so high quality, and it’s very fragrant,” Tham said. “[Sharetea] is a safe place where you can hang out and sit down and chat with your friends.” 

Tham said the USC Hospitality team has been looking for new campus dining experiences and wanted to elevate the experience for students who may want to try new or familiar places. So far, students have responded well: Tham said traffic at Tutor Hall had increased since Sharetea opened. 

“We are doing around 170, 180 cups per day,” Tham said. “You can see that Tutor is a little bit more busy. People are sitting around, talking. So, that’s what we want to create, a place where students can sit [and] hang out. It’s not just about boba. It’s also a place where students can sit, talk and build that community.”

On Sept. 3, the first Sharetea marketing event occurred with USC Hospitality at the Trojan Farmer’s Market. Andre Hsu, a marketing worker at Sharetea, said he was impressed by the growth of the newest location.

“So far, [we’ve only been] open eight days, but [we’ve] seen more and more … in-store traffic nowadays. So, I will deem it as a very good start.” Hsu said. 

Tham said that when he visited Pot of Cha, a boba shop just off campus, the majority of customers were USC students. Part of the reason for bringing Sharetea to USC was to bring the boba “experience” onto campus, so students could enjoy the drink without having to leave USC.

Kristijan Zvonarek, a junior majoring in applied and computational mathematics, said he enjoyed getting boba in San Francisco, but he wasn’t sure where to find it in Los Angeles until he saw promotions for Sharetea on campus.

“I think it is helpful [to have a boba shop on campus]] because I like boba, [but] I didn’t know about any boba spots near campus, because I don’t know the area too well, so it’s kind of nice to have one directly on campus instead,” Zvonarek said.

Hsu hopes to market Sharetea even more in the future by serving their drinks at USC events for students to try.