The bubble tea chain will use its successful Filipino franchise model to catalyse growth in the Philippines and wider Asia-Pacific following growing demand for bubble tea in the region
CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice will use its successful Filipino franchise model as a template for further expansion | Photo credit: Famingjia Inventor
CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice has announced plans to build on recent outlet growth and expand throughout the Asia Pacific region, where it currently operates 82 sites.
Founded in Taiwan in 1997, CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice currently operates over 5,000 stores globally, including 64 in Canada, 44 in Australia and 31 in the US. The vast majority of its locations are in China in Taiwan.
The company cited research showing that consumers in Southeast Asia spend $3.66bn annually on bubble tea and fruit tea beverages. The strong demand, particularly in Singapore, has led CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice to expand into the APAC region.
CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice will use its successful Filipino franchise model as a template for further expansion. The company currently operates 50 franchised stores across the Philippines alongside 18 in Thailand and 14 in Japan.
“Our brand is built with persistence and dedication in the craftsmanship behind each drink. Not by chance nor by luck. We will continue to provide our consumers with the assurance needed by holding true to our core values," said Tommy Hung, Chairman, CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice.
According to research jointly conducted by venture firm Momentum Works and payments start-up qlub, Singapore is the fourth largest country in East Asia in terms of consumer spend on bubble tea. Singaporeans spent $342m on the beverage last year, behind Indonesia ($1.6bn), Thailand ($749m) and Vietnam ($362m).
The growing popularity of bubble tea led South-east Asia’s largest bubble tea brand Tealive to recently announce potential plans for a share listing once it reaches its target of operating 1,000 stores across Malaysia by 2024. The company is also planning to annually double Tealive's store count in the Philippines, with a target of 300 stores by 2024.
Fellow Taiwanese bubble tea chain Gong Cha currently operates 28 stores in Singapore and approximately 1,800 outlets globally. The company has a large presence in the Asia Pacific region, with sites also in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan.