The tea chain’s Malaysia debut comes five years after its first foray into southeast Asia, with the new Exchange TRX outlet seen as a springboard for further expansion across the region
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Heytea’s TRX Exchange store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Photo credit: Heytea
China’s tea chain Heytea has opened its first store in Malaysia at the Exchange TRX shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur.
In a press release, Heytea said it will scale its presence across the country in the coming years as a demonstration of its confidence in the Malaysian and wider southeast Asian markets.
Malaysia is the brand’s second southeast Asian market after Singapore, where it has opened five outlets since debuting in 2018. Heytea highlighted Malaysia’s position as an ‘important business destination’ in the region as key to its market entry, as it seeks to cater to leisure and business consumers.
Founded in 2012, Hey Tea operates more than 1,000 stores in its native China and a single site in the UK, which it opened in August 2023. The tea chain is also set to enter the US, with an outlet in New York reportedly set to open before the end of the year.
Heytea’s product range is categorised into four groups – Seasonal Inspirations, Real Fruit Teas, Dairy Milk Teas and Finest Teas. Prices range from MYR 9.90 ($2.13) to MYR 17.90 ($3.84), with its most popular tea beverages including Very Grape Cheese, Mango Grapefruit Sago and Roasted Brown Bobo Milk.
The brand’s Malaysia debut comes a month after Thai milk tea and coffee chain ChaTraMue entered the market with an outlet at the IOI City Mall in Putrajaya. Highlighting wider optimism for tea chains in Malaysia, ChatraMue has entered a 20-year agreement with local F&B operator Woodpeckers Group to open 40 stores across Malaysia by the end of 2024.