Chatime roasted milk tea conquered Japanese taste buds as bubble tea

Taiwan F&B group La Kaffa International Co has entered its 15th year and been proactively expanding its presence in 41 countries across six continents around the globe. In recent years, La Kaffa has been promoting the APEC Business Expansion Plan. Its well-known franchise brand Chatime, rooted in Taiwan, now has become a top shaken ice tea brand in Europe, Indonesia, Philippine, and Australia, turning “bubble tea” into trendy food culture.

The brand has also achieved remarkable success in the Japanese market. Targeting female consumers, the brand’s bubble tea again made a splash in Japan. Chatime now is one of the fastest-growing Taiwanese shaken ice tea brand in Japan with 1.5 stores opening per month. It opened a new outlet in Shibuya 109, Tokyo on June 28 and the second one in Shibuya’s Centre Street on July 10, taking the Kanto market by storm.

To cater to Japanese female consumers’ habit of taking pictures of products, Chatime launched limited products with visually appealing packages. Meanwhile, with its creative, exciting brand positioning, Chatime incorporates a large area of 3D painted walls in the interior design of the tea shops to attract female customers’ attention.

The creative, vivid 3D themed walls were designed by local Japanese designers for people to check in on social media. Themes and styles vary from outlets. The strategy has taken the trend for everyone who had wanted to take pictures with bubble tea for social check-ins, which has also caught on with social media users. Customers even spent more time on queuing for picture taking than a cup of bubble tea.

Chatime has also expanded its business in Japan. Its shop in Shibuya 109 has enjoyed great popularity, with daily sales of a thousand cups regularly. Moreover, the company’s shop in Osaka’s Shinsaibashi District now has become the world’s top store in terms of sales, reporting sales of more than 2,000 cups per day. The brand expects to expand to 35 outlets at the end of this year.

Unlike other Taiwanese brands, Chatime has shown unique and strategic thinking of store expansion. In addition to opening stores in popular tourist areas by Taiwanese travellers, it also penetrates areas of Japanese daily living and takes local consumption habits into account. Chatime utilises truly quality products to increase its brand value and strive for the brand’s sustainability.

Chatime was a national winner of the World Branding Awards in the Tea category.

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