Chatime Initiates 3D Instagrammable Attraction in Kanto Stores
Roasted Milk Tea Conquered Japanese Taste Buds as Bubble Tea
HSINCHU, Taiwan: Taiwan’s most favorable 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 the top shaken ice tea brand in Europe, Indonesia, Philippine, and Australia, turning “bubble tea” into trendy food culture. Chatime 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 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 Center 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. There is no lack of famous female stars who posted pictures of enjoying Chatime’s tea drinks on Instagram.
Other than its signature product bubble milk tea, Chatime also has another hot-selling pick that conquered the Japanese’s taste buds - Roasted Milk Tea, an exclusive item among all Taiwanese tea beverage in Japan. Roasted Milk Tea uses selected tea leaves from Nantou, Taiwan that undergo multiple curing processes and are heavily roasted to produce desirable scents. Its secret recipe is popular among Japanese Chadou (tea ceremony) lovers, with the 100% repurchase rate. Those who drink it cannot refrain from saying ”smells so great, ” affording an unusual sight outside the shops. Roasted Milk Tea and signature Bubble Tea account for over 70% of sales in Japan.
Chatime has actively 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 travelers, it also penetrates areas of Japanese daily living and takes local consumption habits into account. Chatime utilizes truly quality products to increase its brand value and strive for the brand’s sustainability.
