It's Chatime in Manila
MANILA, Philippines - The time for tea has come in the Philippines.
Popular global brand Chatime enters the Philippine market in a big way with the opening of its seventh branch at SM Mall of Asia and its Training Lab and Quality Center in Pioneer Center in Pasig. This milestone sets Chatime apart from the competition with its commitment to the quality standards that the brand upholds to ensure that each drink is concocted to perfection, even allowing for individual customer preferences in terms of amount of ice and sugar in their drinks.
“Chatime synergizes with our operations and with our 21 years of experience in the food service industry,” says Johnlu Koa, founder and CEO of The French Baker and the man behind the Chatime master franchise in the country. A testament to the stringent quality standards of the brand, it was a prerequisite to put up a Training Lab and Quality Center, only one of several in the world. Each tea barista can then be properly and adequately trained until they can create drinks with meticulous attention to detail.
“Brewing tea is an art and science that requires training and practice of tea baristas,” said Michael Koa, managing director of Chatime Philippines. In order to achieve the best taste, the most important thing is to control the brewing time and temperature.
Chatime prides itself on being a professional tea drinks provider, which is why the Training Lab and Quality Center contains state-of-the-art equipment. It also makes use of fresh, real tea leaves to ensure maximum flavor.
Henry Wang, president of La Kaffa International Co. Ltd. owners of the Chatime brand in Taiwan, together with his wife Teresa who is vice-president, flew in witness the blessing and inauguration of the Training Lab and Quality Center, as well as observe firsthand how fast the popularity of the brand is rising. “I admire The French Baker group’s training system and adherence to quality standards. That’s why we decided to partner with them in the Philippines,” says Wang. He viewed the country not just as a market with good potential, but also as an important direction-setting market for future regional and global growth, mainly because Filipinos are known to be often ahead of the curve when it comes to setting trends and exploring new culinary pleasures.
Chatime has 13 types of tea, including six special teas and five regular teas, plus the popular matcha and the exclusive pearl milk tea, altogether combined, offering as many as 74 variants to choose from. Customers can be as adventurous as they want. Among the favorites are the Pearl Milk Tea, Roasted Milk Tea, Brown Rice Milk Tea, Taro Milk Tea, Tieguanyin Tea Latte, Matcha Red Bean Smoothie, Honey Lemon Aloe Juice, Taiwan Mango QQ, Green Tea and Jasmine Tea Mousse, Yogurt Lemon Juice and Passionfruit Green Tea.
Chatime already has seven branches open, located at Pioneer Center, Landmark Bridgeway, Robinsons Galleria, One Archers Place Taft, Mall of Asia, Banawe and Wilson. The brand is setting its targets on opening at least 50 stores nationwide in a span of three years.
