Chatime (日出茶太), a Taiwanese bubble milk tea brand, has opened a branch at the Louvre, one of the most popular tourism attractions in France, as part of the beverage vendor’s efforts to extend its reach worldwide.
The new branch of Chatime, which opened on Friday last week, is the first Asian beverage brand to set up a shop at the museum, turning a new leaf for La Kaffa International Co (六角國際), which owns the bubble milk tea brand.
According to local media, a glass of bubble milk tea at the Louvre store costs 5.50 euros (US$6.43) or about NT$195, more than a cup of Starbucks coffee sold in Paris.
Before the Louvre branch opened, Chatime had been running outlets at various French tourist attractions, such as the University of Paris, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Printemps Department Store, Center Georges-Pompidou and Opera Garnier, La Kaffa said.
The company is planning to open two more branches in Paris in the second half of this year, a move that is expected to enable people from around the world to learn more about Taiwan through the rising visibility of its unique beverage, La Kaffa chairman Henry Wang (王耀輝) said.
Chatime is one of six brands owned by La Kaffa, and operates branches in more than 35 countries.
Chatime is taking advantage of its international business experience to recruit marketing experts who set their sights on the global market, Wang said.
In France, Chatime has hired a chief executive officer who has lived there for 23 years, and is knowledgeable about its tourism, food and beverage businesses, local media reports said.
Chatime has intensified its efforts to open branches in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia, while teaming up with partners there to penetrate those foreign markets, Wang said, adding that the company has consequently become one of the leading beverage brands in the ASEAN bloc.
In the first half of this year, La Kaffa posted NT$1.72 billion (US$56.29 million) in consolidated sales, a new high for the company, up 57 percent from a year earlier, with analysts attributing the growth to the company’s strategies to expand its sales worldwide.
Shares in La Kaffa on Friday rose 0.35 percent to close at NT$85.8 in Taipei trading. They have increased 3 percent this year, compared with a 2.22 percent increase in the over-the-counter bourse over the same period.
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