Taipei, July 14 (CNA) Chatime, 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, is the first Asian beverage brand to set up a shop at the Louvre, turning a new leaf for La Kaffa International Co., which owns the Chatime brand, the brand owner said.
According to local media, a glass of bubble milk tea at the Louvre store costs 5.5 euros or about NT$195 (US$6.39), more than a cup of Starbucks coffee sold in Paris.
Before the Lourvre branch opened, Chatime had been running outlets in various French tourism attractions such as Université de Paris, Notre-Dame de Paris, Printemps Department Store, Centre Georges-Pompidou, and Opera Garnier, La Kaffa said.
The company added that it is planning to open two more branches in Paris in the second half of this year, a move which is expected to enable consumers from around the world to know more about Taiwan with the rising visibility of its unique beverage, La Kaffa Chairman Wang Yao-hui said.
Chatime is one of the six brands owned by La Kaffa and currently operates branches in more than 35 countries in the world.
Wang said Chatime is taking advantage of its international business experience by recruiting marketing experts who set their sights on the global market.
In France, Chatime has hired a chief executive officer, who has lived in the European country for 23 years and has good knowledge about the country's tourism and food/beverage businesses, according to the local media reports.
Wang 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 these foreign markets.
As a result, Wang said, Chatime has become one of the leading beverage brands in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, Wang added.
In the first half of this year, La Kaffa posted NT$1.72 billion in consolidated sales, a new high for the company, up 57 percent from a year earlier, with market analysts attributing the growth to the company's strategies to expand its sales worldwide.
On Friday, shares of La Kaffa closed up 0.35 percent at NT$85.80 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
