Tobistro Foods gets on milk tea bandwagon
Coco Tea is known for its fresh tea and juices.
MANILA, Philippines–Tobistro Foods Inc. general manager Larry Evans Tan actually never considered entering the tea store business, as the market in the country is already saturated.
But he did so, anyway, as he was inspired by what he saw in Taipei.
There, he tried different beverage outlets as advised by a friend.
When he saw CoCo Tea’s menu, he thought it was different and could make it big in the Philippines.
While other brands are famous for their milk teas, CoCo Tea boasts of its fresh tea and juice concept.
Its bestsellers are lemon calamansi with aloe, passion fruit tea burst, and grapefruit and orange tea.
“We differ mainly on the use of fresh fruits. We maintain and strive to make freshly-made products out of fresh ingredients such as fresh fruits like lemon, orange, and grapefruit,” Tan said.
He said most of the company’s fruits are imported from the United States and China, depending on the season.
It also partners with local suppliers.
Although it sells mainly fruit teas, CoCo Tea also offers two kinds of milk tea, the black- and the green-tea based varieties.
Compared to other brands, Tan said, raw sugar is used in the company’s milk tea.
However, most of CoCo Tea’s patrons lean toward fresh fruit juices than the milk tea variants.
The first store in the Philippines, at Eastwood City in Libis, opened in November last year.
“When we entered the market, we knew we were the last global chain to enter the country. We entered not only last but very late. The older brands had already built a good foundation in the Philippine market,” Tan said.
He believes, however, that CoCo Tea can still compete.
As to the name, he said it caught on because it is a “fun” word.
“There’s really no meaning behind the name. The Taiwanese have words that really have no meaning when said. ‘Coco,’ they say it as a fun word. It’s easy to remember … there are good vibes behind the name even if they don’t know what it means,” he said.
With a price ranging from P75 to P100 per serving, Tan believes the company’s products are affordable to most Filipinos.
At 27 years old, Tan shared that CoCo Tea was his first business venture with Tobistro Foods, and it is turning out as good as expected.
CoCo Tea has three branches: Eastwood, SM Fairview and Fisher Mall in Quezon City. Another branch is scheduled to open this month in SM City Manila.
