Shakey’s inks franchise deal with Singapore tea brand

MANILA, Philippines — Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc., the listed restaurant chain operator, is bringing Singapore’s R&B milk tea brand to the Philippines, marking its foray into the popular segment.

Shakey’s entered into a master franchise agreement with Singapore-based Koufu Group Ltd. as it hopes to take advantage of the growing milk tea and bubble tea market in the Philippines, where approximately 45 million Filipinos falling within the age group of between 15 to 39 years old are major consumers of the product.

The beverage is one of the top-selling products for takeout and delivery both through internal and food aggregator platforms, said Vicente Gregorio, Shakey’s president and CEO.

“We are pleased to bring the R&B milk tea experience to the Philippines, and we look forward to wow-ing our guests with the brand’s premium quality milk tea and bubble tea offerings. This co-branding initiative is likewise in line with our renewed focus on out-of-store consumption, enhancing sales through these channels with minimal additional investment and maximizing the use of our existing assets,” he said.

Under the agreement, Shakey’s is awarded the territorial rights to sell R&B milk tea, bubble tea, and other specialty tea drinks in the Philippines through stand-alone store formats and co-branding in select Shakey’s and Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken outlets.

Since the start of the pandemic, Shakey’s has launched a number of new offerings.These include a vegetarian pizza for the more health-conscious consumer, ghost kitchens, al-fresco dining, park-n-order, and Peri co-branded locations.

Shakey’s is also looking to opportunistically expand its smaller store formats, including ghost kitchens and delivery hubs.

R&B is one of the leading milk tea and bubble tea players in Singapore with more than 1,000 outlets worldwide, spanning across China, US, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Koufu Group is a major operator and manager of food courts and coffee shops in Singapore.

Koufu’s executive chairman and CEO Pang Lim said his group is excited to bring the high growth tea beverage concept brands to the Philippines.

“We have carefully considered the market trends and found the conditions in the Philippines to be favorable, where there has been a growing receptiveness toward the bubble tea culture in recent years. We are confident that the locals will enjoy our R&B beverages, as do our customers in other markets,” he said.

Last year, Shakey’s also acquired the Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken (Peri) brand, a local brand that is known for its charcoal-grilled chicken served with an assortment of unique sauces.