Current Biz – Chatime to be revived by Will Group

La Kaffa International has announced that the Chatime brand for Taiwanese bubble tea in Malaysia will be resurrected by Will Group with a 30 outlet plan in the coming six months, reported Says news portal.

The new Chatime franchise owner of Malaysia intends to open an additional 40 outlets by the middle of 2018.

Will Group was the Chatime sub-franchisee in Malaysia and, according to Henry Wang, the Chairman of La Kaffa, the group managed the top two revenue making outlets operated in the whole of Malaysia.

La Kaffa has big plans for Chatime in Malaysia because it wants to double its earnings nationwide.

Currently, Chatime Malaysia accounts for 5% of the La Kaffa group’s profit and it intends to grow it to 10%, reported the MalayMail Online.

N. Aliza Ali, managing director of Will Group, said that the company is dedicated to being the number one bubble tea brand in Malaysia.

With Chatime making a comeback, Tealive may not survive if the courts do not rule in its favour.

She also took a subtle jab at previous main franchiser, Tealive’s Loob Holdings, promising to provide excellent service and authentic Taiwanese bubble milk tea.

After La Kaffa abruptly ended its relationship with Loob Holdings, the latter was left with little wiggle room, so it re-branded its existing outlets to Tealive.

However, La Kaffa is currently working on recovering its debt and preventing the Tealive brand from operating in Malaysia, citing a non-competition clause.

In the meantime, Chatime and Tealive are going to have to co-exist until the hearing takes place on May 29. If the judgment falls in favour of La Kaffa, Tealive will then have to cease operations immediately.