bubble tea or coffee ??

mary30

Hi guys , I am planing to open a bubble tea shop with Spanish and Portuguese pastries ,fresh baked in the shop.

I think it can be a good idea, I have been a bit confused in opening a take away coffee and pastries shop, but in my point of view I think the bubble tea is a better option than the coffee drinks.

Please would you let me know what you think about it ?
Thank you.

Graham

Tea and coffee already have a very established market, when customers walk into a tea/coffee shop they pretty much know what to expect.

One of the biggest problems you're going to have with Bubble Tea is most people haven't a clue what it is. You're essentially trying to build your local market for Bubble Tea on your own.

mary30

Hi Graham , yes you are correct about I'll have to built my own local market for this .

I think with some advertisement and some promotions to call in costumers and let them know what kind of products I have to offer ,hard work and good service to my future customers .

Thank you for your reply

percy212

I love bubble tea. Great idea. Open a chain! Best of luck.

mary30

Hi percy212

Thank you for your reply , yes not bad idea , yes with time I would open a few more shops ! Of corse as Graham said coffee and tea
"already have a very established market".

Let's hope more people like you tell me the same , other wise ........

mary30

Bubble Tea
is the name given to the wide variety of refreshing flavoured fruit teas and milk teas served ice cold or piping hot with chewy natural tapioca balls that you suck up through a big fat straw!

mary30

What coffee brand would you guys prefer ?
Thanks

Bandara

This years noodle bar/ milkshake bar / olde sweet shop / smoothie bar etc

Fad

bizzyb

mary30 wrote: »

Bubble Tea
is the name given to the wide variety of refreshing flavoured fruit teas and milk teas served ice cold or piping hot with chewy natural tapioca balls that you suck up through a big fat straw!

When are you open,i want one!!

Sulla Felix

Bandara wrote: »

This years noodle bar/ milkshake bar / olde sweet shop / smoothie bar etc

Fad

But there are still noodle bars, milkshakes, olde sweet shops in operation years after they were a fad. So yea, there's a glut and the excess closes up but some of them last.

Graham

Have you looked into any of the Bubble tea franchises?
Have you looked at the history of the existing Bubble tea operations here and abroad but particularly here?
Have they all had success, if not why not?

IRLConor

mary30 wrote: »

What coffee brand would you guys prefer ?
Thanks

If you're planning on doing coffee then I suggest you talk to someone like Colin Harmon (3fe), Karl Purdy (Coffee Angel) or Buzz Fendall (Bald Barista) or any of the other people doing good coffee in Ireland. (See the Coffee & Tea Forum for other recommendations.)

There are lots of places doing bad-to-mediocre coffee but the number of places doing good coffee has been expanding rapidly in the last 5 years or so. I don't know where you plan to open, but if you have excellent coffee available nearby it might be more difficult to attract business to your shop.

When you open, let us know so that I can sample a pastel de nata or two!

Bandara

Sulla Felix wrote: »

But there are still noodle bars, milkshakes, olde sweet shops in operation years after they were a fad. So yea, there's a glut and the excess closes up but some of them last.

Correct. But I'd estimate (purely a guesswork estimate) that for every one left open ten others have gone bust.

mary30

bizzyb wrote: »

When are you open,i want one!!

I will let you know soon . Thanks:)

mary30

IRLConor wrote: »

If you're planning on doing coffee then I suggest you talk to someone like Colin Harmon (3fe), Karl Purdy (Coffee Angel) or Buzz Fendall (Bald Barista) or any of the other people doing good coffee in Ireland. (See the Coffee & Tea Forum for other recommendations.)

There are lots of places doing bad-to-mediocre coffee but the number of places doing good coffee has been expanding rapidly in the last 5 years or so. I don't know where you plan to open, but if you have excellent coffee available nearby it might be more difficult to attract business to your shop.

When you open, let us know so that I can sample a pastel de nata or two!

Hi IRLConor
Thank you for your ideas and help , by the way I will let you know when I'll open the shop and I promise you that I only not give you one sample of pastel de nata ,but I will give you 2 BIG pastel de nata on the house !!!

mary30

Graham wrote: »

Have you looked into any of the Bubble tea franchises?
Have you looked at the history of the existing Bubble tea operations here and abroad but particularly here?
Have they all had success, if not why not?

Hi Graham , The bubble tea business in the Continent is Big business as well in the UK, Here at home as far as I have been studding the case still on it's early days !!
But good point !

Graham

There's definitely at least one Irish operation that has 2 or 3 outlets in Dublin, if I remember correctly that got quite reasonable press coverage when they opened. I'd recommend researching them.

sawdoubters

I can tell you now irish will not like boba tea

as for coffee should do ok,depends on foot traffic


most people don't seem to know this. 波霸 "boba" is Taiwanese slang for big boobs. It refers to the big black balls. Go ahead. Do a search in Google images. I dare you. "Pearl" (Chinese is 珍珠 zhenzhu) is actually the smaller black balls. It's more common to have these two options in Taiwan. Here in the states, they're basically synonymous for the bigger balls. And the "bubble" in bubble tea refers to the bubble that forms at the top of the cup after the tea is shaken up.

mary30

Hi Graham , thanks for the tips i know about hem , yes they've 3 shops in Dublin .
But.... I am trying to do a bit different having the South European pastries and the design a bit different and the most important the price (products).

what do you think about Bewley's Coffee ? - if I may ask you !

mary30

Hi sawdoubters

Thanks for the reply , I think in general we Irish like to try new products ,but .... we never know ..

Graham

mary30 wrote: »

what do you think about Bewley's Coffee ? - if I may ask you !

Personally, I would go out of my way to avoid it.

mary30

.

mary30

Bubble teas are taking over Munich ! soon in ireland heeheheheheh

mary30

Will Tapioca Pearl Tea Conquer Starbucks? OR COFFEE STILL THE N.1 ??

mary30

Have you guys tried Portuguese pastries besides the (pastel de nata) the famous Portuguese egg custard.??

We love it when we go on holidays I have always to try something new , the taste is yummy it's different than what we have here our Danish pastries.

makeandcreate

Hi - for me there's a bit of "when in Rome" to this whole idea.
By that I mean, when I go visit my brother in Brighton I always try the vegetarian, organic cafe cos it's funky, quirky and the food is great. Same with the pop up paleo place. And in Wales it's ye olde tea shop with giant baps.
But if you opened one on my route home every day ,I don't think I'd go in more than once in a blue moon.
Guess it depends on your location & local demographic.
As for Bewleys coffee products, I don't think you can get more middle of the road - I think your business model would a coffee blend with more clout. (I'd be looking at branding something as your own blend).

makeandcreate

mary30 wrote: »

Have you guys tried Portuguese pastries besides the (pastel de nata) the famous Portuguese egg custard.??

We love it when we go on holidays I have always to try something new , the taste is yummy it's different than what we have here our Danish pastries.

Everything tastes better when it's sun drenched (except for bacon and cabbage).

di11on

My two cent on this is... your pastries sound nice. I'm a coffee drinker and don't drink juices, teas, milks shakes etc.. when I'm out and about.

However, your pastries sound interesting... if you offered coffee, you might get me in your door... but with no coffee, I'm walking straight by, no matter how good the pastries are.

I suspect there are many like me out there. If you have coffee, even as a side offering, I think you'll still catch some business if your pastries are interesting.

mary30

Hi makeandcreate

Thank you for the comment !

mary30

di11on wrote: »

My two cent on this is... your pastries sound nice. I'm a coffee drinker and don't drink juices, teas, milks shakes etc.. when I'm out and about.

However, your pastries sound interesting... if you offered coffee, you might get me in your door... but with no coffee, I'm walking straight by, no matter how good the pastries are.

I suspect there are many like me out there. If you have coffee, even as a side offering, I think you'll still catch some business if your pastries are interesting.

Hi di11on

Thank you ,
I am going to try to post some photos of the pastries so you and the rest of the guys taking part in helping me how to discuss this business can have a look .

mary30

mary30 wrote: »

Hi di11on

Thank you ,
I am going to try to post some photos of the pastries so you and the rest of the guys taking part in helping me how to discuss this business can have a look .

photos ....

mary30

mary30 wrote: »

Here some more photos ....

Hope you guys like it....:)

cali_eire

Hey there,
Not to be a downer and maybe it's a great idea for here but I am very used to bubble tea shops where I am from in California. There we have hundreds of them and the combination of bubble tea which is Taiwanese in origin with European pasties seems an odd fusion to me. Even in a hot climate like California, Starbucks (which are on virtually every block in LA or SF) will far outsell a competing bubble tea shop. I think in Ireland. I would guess bubble tea could have fad power to generate larger amounts of business initially but once the novelty wears off I could see it as seasonal and very niche. In California, the bubble tea business is mainly sustained by asian-american customers - we dont have anything close to the same percentages of that demographic here. Anyway, I am no expert but that's just my 2 cents.

Peterdalkey

Nice to see a commercially relevant post again. for a while I thought Rachael would be next up! in fact that would have been great!

mary30

Hiya cali_eire

Thank you for your comments ,all comments are appreciate, and than will think about it .

mary30

Hi guys what I can guess is : coffee is wining versus bubble tea ......lololololo at least here on this thread !!!

happypants

I'm just back from London and went for a wander around for the Chinese New Year celebrations, I passed at least 4 places selling 'bubble tea' in Chinatown. The shops had queues out the door! I didn't venture into one but it made me wonder what bubble tea was!

Also I'm 6 months pregnant so I'm avoiding caffeine and I wasn't sure if these teas contained it.

Go for it though definitely seemed extremely popular! All the best!

Graham

Have you been to visit any of the existing Irish bubble tea operators to see what their trade is like?

mary30

happypants wrote: »

I'm just back from London and went for a wander around for the Chinese New Year celebrations, I passed at least 4 places selling 'bubble tea' in Chinatown. The shops had queues out the door! I didn't venture into one but it made me wonder what bubble tea was!

Also I'm 6 months pregnant so I'm avoiding caffeine and I wasn't sure if these teas contained it.

Go for it though definitely seemed extremely popular! All the best!

Thank you happypants for taking your time . yes there is caffeine .
All the best with your baby !!

mary30

Hi Graham, nice to hear from you again !!

No I haven't been in Dublin yet as I am in Cork and I haven't had time to go to Dublin , but I think next week will be there .
But it looks like that there slowing down in opening more shops !!
.... but the price they charge for a bubble tea is a bit to much as far as I heard.

mary30

Have you guys seen or eaten a lollipop Waffles On A Stick?
-or a hot dog lollipop waffle on a stick ? must be interesting I think !!

cali_eire

mary30 wrote: »

Have you guys seen or eaten a lollipop Waffles On A Stick?
-or a hot dog lollipop waffle on a stick ? must be interesting I think !!

We had a couple places in Southern California offering them ... interesting but again maybe a bit niche for Ireland, however, you bring up an interesting thought - have you thought of gourmet hot dogs as your business?

You could offer lots of different topping options and theme your premises. Because there are a lot of combinations you could appeal to a broader market and it might not be as faddish.

Graham

mary30 wrote: »

Have you guys seen or eaten a lollipop Waffles On A Stick?
-or a hot dog lollipop waffle on a stick ? must be interesting I think !!

Did somebody buy you the Guinness Book of Random Bizarro Food Products for Christmas Mary :pac:

Peterdalkey

Graham wrote: »

Did somebody buy you the Guinness Book of Random Bizarro Food Products for Christmas Mary :pac:

Racael's Ma, Darina, makes a very mean sausage roll, very hard to get one that is not soggy in the mddle.
We could really do with an old house purchase/renovation, disaster etc thread on here and get that tosser Kevin to help!

mary30

Hi Graham , lolololo that was good what you mention ,( funny ) ehehheh .

just wondering because my cousin had one on those while on a short holiday in France .

No , no I am not changing my mind but just wanted to know what you guys know about it.

bizzyb

OP i get the feeling you are looking at this thread as "market research" which is asking for trouble.

makeandcreate

mary30 wrote: »

Hi Graham , lolololo that was good what you mention ,( funny ) ehehheh .

just wondering because my cousin had one on those while on a short holiday in France .

No , no I am not changing my mind but just wanted to know what you guys know about it.

It's really hard to gauge general consensus on here about products - as they say, doctors differ - patients die.
All of the stuff you have mentioned I know little about and that's because, well - I don't want to. So it doesn't matter how many hotdogs on lolly sticks you wave at me, it's not my thing. Buffalo burgers in coconut flour buns - I'm there for breakfast.
I am doing my best to avoid anything containing sugar and grains - unless it's a decent meat in pastry concoction and then you might twist my arm.
I think you need to turn this upside down and start with the formula of how many of x do I need to sell to make a profit.
Are there enough people wanting x in my locality.
In most towns there is a genuine "foodie" cafe that enough people love for it to remain popular - good seasonal produce interspersed with interesting events (loved sherry, Mrs Beaton's classic Sunday Lunch, black and white matinee and tea with books to peruse - perfect lazy day for €25 a head). Cinema night - posh hotdogs, seasoned popcorn and candyfloss with a classic movie. I think that's what you'd do well cos food is obviously your thing.

mary30

Thank you makeandcreate,

Very good point.

mary30

bizzyb wrote: »

OP i get the feeling you are looking at this thread as "market research" which is asking for trouble.

Hi there, if you had noticed the title of my thread probably you wouldn't be saying that , I have been a bit confuse in opening a shop and what to choose.

-and I know here we find fabulous people to have a chat about it.

Thanks anyway .

clio_16v

Personally I don't think Bubble Tea would work here. 90% of Irish people won't have a clue what it is. There was a bubble tea shop on McCurtain St as far as I remember and it failed. Stick with coffee. Good Coffee. They will accompany your pastry idea better. Bear in mind that there is a lot of competition in the market for it though. You would really need to be offering something different to survive.

mary30

clio_16v wrote: »

Personally I don't think Bubble Tea would work here. 90% of Irish people won't have a clue what it is. There was a bubble tea shop on McCurtain St as far as I remember and it failed. Stick with coffee. Good Coffee. They will accompany your pastry idea better. Bear in mind that there is a lot of competition in the market for it though. You would really need to be offering something different to survive.

Thank you - clio

Yes it's true about that shop ( McCurtain St.