Retail News CRM

Tag: coffee shops

  • Punthai Coffee Signs Influencer for Five-Drink Matcha Menu in Thailand

    Punthai Coffee Signs Influencer for Five-Drink Matcha Menu in Thailand

    Thailand’s Punthai Coffee has signed social media creator Khun Noey as its first brand partner. Together, they will roll out a five-part matcha drink series across the chain’s network.

    That partnership runs through 2026 and builds on an earlier customisation campaign. It targets younger consumers and specialty tea drinkers in the country’s competitive beverage market.

    A Five-Recipe Rollout Across Stores and Delivery

    The chain will release five exclusive matcha beverages under the campaign banner “The Matcha That Noey Loves”. The first item, named Matcha Latte Rocky Mountain, went on sale on 15 October. It remains on menus through 31 December 2026 across physical outlets and delivery channels.

    This debut drink features two shots of matcha latte over lightly sweetened fresh milk and konjac jelly. Baristas finish the beverage with whipped cream, brownie chunks, crushed Oreo cookies and caramel syrup.

    Targeting High-Margin Custom Additions

    Chains across Southeast Asia lean heavily into dessert-style tea drinks to lift ticket sizes and draw younger foot traffic. Operators use layered toppings, jellies and branded confectioneries to justify premium price points over standard iced coffees.

    For store teams, building complex specialty drinks introduces kitchen friction during peak hours. Punthai is betting that creator-led recipes create enough volume and delivery demand to offset the added assembly time per cup.

    From Social Customisation to Official Menus

    The campaign follows the brand’s Punthai D.I.Y. Promotion, where customers shared their own drink combinations on social media. Turning user recipes into formal menu items gives the chain a low-cost testing ground for flavour trends before committing to seasonal supplies.

    Four additional drinks in the collaborative series will debut over the coming months ahead of the 31 December 2026 cutoff.

  • Malaysian Coffee Shops Seek Beer Tax Cuts as F&B Sales Drop 4.6%

    Malaysian Coffee Shops Seek Beer Tax Cuts as F&B Sales Drop 4.6%

    Malaysian coffee shop operators want tax cuts and phased wage adjustments in the upcoming Budget 2027. The demand follows a 4.6 per cent sales drop across cafes and restaurants.

    The Malaysia Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors’ General Association wants the Ministry of Finance to lower the Sales and Service Tax on alcohol from 8 per cent to 6 per cent. That matches the rate applied to food and non-alcoholic drinks. The group is also urging officials to roll back the beer excise duty increase imposed in the prior budget cycle.

    Licensed food and beverage venues rely on beer sales to subsidise fixed overheads like wages, power, and property leases. Retail Group Malaysia recorded a 4.6 per cent year-on-year sales drop in the first quarter of 2026. It was the first quarterly downturn for the country’s restaurant and cafe sector in nearly three years.

    Operating Costs Outpace F&B Revenue

    Margins are tightening as higher rents and inventory costs hit businesses already suffering from lower footfall. In commercial hubs like Petaling Jaya, monthly retail shop rents jumped from RM6,000 in 2024 to RM12,000 on lease renewals. Keu Kok Meng, Vice President of the Association and Honorary Secretary of the Petaling Jaya Coffeeshop Association, shared the figures.

    Industry cost breakdowns show overheads outpace revenue across high-cost venues. William Lee, owner of Yilo Group and President of Persatuan Pemilik Restoran dan Bistro Malaysia, calculated that goods sold take 40 per cent of gross revenue. Staff costs consume 20 per cent, and rent takes 15 per cent. Utilities, promotional spending, and licensing take another 10 per cent each. Those figures push baseline operating costs to 105 per cent of income before tax.

    Illicit Trade Pressures Regulated Outlets

    Cheaper contraband beer is siphoning trade away from licensed outlets. Smuggled, untaxed stock sells at discounts of up to 50 per cent against legitimate supply. That pricing gap lures customers away from traditional street-corner operators that comply with local licensing and tax rules.

    Local eateries remain tied to the wider brewing supply chain. Data from the Confederation of Malaysian Brewers Berhad 2025 Economic Impact Assessment shows the domestic industry generates an annual average of RM3.3 billion in tax revenue. It also supports roughly 52,400 jobs across production, logistics, and retail hospitality.

    Policy Demands for Budget 2027

    Beyond alcohol taxes, trade groups are pushing back on blanket wage mandates. The association wants future statutory wage increases phased in with adjustments for regional living costs and local trading capacity. Members argue flat national hikes would force small operators to cut staff or shorten business hours.

    Family-run eateries have minimal cash reserves and struggle to pass cost increases to consumers cutting back on dining out. Previous cost shocks after post-pandemic reopenings left neighbourhood outlets with almost no retained earnings to absorb another hit.

    The Timeline for Fiscal Decisions

    Finance ministry officials are currently finalizing allocations and tax measures ahead of the national budget presentation. Coffee shop trade groups are lodging formal memoranda with state and federal ministries to secure excise freezes before the fiscal framework is locked in.

    Parliament will debate the budget measures in October, when lawmakers decide whether to freeze alcohol excise rates and adjust the service tax threshold for licensed food service providers.