Shakey’s acquires Singapore milk tea brand R&B—and will bring it here soon

Shakey’s Philippines, the country’s largest casual dining restaurant, has acquired one of Singapore’s leading milk tea brands R&B for franchise. R&B has more than 1,000 outlets worldwide, including outlets in China, US and Malaysia. 

Under the master franchise agreement made with Koufu Group Ltd, Shakey’s can now sell R&B’s milk tea, bubble tea, and other specialty tea drinks in stand-alone formats and co-branding in select Shakey’s and Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken (another acquisition) outlets.

The 45-year-old full-service pizza chain claims that the growing milk tea market in the Philippines is currently at 45 million consumers. A study even ranked Filipinos as the second highest bubble tea drinkers in Southeast Asia. And with milk tea as one of the bestselling products for delivery and takeout, the pizza chain’s established in-house delivery infrastructure poses progress for itself and R&B.

Shakey’s CEO Vicente Gregorio says that they will focus on out-of-store consumptions to minimize investment costs and utilize their existing assets. Since the start of the pandemic, the company has launched strategic initiatives such as al fresco dining, park-n-order, and co-branded locations. Shakey’s will continue working on other innovations during the crisis, particularly smaller store formats in the likes of ghost kitchens and delivery hubs.

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