Taiwan-based Chatime has opened a store at Mecenatpolis mall in Seoul, its first in Korea.

Chatime is a bubble tea franchise with global network of 753 stores in 25 countries. Its first offshore store was opened in California in 2006 and it has since expanded to Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, India and Dubai.

It offers more than 70 bubble tea drinks including almond milk tea with sweet potato, red bean oat soymilk and ginger milk tea with sweet potato.

Chang Kuo-chiang, president of La Kaffa International which owns Chatime, plans to expand Chatime’s presence in Korea to 100 within three years.

Along with its expansion in Korea, Chatime will also take legal action against a copycat outlet which has appeared in Seoul.

This May, Chatime discovered a counterfeit outlet in Seoul, located on the opposite side of the famous Ewha Womans University. The fake outlet sold similar items and recruited potential franchisees.

“La Kaffa International would dedicate to defend our brand and reputation over the world,” said the company.

GB