How Did Bubble Tea Become So Famous In Singapore

Bubble tea was first introduced to the country in 1992, the popularity of bubble tea and low costs required to set-up a shop hence, lead to a massive opening of bubble tea brands in Singapore.

However, the sudden arrival of many bubble tea shops also meant more intense competition which became too much to handle. Each-A-Cup’s 51 outlets in 2001 had dwindled to about 15 in 2003. This is just one of the many examples.

After a few years of inactivity, bubble tea became popular again due to the entrance of Taiwanese brands like Gongcha and Koi.

As bubble tea continues to become a constant favourite in Singapore, the interest in bubble tea has seen an exponential rise in recent years. This is due to the expansion of brands like Tiger Sugar, The Alley and Milksha into Singapore.

The main driving force of the popularity of the bubble tea is due to social media marketing. An example would be LIHO, Singapore’s home-grown tea brand.

Screenshot from LIHO's Facebook Page

Since the start of circuit breaker, LIHO has been hosting daily bubble tea giveaway.  the giveaway is divided into different parts of Singapore. LIHO also made use of 3 different social media platforms to host the giveaway, there are Instagram, Facebook and Telegram Channel.

I hope this brief introduction of bubble tea will give you a clearer idea of how bubble tea chains evolve over the years.

Till then, take care and stay safe!