Taiwanese bubble tea franchise Gong Cha has officially been replaced by homegrown tea brand LiHo in Singapore.
Rodney Tang, the found of RTG holdings – responsible for introducing Gong Cha to Singaporeans in 2009, decided on the big change after finding out that Gong Cha’s parent company (Royal Tea Taiwan) had sold their franchise to Gong Cha Korea.
So why the name LiHo, you ask? In Hokkien, Li Ho means “Are you doing well?” or “How are you?”. Along with the change in raw ingredients and tea suppliers, LiHo will be introducing bubble tea lovers to cheese teas and smoothies in their new menu.
When asked what will set LiHo apart from Gong Cha, Tang replied, “Tea is tea – there is only so much I can do to make it different.” By adding traditional teas with cheese, it’ll out the lightness and slight bitterness of the drink.
Among the flavours are Cheese Guan Yin, Honey Milk Tea with cheese, Cheese Yam Smoothie with custard pudding, and Hot Cheese Jing Syuan Tea.
Come 5th June, all 84 outlets in Singapore will be replaced with the brand LiHo. Rest assured Malaysians, since Gong Cha Malaysia is owned by someone else, we don’t see the franchise here being affected by the change in Singapore.
Feel free to check out LiHo’s new Facebook page and Instagram account.
Sources: AsiaOne(1)(2), The Straits Times, Goody Feed.
