My Experience with Tealive Cebu at the Ayala Central Bloc

I have tasted several foreign-owned tea shops. My first experience with tea shops was with Chatime (read here). Now, I heard of this new coffee shop (or tea shop, take your pick) called Tealive. At first, I thought it was Taiwanese but when I Googled it--it was Malaysian. It made sense that the company uses only Halal-approved ingredients since Malaysia has a huge Muslim population. The founder is Malaysian-Chinese businessman Bryan Loo of Loob Holdings. Loob here also means inside as the Tagalog language also derives from the Malay language. Tealive would later head to the Philippines. It would be like getting Filipinos closer to their Malaysian heritage after all.

The branches in Cebu include SM City, SM Seaside, and Ayala Central Bloc. The one I ate was at Ayala Central Bloc. Someone gave me a taste of their sandwich and their signature coffee. I was pretty much impressed that I decided to dine in there. I went to try their lychee tea and chees burger. For a note, their ham sandwich is chicken ham and not chicken plus ham since it's a Halal-approved establishment. I have tasted their chicken ham (and it tastes better than pork harm) and their hamburgers. I'm definitely looking forward to tasting more of their tea.

The Marketing Interactive shows the marketing done by Loo himself.

Tealive is expanding into Manila and has appointed Mike Dumaual to lead its operations as GM. The Southeast Asian tea chain said on LinkedIn that Dumaual will be leading the charge on business operations across the Philippines, including store expansion strategy and boosting the Tealive brand to be Philippines’ preferred lifestyle tea brand.
Meanwhile, Dumaual has over 22 years of experience with a focus on marketing and brand management, in the F&B and FMCG sectors with such as Mang Inasal, Jollibee, and Burger King. “I’m truly excited to lead Tealive’s grand entry into the Philippine market, knowing how milk tea-crazy this country is. The ambition is not just to make it a milk tea player but a major and respected F&B lifestyle brand that Filipinos will love," he said.
Bryan Loo (pictured), CEO of Loob Holding, told A+M that the Philippines is its first market entry together with its new private equity partner Creador. "Filipinos are, no doubt, huge lovers of milk tea products in Southeast Asia. Together with Creador's extensive local resources in the Philippines, we decided to enter this market to build the next well-loved homegrown milk tea brand. He said:
Our vision is to expand 30 outlets by the end of 2022 and double our store count every other year.

KL Foodie

An additional note is that the current CEO of Tealive is Malaysian actor Ahmad Fikry Ibrahim (left of Loo). Loo mentions the reason why Ibrahim has become part of the Malaysian Tealive family:

“Tealive is home-grown and a proudly Malaysian brand which has spread to nine countries across five continents, serving over five million customers each month,” he said.
“We welcome Fikry to helm the role of Tealive CEO for our coffee campaign. He has also grown from his early days of Lawak Solo to be a wholesome family-oriented and happy-go-lucky celebrity adored by millions of fans,” he added.
“Fikry’s enthusiasm for the Tealive brand is amazing. So, together, we will have much joy and fun serving more coffee throughout Malaysia,” he quipped.

I find this to be an interesting mix. Taiwanese milk tea found itself expanding in the Philippines. Taiwan's aboriginal tribes have very similar naming to the Philippines' aborigine tribes. In short, the links between Taiwan and the Philippines are closer than you think. I even wrote an article where I pointed to the similarities between Taiwanese natives and Filipino natives. I also wrote an article where I believe that many Asian indigenous groups are from Malaysia. A Malay CEO with brown skin would help Filipinos reconnect. Loo also saw the potential of the Philippines' milk tea population while retaining the use of halal-certified ingredients in Malaysia.

Now, the company is hitting large in Southeast Asia. Going to the Philippines has been a wise move since it's also part of the ASEAN country. I see that the Philippines can learn from Malaysia since both are related closely than one thinks.

#SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Economics Will Ultimately Hurt the WORKING CLASS

Cartoonist Zach Some people claim to fight for the working class--while refusing to work themselves. Some people claim to fight for the working class--while supporting policies that will prove detrimental to the working class. One of these policies is #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba--meaning to raise salaries and lower prices. I wrote some time ago about why #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba doesn't work . However, I'lm still attacked by Ad Homimens and Nom Sequiturs. How's that even possible anyway? Economics isn't magic! If President Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr.'s promise of PHP 20.00 kilo rice is absurd--so is the promise of #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba economics! Image by Sabrina Jiang © Investopedia 2020 I don't need a PhD in economics to understand cost accounting. The income statement would include salaries as part of the cost. The cost of goods sold includes salaries. Marketing and promotions include salaries. General and administrative would include salaries. Pa

Open FDI Equals CHINA?!

This is an interesting drawing I found on Facebook. It's often used to portray people who look at the removal of the unnecessarily restrictive 60-40 shares ownership policy as, "The current president's gift to China." The same was done during former Philippine president Atty. Rodrigo R. Duterte. The same was also done with Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. It makes me think of stupid comments written by idiots on Facebook. It would be ironic if a lot of anti-FDI and anti-American rants were made not only on Facebook but also were typed using Apple gadgets of all things! They may be quick to use whatever irrational reasons. Some reasons can range from foreigners "unfairly" owning the means to produce equipment (read here ) and that they're simply forced to participate in the capitalist economy model to survive (read here ). However, I must ask if these guys were forced to use the luxury brands they're using (read here ). As the map shows, s

Millions of Studies from the Trust Me Bro School of Economics Show #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Business Model Works

Happy Labor Day anyone? It's this time of the year when labor groups like Kilusang Mayo Uno (literally the May One Movement) would protest. They would raise banners demanding #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba. For those who don't speak Tagalog, it means raising salaries and lowering the prices of goods. However, basic cost accounting will tell you that salaries are part of the cost of production . People ignore facts and choose their feelings a lot . I tell them that salaries are part of the cost of production (no need for a Ph. D for that, which I no longer aim to get) but they just sneer at it . They think the government has absolute control over the economy like magic . Members of Filipino labor groups may even say that wage hikes aren't inflationary even when evidence shows otherwise. The Economics Help website presents why doing so can actually worsen inflation: Wage Push Inflation. If labour is able to push for higher wages, despite lower growth, then we could get a combi

Whoever Made This Meme About Coffee Shops May Have Never Seen (or PURPOSELY IGNORNING) Income Statements and Financial Statements

The Facebook group "Stop Blaming Capitalism for Socialism's Failures" is now plagued with Anonymous Participant posts. It's probably because they could no longer defend themselves. Anyway, let's think of the fallacy of this thinking. I'd like to point out that people get rich from the net profit --not from the sales. People should stop confusing sales for profits! Business & Plans If we look at that sample income statement, we look at how the coffee shop operates. Let's use the USD currency over the PHP, even if I'm a Filipino . The reason is that the sample income statement is from an American website. If we look at the income statement--we have sales deducted from the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), and every other expenses. SG&A means selling , general , and administrative expenses--which involves paying the coffee growers, the coffee refiners, the coffee packers, and the coffee brewers. The person who runs the coffee shop is involved in the chai

La Salsa: The Delicious Filipino-Mexican Cantina at Lahug, Cebu City

La Salsa Facebook Page I've eaten at La Salsa Twice. I've tried eating at El Taquito (which is probably no longer operational in Cebu) and El Loco (which closed down years ago). I've eaten the Mexican American style of Red Lizard (read here ). La Salsa Filipino-Mexican Cantina offers a delicious blend of Mexican food for the Filipino customer. It's another experience for delicious Mexican-style cooking. I've tried their beef fajita and enchilada. These are some of my favorite Mexican foods. For my first two dine-ins--I felt the cozy atmosphere of a home . I expected the enchiladas to be thinner but they are thicker. Perhaps, it's a different enchilada than the one I ate years ago. Both are delicious in their own way. I enjoyed the huger serving of enchilada. Right now, it's still the soft opening. Some items won't be available at the moment. Based on my own personal review, I'd recommend this restaurant to anyone who enjoys fusion cooking. I love h

Is Anybody Willing to Prove Filipino First Policy Has a Place in the Rising Asian Century for a Million Pesos, Tax Free?

Yesterday was the birthday of former president Carlos P. Garcia, who died in 1971. Garcia is often associated with the Filipino First Policy. Back in the 1990s, I remember how Filipino First Policy was taught in values education classes --never mind the glaring contradictions. The contradictions are that imported equipment was used, or that we can literally never escape the use of imported equipment. I wrote an article discussing why Garcia's Filipino First Policy has no place in the rising Asian Century . I haven't done academic work right now, having been disgruntled by the Filipino education system. Sadly, not even graduate school taught me the basics of stock market investment (such as equity funds) or how Cash 2 Go works. That's why some people say, "It's just a degree!" I often said, "Well your doctor went to college, your lawyer went to college, etc." However, it looks like a college degree may not be for everyone, under K+12! Some people are

The Irony of Getting Mad at Agricultural Imports Then Complaining About Inflation of Agricultural Goods

I really must laugh at the stupidity of "thought leader" pages or the comments on Facebook. A good example is the one above where Rosendo So says that onion importation could've prevented the price surge of onions. However, just reading the comments (and there's so plenty I wouldn't bother replying to them all) keep demanding protectionism for local farmers. The illogical stupidity of the comments proves one thing--there's still a significant surge of economic illiteracy in the Philippines. What do you expect from people who demand stuff like higher wages while lowering the prices of goods? Simple cost accounting dictates that wages are part of the production process. If you start raising up prices then you can expect the prices of goods to increase as well. They even don't bother to analyze the supply chain along with operational costs as well. I don't need a doctorate in economics to get it. Okay, I'll confess that I had a graduate degree from th

Why I Feel Investing Money in UITFs Might Be a Good Idea While Studying DIY Stock Trading

It's said anybody can do stock trading. However, the idea can be very suicidal if one decide to rush into stocks without studying how to effectively do it. Some people can even recklessly borrow tons of money and end up harming themselves when the trade was at a loss . They might've borrowed the money from a loan shark for all we know. I'm trying to study the stock trade though there's a good option. AXA Chinese Tycoon is a managed fund. Now, there's also Unit Investment Trust Fund (UITF) which could be a good alternative while one is learning to do stocks. Stocks can be learned but remember-- no investment is ever a walk in the park. Stocks need some time to learn. I haven't started direct stock trading it. Meanwhile, I'm aware that funds like the AXA Chinese Tycoon or the UITFs are powered by stocks . The pandemic has prevented me from doing direct translations. Instead, I decided to use GCash and ATRAM (linked to GCash ) to start another trading portfoli

Forget About Open FDI, Let's Open #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Stores Instead

A really disastrous decision! Before the Buwan ng Wika ends, I want to write about those who have been demanding "Sahod itaas! Presyo ibaba!" (Raise salaries, lower prices). Back in 2022, I wrote an article discussing why the demands for higher salaries, lower prices of goods, and handouts for all are a recipe for disaster . I could laugh at people who believed in the promise of PHP 20.00 per kilo of rice promise of Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. Before that, people had been demanding #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba during the reigns of the late former president Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III and former president Rodrigo R. Duterte. Image by Sabrina Jiang © Investopedia 2020 I did explain why the model doesn't work. In the cost of production, you need to account for everything that happens including salaries . Raising salaries during inflation can actually worsen the situation . It's because sticky inflation happens with cost-push factors (ex. cost of gasoline, co

Raising Salaries During Inflation Can Worsen Inflation

Translation: Raise up salaries! Lower prices! Let's all be united and move for a sustainable salary! It's tomorrow! Let's see each other on #MayOne2023! It's May 1 today and it's referred to as Labor Day . One of the many organizations in the Philippines called Kilusang Mayo Uno (May 1 Movement) has been doing the same nonsense all the time. Do these people even have the slightest idea of wealth generation? I doubt it. They have been demanding the same thing all over again. I wonder if these people are aware that it's not sustainable (read here ). The same movement has been to have salary increases in the midst of inflation. At first, it sounds like a good idea. However, the economic aspect will totally reveal why it isn't feasible. The Economics Help website presents why doing so can actually worsen inflation: Wage Push Inflation. If labour is able to push for higher wages, despite lower growth, then we could get a combination of rising inflation, but s

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