|
Zus Coffee
Zuspresso (M) Sdn. Bhd., doing business as Zus Coffee (stylized as ZUS Coffee) is a Malaysian coffee shop chain. History Zus Coffee opened its first ever outlet in November 2019, a roughly 19 m2 (200 sq ft) kiosk at Binjai 8 in the Kuala Lumpur City Centre. It was founded by Venon Tian and Ian Chua, who had backgrounds in running start-ups and information technology. They developed the associated pickup-and-delivery mobile application even before they opened their first store.[1][2] The early years were marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Quarantine measures made customers less inclined to drink coffee in "third places" or settings other than their residence or workplace. Zus Coffee on the other hand compared to most of its competitors would rely on the grab-and-go model.[1] By the end of 2023, there are 360 outlets in all of Malaysia.[1] In March 2023, Filipino businessman Frank Lao reportedly bought 35 percent stake in Zus Coffee with the intention to make the chain expand its operation to the Philippines.[3] Zus Coffee opened its first outlet in the Philippines at Eastwood Le Grand Tower 2 in Eastwood City, Quezon City in September 2023.[4][5] This marks as their first expansion outside Malaysia.[6] Zus was one of several local coffee chains in the Malaysian market experiencing a surge in patronage following a worldwide boycott on Starbucks in response to its lawsuit towards the Starbucks Workers United union following the latter's social media communications on 10 October 2023 expressing solidarity with Gazan civilians affected by war waged by the Israeli army 3 days before.[7][8] They open their first outlet in Brunei in late 2024.[9][10] BrandingIn 2023, Zus' official communications published a rationale claiming its logo portrays the Ethiopian shepherd Kaldi and its name a portmanteau of the words "zeal" and "us"; this came in response to a Malaysian conservative-affiliated Facebook page which called on Muslims to boycott the brand insisting that the branding suggest that of the Greek deity Zeus.[11] Products and modelZus Coffee would sell coffee-based beverages as well as pastries, sandwiches, and hot meals. It claims to sell products which are halal certified, avoiding usage of ingredients that would be haram such those which are pork-based and contains alcohol.[5] The business has its own dedicated ZUS Coffee app where customers can place their orders for delivery or pick-up.[12] The app was inspired from that used by Chinese chain Luckin Coffee.[1] References
External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
