Malaysia's Zus Coffee to add 6 outlets in Singapore

All it took Zuspresso to overtake Starbucks as Malaysia's largest coffee chain was less than five years since its inception.

It has almost 750 outlets in Malaysia - Starbucks has 320.

The American chain was affected by boycotts in Malaysia for its perceived Israel links amid the Gaza conflict.

After surpassing Starbucks in early-2024, the Malaysian coffee shop operator now plans to further expand with 200 new stores in South-east Asia this year, reported Bloomberg.

There will be at least 107 new Zus Coffee outlets in Malaysia, six in Singapore and about 80 in the Philippines, COO Venon Tian told Bloomberg.

There are four existing outlets in Singapore and about 120 in the Philippines.

Zus Coffee will also be introduced to Thailand and Indonesia this year.

Mr Tian attributes the chain's success to the customisation of flavours to suit the local market.

For example, the drinks flavoured with gula Melaka in Malaysia and purple yam in the Philippines.

Zus Coffee in late-2019 started out as a delivery kiosk with an app and thrived during the pandemic.

"Covid accelerated our business model," Mr Tian revealed.

"You've got the convenience store, which sells your coffee at RM5 ($1.49) and below. Then you have premium mass coffee selling at RM11 and above.

"So Zus positioned itself between that price point. It's about how we make quality coffee accessible to most people."