Tealive doubles down on Myanmar market with uab bank tie-up

Tealive has tied up with Myanmar bank uab bank to integrate its store concept and offerings into the bank's new branches. According to CEO Bryan Loo (pictured), Tealive hopes to assist the bank in attracting younger customers, as well as create a social meeting place for bank customers.

Under the first phase within the next two months, uab bank plans to integrate four Tealive stores into its branches at Sanchanung, Shwe Gone Daing, Tarmwe and Thanlynn thus making it the first district in Yangon to have two outlets. Having opened three outlets in Myanmar last year together with food and beverage player Myanmar Food For Thought, Tealive is eyeing two more stores this month in Thanlyin and Hledan Centre.

“We will deepen our presence in Myanmar with the opening of 20 outlets by the end of this year, including integrating selected outlets into uab bank’s branches,” he said.

Uab bank's MD and CEO Christopher Loh said the collaboration is a win-win agreement and that Tealive is an excellent fit in its plan to offer consumers a new banking experience. He added that the bank plans to expand its branch network from the current 78 branches in 47 townships by adding 10 to 15 new branches each year, and has identified Tealive as a strategic partner to transform the customer experience and engagement.

“Our uab bank branches will be designed to meet the discerning needs of today’s dynamic young generation. Moving forward, we see Tealive adding tremendous value to our overall social and lifestyle offering,” Loh said.

Meanwhile just last week, the lifestyle tea brand doubled down on its sustainability efforts by rolling out a strawless bubble tea cup and a glass tumbler,with a pledge to reduce the use of single-use cups by 500,000 pieces a month next year. Tealive currently offers two types of reusable cups - a glass tumbler called OneCup designed by a young Malaysian entrepreneur Sam Loh, and this strawless bubble tea cup.

“As we searched for a sustainable solution to the use of single-use plastics, we thought it would be great to have a cup designed using food-grade materials for our pearls and other toppings that would not need a straw,” Loo explained.

Separately in 2019, Tealive appointed CIMB Bank as its principal advisor for its IPO. Loo told A+M in a statement that the listing exercise is the beginning rather than the destination of Tealive's journey in what that brand envisions to accomplish. This includes doubling down on growth locally and internationally, as well as tripling its innovation initiatives.

"Any potential upcoming corporate exercise is to live up to our mission of building Tealive into a truly global brand originating from Malaysia," he added. He also told A+M that the IPO "will definitely be" carried out this year, but declined to comment further on queries regarding the valuation of the company and its plans post-IPO.

Last year, Bloomberg reported that Loob Holding's IPO in Malaysia could potentially raise about RM300 million, and that the company is seeking a valuation of up to RM1 billion. The company also said last year that it intends to hire 1,200 to 1,500 more workers over the next two years as it expands aggressively to approximately 500 outlets in Malaysia by mid-2021.

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