Milk tea has always been the drink of choice for many people around the world and the arrival of Bubble Tea Station also known as BTS in 2012 only cemented the cold-tea-mixed-with-milk drink as a favorite among Cebuanos.
BTS is responsible for the milk tea craze that started when it first opened in 2012. It was founded by Meyan Lim-Young. It was, at the time, one of only a few places that sold the now famous bubble tea and was sought after from the day it was introduced to the Cebu market.
Meyan worked for a multinational bakery prior to establishing her own branch which entailed frequent trips to Manila where she would often meet up with her best friend who was an avid fan of bubble tea. She would go along with her best friend to try milk tea from different shops until eventually, she was hooked.
With a passion to bring milk tea to the Cebu scene and the support of her husband Johann Young, she established Bubble Tea Station in 2012 and opened its first branch at the Banilad Town Centre. She opened without even announcing and sought to sell at least 30 cups for the day just to break even but ended up selling 120 cups on the first day alone.
From that day on, BTS grew from just one kiosk and two employees to having branches in every major mall in the metro. The brand is widely recognized by Cebuanos when talking about milk tea.
After surviving a global pandemic and with the ever growing success of BTS, Meyan is celebrating 10 years of serving yumminess and introduced Create Coffee PH and Scoops Cafe.
Create Coffee PH specializes in iced coffee and tea drinks. It also allows its customers to customize their coffee to their liking. Its signature orange color appeals greatly to the Generation Z market as it radiates an aura of joy and determination.
Scoops Cafe, on the other hand, is the answer to one’s frozen yogurt and sundae fix.
Meyan had intended Scoops to be another milk tea brand, but due to the pandemic, this was not fully realized. A year into the pandemic, her brother-in-law expressed his desire for frozen yogurt and thus Scoops was born.
Both Create Coffee and Scoops Cafe are located at Ginza Complex, J. Panis St. where the Old Banilad Road was, and are ready to serve customers every day from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
As for its interior, when patrons step inside the cafe, they are welcomed into a bright, well-lit space, and the faint smell of coffee mixed with a familiar sweetness lingers in the air. The white walls and the natural wood grain furniture make for a relaxing atmosphere where one can catch up with friends or get some work done.
The journey, however, hasn’t been a bed of roses, as with all the success she and her brand received, she faced a number of challenges.
When the pandemic came, the question on her mind was whether they would make it to their 10th anniversary.
It didn’t help when she began to question what would become of her employees. But her doubts turned into determination: “We cannot give up because what is everyone going to do?” She added: “We want to give all our employees gainful employment. We also want to have a company that they’re proud to be working for.”
The pandemic has certainly taken a toll on the brand, but when one door closes, another opens.