Since when has La Kaffa offered franchises for businesses offering Taiwanese traditional desserts under the trade name 'ZenQ Dessert', separate from Chatime?
Chatime Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
La Kaffa also offers franchises for a number of other Store concepts by itself or through its subsidiaries. La Kaffa has offered franchises for businesses offering specialty coffees, teas, and meals under the trade name "La Kaffa Coffee" since July 2010. As of December 31, 2024, La Kaffa has sold one La Kaffa Coffee franchise worldwide. La Kaffa has offered franchises for businesses offering Taiwanese traditional desserts under the trade name "ZenQ Dessert" since January 2012. As of December 31, 2024, La Kaffa has sold one ZenQ Dessert franchise worldwide. La Kaffa has offered franchises for businesses offering specialty baked goods under the trade name "Bake Code" since November 2014. As of December 31, 2024, La Kaffa has sold approximately five Bake Code franchises worldwide. La Kaffa has offered franchises for businesses offering high-end tea-based beverages under the trade name "Chatime Lounge" since October 2016. As of December 31, 2024, La Kaffa has not sold any Chatime Lounge franchises worldwide. La Kaffa has offered franchises for businesses offering Sichuan folk beef noodles under the name "Duan Chun Zhen" since July 2019. As of December 31, 2024, La Kaffa has sold 14 Duan Chun Zhen franchises worldwide.
Source: Item 1 — The Franchisor, and Any Parents, Predecessors, and Affiliates (FDD pages 6–9)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Chatime's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, La Kaffa has been offering franchises for businesses specializing in Taiwanese traditional desserts under the trade name "ZenQ Dessert" since January 2012. As of December 31, 2024, La Kaffa had sold one ZenQ Dessert franchise worldwide. This is separate from the Chatime franchise, which focuses on coffee, tea, and bubble tea beverages.
This information is relevant for prospective Chatime franchisees as it provides insight into the other franchise offerings of La Kaffa, the parent company of Chatime Global. While you may be investing in a Chatime franchise, La Kaffa's experience with other brands like ZenQ Dessert could influence their overall franchising strategy and support systems. Understanding the performance and scale of these other ventures can give you a broader perspective on La Kaffa's capabilities as a franchisor.
It's important to note that the number of ZenQ Dessert franchises sold is quite small compared to Chatime, which had sold in excess of 100 franchises worldwide as of December 31, 2024. This difference in scale could mean that the support and resources available for ZenQ Dessert franchisees may differ from those offered to Chatime franchisees. Prospective franchisees should consider this when evaluating the overall stability and growth potential of the Chatime franchise system.
For further research, a potential franchisee may want to ask Chatime about the strategic importance of the ZenQ Dessert brand within La Kaffa's portfolio, the level of resource allocation and support provided to ZenQ Dessert franchisees compared to Chatime franchisees, and the future growth plans for the ZenQ Dessert brand and how they might impact Chatime.