“I want some bubble tea.”
“Oh, I know a great place for that. It’s around Bay and Dundas.”
“Really? What’s it called?”
“I think it’s called Chatime. Want to check it out?”
If you are around Eaton Centre, Toronto, you may hear this conversation a lot on the street. In fact, Chatime isn’t a great place for bubble tea. It is the BEST!!!
Alright, I do need to admit I have strong bias towards the shop, but their bubble tea is actually really (X10) good.
Bubble tea originates in Taichung, Taiwan. The traditional way of making bubble tea is to mix the tea with syrup and ice cubes and shake them in a shaker. After the drink is mixed, bubbles will appear on top of the drink. That is how the drink gained its name. For Taiwanese love tea so much, bubble tea shops raised quickly over the past 20 or more years.
Excluding the intense bubble tea competition in Taiwan, even in Toronto, bubble tea is a hot sell business among the Chinese/Asian community. The stores mostly combine bubble tea with Taiwanese food. So, in Toronto, bubble tea shops are also known as bubble tea restaurants. There are Destiny, Go For Tea, 168 etc…
However, the Toronto bubble tea market does not have a brand leader. Every owner seems to have their own idea for presenting bubble tea. To be the brand leader is Kenton, Chatime Toronto’s owner’s dream.
Cha means tea in Chinese. So, combining Cha and Time together, we receive a meaning of a time for tea. This catchy name caught Kenton’s eyes during his honeymoon in Australia.
“I saw so people lining up for bubble tea. I thought might as well just give it a try. So that we could tell our friends that we had bubble tea in Australia. After all, we came from Toronto, where a lot of bubble tea shops were around.”
Honestly, before Chatime started, almost all the Taiwanese people would agree that bubble tea in Toronto is not as pleasing as Taiwan’s. Some of the products were made by powder. The actual tea absents from the drinks.
“The taste was totally different from what we had in Toronto! I could really taste the flavor of the tea in my drink!”
With that moment of thought, Kenton started thinking about starting a bubble tea business in Toronto. He gathered information about all the potential franchises.
“We had to choose from many different franchises. After all the options, we still chose Chatime. I love their catchy name, their logos and most importantly, their products.”
While talking to Kenton, he was holding brown rice green tea too. The following conversation shows this guy doesn’t only like bubble tea. He LOVES bubble tea. In fact, it is possible to say his life is strongly influenced by bubble tea.
It all goes back to ten years ago. Kenton was a freshman stepping out of post-secondary. He just began his first online business. Life was not easy back then. He was in with credit cards. (To be confirmed if this can be put) The online business was not stable yet. As he flashes back, he was at the valley bottom of his life. He appreciates the experiences, but never wants to re-experience the period.
It was one day. Kenton stepped into a bubble tea restaurant with his friends. He liked the drink.
“I wanted to have my own bubble tea store ever since then.”
Within ten years, this idea remained as a simple thought in Kenton’s mind.
Although Kenton did not know how he would approach to such goal, after ten years, he does feel fulfilled his dream.
A promise fulfilled for himself from ten years ago.
Furthermore, Kenton met his wife in a bubble tea restaurant.
“I went in with my friends. Then I saw this beautiful lady. I was really shy back then. I still am, but I mean I didn’t know how to talk to her.”
Kenton may seem shy, but he is definitely gentle and…. You can say he’s cute by how he first communicated with Mila, his wife.
“I wrote ‘can I have your phone number?’ on the back of the receipt and waited for her to come for collecting the tips.”
As a matter of fact, Mila did give Kenton her numbers. However, Kenton remained their romance sealed. Well, let the couple has their own memory, right?
As mentioned earlier, Kenton is ambitious. His goal for Chatime Toronto is to become the leader of the bubble tea industry in Toronto. However, while throwing compliments at him, he often smiles and humbly accepts them. A question was raised during the chat about his ambitious goal and humble heart. These two qualities are often difficult to discover at the same time in a person.
“Reality has its way to teach you humility.” Kenton responded with this answer.
Countless doubts, countless sleepless nights, countless pressures and countless challenges molded Kenton who he is.
There must be a lot more stories hidden behind his smiles as well as the reply. Regardless those untold stories, Kenton has made it. He is at the foundation to do greater things. His appreciative, humble and ambitious characters inspire me as an entrepreneur-want-to-be.
“Keep on trying out what you want to do and just do it. Do not let others discourage you as long as you know this will work out at the end. Also, study as much as you can. Education is very important. Bachelor degrees and diplomas are more than pieces of paper. The meanings lying behind them are far more important than the actual education achievement. However, they are still very important for having professional knowledge.” Kenton gives the advice to those who want to start business or trying to find out life direction.
In Midas Touch, by Kiyosaki and Trump, one of the five qualities that an entrepreneur requires is “the little thing that counts.” The little thing means the details that people want to improve for others benefits. In another word, it means the central goal or vision of the entrepreneur or a company. For example, the invention of the light bulb, fast food restaurant chain, and pizza delivery under 30 min are all little thing that can benefit the community. As for Kenton’s, I guess, is introducing decent bubble tea and share it with the community.
In Toronto, when you walk on Dundas St. around Bay St, you will often see a long line up and that line up is more than likely to be waiting for ordering at Chatime. If you see a six feet tall cool Asian without glass working inside the bar, whom will probably be Kenton. Feel free to say hi and give some encouragement to him and the staffs. They will truly appreciate your words!
This store is recently opened on Sept 25, 2012. As I saw friends posting pictures on Facebook, I thought of coming here to check it out myself.
The drinking process is kind of interesting. You need to drink the cream and the tea at the same time, but be careful. Of mixing them together before you drink. You will have this delicious taste of salty and sweet merging together in your mouth. The green tea itself is quite decent. It’s an interesting mix and match for those who want to try something new.
Solomon's Mind 