Page 17 - Forbes - Asia (September 2018)
P. 17
Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to cafe and bakery 85C in Los Angeles created a cafeine jag for parent company Gourmet Master.
thought to be the optimal temperature for brewing cofee, according od to accelerate the expansion of it 85C stores in China as well as
to Wu Cheng Hsueh, the company’s founder and chairman. Cus- the U.S.
tomers associate the brand with its budget cofees, sea-salt- avored he company’s reluctance to comment further shows it wants
cofee foam and birthday cakes. Retired people oten gather at its to move on from the ap and get its business back to normal, says
outlets to drink, read newspapers and chat. Liang Kuo-yuan, president of the Taipei-based think tank Polaris
Gourmet Master’s earnings jumped by almost 23% last year Research Institute. “If China doesn’t give it any more pressure, then
to $70.3 million. he company’s revenue came in at $757 million it can get over this diiculty,” Liang says. But, he advises, Chinese
in the same period, with about two thirds of sales coming from oicials may be mulling more “limits on the freedom” of Taiwanese
China. he company had allocated $59 million in the same peri- investors in its territory. F
SEPTEMBER 2018 FORBES ASIA | 15
