Cocoa Colony to open 12 more outlets in Singapore by end-2015

The cafe chain seeks to target the masses.

Inspired by the cocoa beans and chocolate cafes found in the Republic of Ecuador and conceptualised in Singapore, Cocoa Colony is the latest chocolate café to launch locally as its first outlet opened in December at the newly renovated Shaw Centre on Scotts Road. Cocoa Colony is aimed at developing unique recipes for the brand. The cafe chain serves avant-garde cocoa beverages, crafted chocolate bars and lava-like flowing hot chocolate sauce and seeks to target the masses. It aims to open up to 12 outlets locally by the end of 2015.

“We love anything chocolate and know that cocoa has a lot of benefits including being a great antioxidant. We feel that there is currently no such café concept of a chocolate café for the masses that is not too overtly high-brow or too gourmet for the public. Our products are accessible and affordable to all demographics,” said Min, as she is affectionately known.

Min is the Director of Business Development and juggles meetings with the leasing departments of malls and globe-trotting in 4-inch heels.

Cocoa Colony started in Shanghai. According to Min, the founders initially spent a lot of time and effort to come up with the menu. The R&D for the recipes of the drinks and signature gelato/pastries took months. Also, as a start-up, Min admitted that it was not easy to find suitable/reliable suppliers/vendors to work with. “ We tapped on our network and put in a lot of effort for months to get the first outlet set-up. Most of us did not come from F&B background and we had a lot to learn. We quickly hired staff who has a lot of F&B experience. For eg., our Singapore GM has more than 14 years’ of experience in the F&B industry. We want to ensure all the outlets are run smoothly,” she explained.

Apart from expanding locally, Min disclosed that they plan to expand to other gateway cities like Beijing, Jakarta, Bangkok, Dubai etc. in the next few years.

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