Ever since homegrown coffee chain outlet Zus came into the public foray several years ago back in 2019, I have stopped patronizing Starbucks and Coffee Bean for my regular caffeine fix.
Compared to others, Zus is a class above the rest of the coffee chain gang. Why, you may ask so? Besides being conveniently located a mere 5-minute driving distance from my neighborhood, the primary reason is that it serves specialty coffee at a more affordable price tag. Thanks to this factor, more people can afford to enjoy a higher life, albeit without burning their wallets.
Secondly, it has kick-a** promotions that offer buy-one-free-one deals regularly. Similar to the popular Golden Arches, Zus cleverly uses various marketing tactics from time to time to retain and bring in more new customers. Come on, everyone loves a good deal, especially in these uncertain and tough economic times, so getting their bang for the buck means helping to save money to buy other useful things altogether.
Third, Zus has a more diversified choice of beverages and snacks to suit the local market palate instead of Caucasian people. Imagine sipping uniquely delicious concoctions like the Peranakan-inspired pandan gula melaka coconut frappe on a hot sunny day in an edible rice straw. How sustainably cool is that?
Also, another thing that attracts me to Zus is due to its crisp signature blue and white logo design. I am not sure why, but the man in the Zus logo reminds me of the powerful Greek God Zeus. Hence, after drinking Zus coffee, I get God-like superpowers and can go and fight the evil Titans with my deadly thunderbolts while standing on top of Mount Olympus.
Even though I crave China 'Luckin Coffee' after first having a taste of it in Chongqing, China about three months ago, I felt that China's leading coffee chain players could not lift a finger to Zus despite some of its ‘so-called’ competitive prices. After all, Chinese coffee-drinkers in China have a distinct acquired flavor and taste compared to local Malaysians. Ask yourself, what is a moutai-laced latte? Or else, would you even be allowed to drink it in the first place?
The Chinese mass market compared to Malaysia is starkly different since things widely acceptable to them may not be acceptable at all to the people and local Government here. For example, I suffered quite the culture shock recently in Chongqing and nearly vomited out all my ‘Mala’ spicy noodles for I saw some food vendors sold disgusting creepy crawlies like barbequed snakes on sate sticks for consumption. And mind you, that particular incident took place in a modern-trendy food court area.
So, who will be ‘numero-uno’ in this Coffee Wars race? Well, the truth shall only prevail through time.
Lim Su Yee is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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