Tapioca Express

Tapioca Express

Type	Private
Industry	Fast Food
Founded	Alhambra, California, United States 1999
Headquarters	South El Monte, California, United States
Number of locations	24
Areas served	California, Washington, Nevada
Website	tapiocaexpress.com

Tapioca Express (品客多; pinyin: Pǐnkèduō) is a Taiwanese-American fast food franchise chain specializing in bubble tea, coffee, a variety of fruit juices and slushes, and small meals and light snacks. Headquartered in South El Monte, California, Tapioca Express has locations in California and Nevada.^[1] Tapioca Express follows a franchise model and requires franchise owners to purchase supplies and ingredients only from the corporate headquarters, ensuring the same standard for all locations.^[2]

History

Tapioca Express was first founded in the city of Alhambra, California within Los Angeles County. ^[2] The company soon expanded, with two more stores opening in Northern California in 2000. These two were both franchises, setting the model for future expansion of the brand.^[3] As Tapioca Express grew in popularity, so did their menu selection. By 2002, they had over a hundred drink choices and Italian Expresso was introduced into all stores. By the end of 2002, Tapioca Express had over 45 franchises, extending beyond their original home state of California.^[3] Tapioca Express had goals to open over 100 franchises by 2009, however, the 2008 recession caused many stores to shut down, putting the company in a delicate situation financially. The company then was restructured in year 2009 and regained its margin and market share about 40% annual growth from year 2010 to 2014. Tapioca Express, as of July 2016, has 45 locations in California, Washington, and Nevada.

Overview

Tapioca Express has completed the S.O.P. (Standard Operation Procedure), in addition to the previous S.O.C. (Station Observation Checklist).

Tapioca Express – The Birth of the Pearl Tapioca Express first started in Los Angeles, California in August 1999. From the beginning, they wanted to provide only the best drinks and snacks with the finest of ingredients and recipes. In their enthusiasm for providing tea lovers fine tea drinks, they grew at a rapid rate, enabling their Franchise to spread all throughout California into other states, and even countries. Now, their customers can taste and enjoy their special drinks in a "cozy and welcoming environment" from states of California, Washington, and Nevada in the USA. ^[4]

Genuine Pearls - Exceptional Quality Pearl (Boba) Milk Tea is a special tea-based drink originally from Taiwan. Tapioca Express has successfully brought this tea drink culture to the United States. Most of their ingredients are imported from Taiwan so that tea lovers can have a genuine experience in trying these unique Taiwanese drinks. Their tea leaves are hand selected and coupled with their recipes, tea lovers can now indulge in the rich history of the Asian Tea Culture. Their experience and wisdom in this culture allows them to bring to you over 100 unique drinks.^[4]

Drinks & foods

Tapioca Express is known for bringing the boba drink culture to the United States in the late 90s.^[5] Since then, they have introduced over 100 unique drinks to their menu, ranging from juices to teas, and coffees to milk teas, and their trademark items, the Snow Bubble and Yogurt Frost. Food items include crispy chicken, crispy chicken wrap, calamari rings, pot stickers, as well as various other Taiwanese snacks.

Press & awards

Tapioca Express, since its founding in 1999, has received several accolades from various online publications, regional magazines, and business journals. These include its membership in the International Franchise Association and following its Code of Ethics. In 2004 it was ranked number 16 for the Los Angeles Business Journal's 25 Largest Franchisers Award ^[6] During the 27th Annual Asian Business Associations (ABA) Banquet and Award Ceremony in 2003, Tapioca Express was awarded their Strength of Teamwork Award

References