How Singapore’s TWG Tea and Bacha Coffee became ‘affordable luxury’ brands in Asia, and how they trade on their heritage image
- TWG Tea has taken Asia by storm in recent years, helped by wealthy investors and, some say, its ‘1837’ branding, which doesn’t reflect the brand’s 2008 founding
- Legal battles were fought and TWG Tea axed the date, but Bacha Coffee, which was founded in 1910, retains the use of '1910', as its founders continue to turn their companies global
It’s another sweltering Saturday evening in Singapore, and the air conditioning at the ION Orchard shopping centre is doing its job. Inside, well-heeled tourists and locals line up behind a velvet rope, eagerly awaiting their entry into a room bursting with hues of orange, blue and gold.
But this isn’t a trendy nightclub, or even a chance to check out the newest iPhone. Once admitted, these guests will be drinking … coffee.
More specifically, Bacha Coffee, which has thrived in post-Covid pandemic Singapore thanks to the grandeur of its stores and its positioning in posh locations like ION.
It’s a spare-no-expense model that co-founders Taha Bouqdib and Maranda Barnes replicated after building Bacha’s sister brand, TWG Tea, into a status symbol across Asia.
“We are in the affordable luxury business,” says Bouqdib. “Tea and coffee are kind of necessity products that anyone in the world, when you wake up or in the afternoon, you must have it.”
They are also products that consumers, especially in Asia, are increasingly able and willing to pay a premium for.