MDT Review | Chaa Caffeine & Treats keeping up with coffee trends with croffles and matcha
The power of social media, along with the evolving coffee culture trends among millennials, have inspired new businesses adapting to these changes in consumer behavior and preferences.
Located in the historical Rua das Estalagens, a recently opened café is now serving specialty coffee and matcha to keep up with trends in millennial café culture. Chaa Caffeine & Treats is serving out-of-the-ordinary dishes and drinks for its young target market in a humble space accented with colors of green and cream. Speaking to the Times, young entrepreneur Hugo Lo said: “Now it’s important for youngsters to be able to sit down, enjoy the drink, and feel relaxed. It wasn’t this case 10 years ago.”
Maximizing the power of social media, the brand promotes itself both on Instagram and Facebook, as its target market are regular users of these social media platforms. “The generations X, Y, and Z are always striving to improve and become better than before. If you really want to stand out from the crowd, then you need to bring out new ideas,” said Tiffany Law, Lo’s business partner.
“We are also discovering and experimenting with other drinks that have not yet been seen before,” she added.The café serves both savory and sweet croffles, which are a mashup of croissants and waffles – a dish that is uncommon in the small city.
The “Big Breakfast” is recommended as its features croffles, mushrooms, tomato, scrambled egg, sausages and mixed greens. For the sweet tooth, “Chaffle” is the chef’s recommendation – featuring charcoal croffles, matcha, mascarpone and white chocolate chips.Lo recommends guests try these dishes with their signature hand-whisked “Creamy MatChaa” and “Creamy HoujiChaa” drinks.
The local brand sources their products from a known matcha producer in Malaysia, and its coffee products are locally sourced from Lotus Café. Lo believes that opening the café amid the economic crisis triggered by the global pandemic was just the right decision. Although borders remain partially closed and the café cannot cater to a larger market, the young entrepreneur believes that it is a good time to “promote local brands, with the aim of bringing it to China.”
