Quench Your Thirst at Dakasi

"To shake only upon order” is one of the promises of DAKASI, a popular milk tea brand that traces its roots in Taiwan. Boasting over 400 stores in China alone and continuously growing in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, DAKASI has found its way to the Philippines through the efforts of the brand’s chief operating officer in the country, Aldrich Kho, and his partners.

Another DAKASI commitment is that ingredients are made in-house. “DAKASI cooks its own sugar syrup unlike some milk tea chains,” Mr. Kho says, “We brew using real tea leaves to get the authentic tea taste and our pearls are served within three hours after they are cooked.”

It has been six months since DAKASI expanded their branch here in Cebu, in that six months they already have many customers who keep on coming back because they make sure that they can give good service and satisfaction in each customer and hopefully six months from now, they will expand their branch at I.T Park.

DAKASI Philippines aims to develop a nationwide chain of gourmet drinks. Milk teas and bubble teas have long been part of the Asian diet, but not for the Filipinos. With their fresh, unique and convenient drinks, they want to make milk teas an indispensable part of the daily lives of Filipinos.

DAKASI has branches spread throughout Luzon. These branches are in Marquee Mall, Annapolis Carpark, Banawe, U.N, Harbour Point, Dela Rosa Carpark, Market! Market!, McKinley, Dapitan, Festival Mall, Robinsons Place Otis, P. Tuazon Cubao, Tomas Morato, SM Calamba, Robinsons Place Manila, Trinoma and Leon Guinto. So far in Cebu, they only have one branch which is located at the 3rd floor of Ayala Center Cebu Terraces. 

DAKASI belongs to the functional beverage sector and is surrounded with local competitors such as Chatime, Tea Religion, Sprockets, and Bubble Bee and Tea -  among others. Dakasi and its competitor have more or less the same price range and sell similar products. 

DAKASI segments their customers demographically by age. Furthermore, the company offers milk teas, hot teas and cold teas for children and teens which are more visually colorful. There are also available teas for ages 40 and above which are mostly into hot teas. Moreover, the company offers teas that are most suitable for their customers. There are four basic tea blends--green, black, roasted barley, and four seasons--batches of which are periodically brewed fresh. Finally, the company’s segmentation for income can be attributed to the price range of their products which run from Php 70.00 to Php 120.00.  Definitely, the products bought by the customers are at par with the customers’ income.

Here is a picture of their menu. 
(Click to enlarge)

DAKASI targets customers from the average to high-income group. Their hot drinks range from Php 75.00 - 85.00 (for creamy milk drinks and hot tea), Php 90.00 - 100.00 (for matcha tea and special milk tea). Their cold drinks range from Php 70.00 (for fresh tea),Php 80.00 (for smoothies) Php 90 - 100 (for specialty drinks, iced drinks, and iced tea),Php 100.00 (for special milk tea, matcha tea, and fruity yoghurt drinks), and Php 110.00 (for yakult tea). They have a separate price for add-ons which range from Php 10.00 (pearl, Oreo *new*), Php 15.00 (red bean, grass jelly, coconut jelly and chocolate pudding), Php 25.00 (egg pudding) to Php 35.00 (aloe vera).

DAKASI utilizes the Undifferentiated and Individual Marketing Strategies. The company ensures to it that “the common ones” are greater than the “different ones” so that it will be a hit to the mass, thus Undifferentiated Marketing. However, the company also tailors for the different wants and needs of their customers. The company can customize drinks as to the level of sweetness that customers want.

DAKASI'S value proposition offers “More for more”. The company ensures to it that customers get “only the best” when it comes to their products. The company believes that it’s not only the price that matters, but also the value, satisfaction and benefits the customers get in return for what they pay for. The company’s edge over the competitors is that they offer unique flavors and a fresh teas. The company has also been standing since 1990, which gives them an advantage over the competitors with regards to experience.

Cebu is now a breeding-ground for milk tea houses. Milk teas are not anymore foreign to the Cebuanos' taste buds.There are now a lot of milk tea houses sprouting here and there. As a result, demand for these drinks are slowly dropping down. Competition in this business is very tough due to the high number of milk tea sellers in town. However, prices for these products still remain relatively high even if demand has dropped down (but not drastically) and there is a lot of supply. This is because the raw materials for these products are very much affected by external factors such as truck ban, and other natural phenomenons.

Since competition is tough, it is but a common notion for the proprietors of these business to think of something unique - an edge - over their competitors. For Dakasi's case, their edge is that they don't only offer teas of all sorts, but also a wide variety of add-ons, smoothies and fruity yoghurt drinks.

Here are some of their best-selling teas: 

Blueberry Iced Tea (Regular, Php 90.00)

Charcoal Roasted Milk Tea (Large, Php 90.00) with Oreo Add-on (Php 10.00)

Jasmine Milk Tea (Large, Php 90.00) with Oreo Add-on (Php 10.00)

Yakult Peach Tea (Regular, Php 100.00)