Since opening in December 2023, Palgong Tea has given Brantford residents another option when it comes to enjoying tasty drinks, offering a unique line of bubble teas in many flavors.
Tom Zhang, who is the owner and operator, decided to come to Brantford to start his business.
“After I graduated from Seneca College in Toronto in 2021, I was looking for a job at the time. A few friends of mine had some property in Brantford [and] during COVID, many of the commercial units sat empty because no one wanted to open up a business,” he said. “My friends and I thought that it might be a good idea to open something in one of the units… attracting tenants from the building and people around the area. We considered options like a pizzeria…but we settled on bubble tea.”
The Palgong Tea brand, which originally opened its first shop in South Korea in 2017, has expanded on a global scale and has grown in popularity. However, many people in Brantford have been discovering bubble tea only after the shop opened.
“Many people that have come here say they never have tried bubble tea before, so I talk with them, explaining that bubble tea is a customizable drink [which] gives them so many ways to [make it and] enjoy it. You can choose different tea bases [like] black tea, green tea or oolong. And you can choose how much sugar [or] ice that you want. You can make your drinks hot or cold [as well as] adding different toppings,” he explained. “There are really no limitations when it comes to creating your own drink…[and] I found that the younger generation don’t drink coffee that much. They have some options like [soft drinks], but with bubble tea, it gives them and many of our customers in general a fun and [delicious alternative.] I think that’s a big reason why it’s become so popular globally.”
Nevertheless, there are several very popular drinks that Zhang talks a little about.
“Our most popular item is the strawberry cheesecake milk tea. Some people who have enjoyed it count it as a dessert [but] the good thing about it is that you can adjust the sugar you want added to the drink. Another very popular would be our black sugar milk tea with tapioca,” Zhang said.
However, Zhang said the downtown location has been very helpful in attracting customers.
“We are in a great location…being near several campuses. One of our first goals was to join events from both Conestoga and Laurier [and] including for lunar new year…we brought some drinks to each campus, and we let the student to just try them for free…we [also] donate ten drinks every week to another event is for like movie night on every Wednesday during the winter semester. We found that many of our customers are students…[and] we recently collaborated with Assumption College School on their Asian heritage month this year,” explained Zhang.
Zhang has also been diligent in connecting with the community at large.
“We are looking at reaching out to more local high schools. We came to Pauline Johnson Collegiate & Vocational School [and] as vendors at an event called ‘Relay for Life’, which is a fundraiser against cancer. And we have collaborated with the Children’s Safety Village of Brant, which is a very popular local charity,” he said. “We also did a recent event at the Brantford General Hospital [which] helped us promote our drinks [by] giving hospital staff free samples…we try to find those opportunities as much as we can to get people familiar with us and our products.”
Social media has been a useful marketing tool in reaching out to people through Brantford.
“We use several platforms online to reach people. For Instagram, we have found that a lot of the younger generation are using it like high school and college students. But we have found that posting on Facebook has helped us. We don’t only post on our business page but have joined many neighbourhood or food-focused Brantford Facebook groups. And we have gotten a good reaction and a lot of positive feedback on Facebook…giving us suggestions on how to grow our brand in the community,” Zhang admitted.
Nevertheless, Zhang is dedicated to growing his business the right way.
“Everyone has been very supportive since we opened. I think Brantford is a great place to run a business for the long term. It will take time to grow here, but I believe that as long as we can be a part of the community, people will see that we want to be here for a long time,” said Zhang.
