Founded in 2006 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Gong Cha expanded into Singapore in 2009. It briefly exited the Singapore market in June 2017, with its outlets here replaced by homegrown bubble tea brand LiHo.
It returned to the Singapore market a few months later under a different franchisee in December 2017. Mr Kang, who co-founded the Mr Bean soy milk chain, was responsible for bringing Gong Cha back to Singapore.
According to its website, Gong Cha had 29 outlets in Singapore.
CNA has made several attempts to get an official statement from Gong Cha. While an employee said over the phone that it would be rebranded, its marketing team declined to confirm any details.
A man at the Gong Cha office also declined to comment, citing confidentiality reasons.
He told CNA that a spokesperson will issue an official statement, but did not specify when or how, only to “wait” for it.
The Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU) said that while there are no indications of how Gong Cha’s workers would be affected, it stands ready to provide affected union members, if any, with assistance.
“In view of recent retrenchments carried out by other F&B companies, FDAWU appeals to all F&B workers to join the union earlier for better grievance intervention, and employment support and protection,” it added.
