Ellen Zhang - taking Kiwi cafe culture to China
posted on 24th May 2015
May 2015 - The international arm of Esquires Coffee, owned by NZ-listed Cooks Global Foods, has a secret weapon in its plans to open hundreds of outlets in provinces throughout China. Ellen Zhang is a former Esquires franchisee who used to work for YMCI, a Chinese government organisation, where she built relationships with large property and retail companies.
Zhang is spearheading the drive to sell Kiwi coffee culture to her home country, just 11 years after arriving in New Zealand as a migrant who found her first job serving in a cafe near Auckland's Britomart transport station. She went on to buy into her first Esquires shop franchise.
She said her dual cultural background had helped her do business. She said: "There is a lot of opportunity for us in China as there is a trend to drink coffee and talk business. At one time coffee would have been reserved for foreigners, and you would have had to go to a hotel to get it.
"Now, if Chinese people don't visit coffee shops they are considered old-fashioned and behind the times!
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