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Kyoto coffee chain '% Arabica' opens in Taiwan, goes viral

% Arabica's first Taiwan franchise is located in Xinyi District

Aug. 11, 2022 16:36

Kyoto-based coffee shop "% Arabica" opens in Taiwan on Aug. 11.

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TAIPEI (Taiwan News)— Located near Elephant Mountain Hiking Trail, the Kyoto coffee chain "% Arabica," aka "% ΔRΔBICΔ" opened its first franchise in Taiwan on Friday (Aug. 11) and welcomed an unexpectedly large crowd.

The founder of % Arabica Kenneth Shoji opened his first shop in Hong Kong in 2013 and a flagship store in Kyoto the following year. In the beautiful and historic city of Japan, the store went viral on Instagram.

The Taiwan store is its 120th location overseas. The white walls are consistent with the store's traditional design, and the red bricks reflect architectural motifs in Taipei.

Shoji shared that his father was an owner of a trading company, so they had to go on business trips frequently when he was a child. It was those travels that inspired his love for design, culture, and architecture.

The exterior design of the new store in Taiwan (% Arabica photo)

All the baristas were sent to Kyoto for training (Taiwan News photo)

“Through experiencing different cultures, seeing rich and poor people, I started to wonder who I was and asked myself what kind of life I wanted,” Shoji said.

As a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, Shoji said that his love for coffee began there. He was influenced by Starbucks’ coffee culture and other serene coffee atmospheres since 1990.

In order to make his coffee dream come true, he bought a coffee farm in Hawaii and started trading beans worldwide after college. As of August 2022, he has expanded his business into 17 countries.

On opening day in Taipei, Tainan-based YouTuber Alice visited the store and shared a clip on her Instagram showing a long line outside the shop. According to the store, there were people waiting outside at 6 a.m., and some visitors had to wait up to three hours for their cups of coffee.

At % Arabica Taiwan, they roast their own beans and serve espresso, macchiato, caffe latte, Kyoto latte, and more. The shop opens from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday and from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on the weekend.