Localisation Without Losing Identity: How TANING Adapts Its Menu in Every Market

Every beverage brand that expands internationally faces the same design question: how much should the menu change for local customers? Change too little and the product feels foreign; change too much and the brand loses the identity that made it worth franchising in the first place. TANING's answer is a deliberate structure — adapt the surface, protect the core.

The Core That Never Changes

Some things are fixed in every TANING store, in every country. Fresh lemons are pressed to a documented standard. Tea is brewed from Phoenix Dancong and other defined bases rather than from syrups and powders. Fruit and vegetable teas are built on real ingredients. Preparation happens in front of the customer, at a pace of roughly 15 to 30 seconds per cup.

That core is what customers experience as the brand. It is also what makes the franchise replicable: a partner in Malaysia and a partner in Canada are selling the same recognisable product, which is why marketing material, product photography and new product launches can be shared across markets.

The Surface That Adapts

Around that core, TANING adapts. The most significant area is sweetness and flavour intensity. Markets differ enormously in how sweet and how aromatic they expect a drink to be, and the same recipe that delights customers in one city can feel excessive in another. In Malaysia, adapting the menu to local taste and local requirements has been part of the brand's operating approach, with roughly a third of the offering adjusted for the market, including the considerations required for halal certification.

Product framing matters too. The brand's experience in Thailand is a useful illustration: a signature flavour profile that reads as fresh and floral to one audience can be perceived quite differently by another, and the response is not to remove the product but to adjust how it is presented, paired and described.

Category mix is a third lever. Where customers expect food alongside drinks, the brand's snack and dessert items — including its egg waffle range — take on greater importance. Where delivery dominates, packaging and drink stability become the priority.

The Operating Ratio

The useful way to think about TANING's approach is as a ratio: a majority core menu that guarantees brand consistency, plus a defined portion of local adaptation that makes the store feel native to its market. This ratio protects both sides of the franchise relationship — the partner gets a product that local customers actually want to drink, and the brand retains the identity that supports pricing power.

What It Means for a Partner

For a prospective franchisee, localisation capability is a sign of franchisor maturity. It means the brand has been in enough markets to know what can change, what must not change, and how to document the difference so that quality holds across the network. It also means the training and supply systems support the adaptation rather than being broken by it. A brand that can operate in Thailand, Malaysia, New Zealand, the United States and India while keeping a recognisable signature product has already solved the problem that defeats most first-time international operators.

Next Step

If you want to know specifically how TANING's menu would be configured for your market — which items form the core, which are adapted, and what the localisation process involves during the pre-opening period — submit a partnership enquiry through the official website at www.taning.net/en. The international team can walk you through market-specific menu planning, store formats and the support provided from application through to opening.