ZUS Coffee

ZUS Coffee, legally operated by Zuspresso (M) Sdn. Bhd., is a Malaysian coffeehouse chain founded by Venon Tian and Ian Chua. The company opened its first outlet in November 2019 at Binjai 8 in Kuala Lumpur City Centre. The initial location was a small kiosk of approximately 19 square metres, reflecting a compact retail format rather than a large sit-down café. Before the first store opened, the founders had already developed a mobile application supporting customer ordering, pickup, and delivery. This technology-led approach became central to the brand’s operating model. The company entered the market shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, when restrictions and changes in consumer behaviour reduced traffic to traditional cafés and other social “third places.” ZUS Coffee emphasized takeaway, delivery, and app-based ordering, allowing it to continue serving customers who were spending more time at home or avoiding crowded venues. Its format combined relatively small outlets with digital ordering and a menu centered on coffee-based beverages, pastries, sandwiches, and hot meals. The brand also states that its products are halal-certified and avoids ingredients associated with haram dietary restrictions, including pork and alcohol. ZUS Coffee expanded rapidly in Malaysia during the early 2020s. By the end of 2023, the chain had approximately 360 outlets across the country. Its app was reportedly influenced by the digital ordering experience of Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee, and the company’s technology infrastructure helped support a high-volume pickup-and-delivery model. The brand’s proposition has generally combined accessible pricing, convenience, locally relevant menu offerings, and a modern coffeehouse identity. The company began international expansion in 2023. In March of that year, Filipino businessman Frank Lao was reported to have acquired a 35 percent stake in the business, with an intention to support expansion into the Philippines. ZUS Coffee opened its first Philippine outlet in September 2023 at Eastwood Le Grand Tower 2 in Eastwood City, Quezon City. It subsequently entered Singapore, opening its first outlet at Changi Airport in October 2024, and Brunei in November 2024. The reference material also records openings in Thailand in August 2025 and Indonesia in 2026, although those later expansion dates may require confirmation against current company or local-market sources. The brand has also attracted attention outside its core retail operations. In 2023, official communications explained that the logo was intended to portray Kaldi, the legendary Ethiopian coffee shepherd, and that the name combined the ideas of “zeal” and “us.” The explanation followed a call from a Malaysian conservative-affiliated Facebook page for a boycott based on an allegation that the branding resembled Zeus, the Greek deity. ZUS Coffee has additionally lent its name to the Zus Coffee Thunderbelles, a women’s volleyball team associated with Strong Group Athletics in the Philippines Premier Volleyball League from 2024. In April 2025, the company diversified into locally oriented instant coffee through a lifestyle-innovation initiative under the NGUPI brand. This move extended ZUS Coffee beyond cafés and prepared beverages into packaged consumer products. Overall, the brand’s growth has been driven by compact stores, digital commerce, affordable coffee positioning, halal-market relevance, and regional expansion from Malaysia into neighbouring Southeast Asian markets.

ZUS Coffee was established in Malaysia by Venon Tian and Ian Chua, entrepreneurs whose backgrounds included startup operations and information technology. The founders developed a dedicated ordering application before launching the first café, making digital infrastructure part of the business from its earliest stage. The first ZUS Coffee outlet opened in November 2019 at Binjai 8 in Kuala Lumpur City Centre. It occupied approximately 19 square metres and used a kiosk-sized format suited to high-throughput takeaway service. The timing of the launch placed the company’s formative years alongside the COVID-19 pandemic. Public-health restrictions and changing consumer habits weakened the role of cafés as social gathering spaces. ZUS Coffee responded through a grab-and-go model that emphasized takeaway, delivery, and app-based pickup. This model differed from operators that depended more heavily on customers spending extended periods inside larger cafés. The company’s app enabled customers to order beverages remotely and collect them or have them delivered, while its compact stores reduced the space and operating requirements of individual locations. During the early 2020s, the brand developed a substantial domestic footprint. Its menu included coffee drinks, other beverages, pastries, sandwiches, and hot food. ZUS Coffee also promoted halal certification and the avoidance of pork- and alcohol-based ingredients, helping it address Malaysia’s Muslim consumer market. The company’s digital experience was reportedly influenced by Luckin Coffee, particularly its use of app ordering and a delivery-oriented operating structure. By the end of 2023, ZUS Coffee had approximately 360 outlets in Malaysia. The same year marked the beginning of international expansion. In March 2023, Frank Lao was reported to have purchased a 35 percent stake in the company, with the stated purpose of helping expand the chain into the Philippines. ZUS Coffee opened its first Philippine branch in September 2023 at Eastwood Le Grand Tower 2 in Quezon City. This created a base for the brand’s first market outside Malaysia and connected the business to a local investor with Philippine commercial interests. ZUS Coffee’s rapid growth coincided with a wider increase in attention toward Malaysian coffee chains. The brand benefited from heightened consumer interest in local and regional alternatives during a boycott of Starbucks associated with the latter’s lawsuit involving the Starbucks Workers United union and subsequent public discussion of the Israel-Gaza conflict. The reference material does not establish a specific commercial value for any resulting benefit, but identifies this period as one in which several Malaysian coffee chains experienced increased patronage. The company also faced a branding-related controversy in 2023. A Malaysian conservative-affiliated Facebook page urged Muslims to boycott the chain, asserting that the brand identity resembled Zeus. ZUS Coffee responded through official communications, stating that its logo represented Kaldi, the Ethiopian shepherd commonly associated with coffee’s origin legends, and that “Zus” combined “zeal” with “us.” The episode placed the company’s naming and visual identity into a public cultural and religious discussion, but the available material does not document regulatory sanctions or litigation arising from it. Regional expansion continued in 2024, when ZUS Coffee opened its first Singapore outlet at Changi Airport and its first Brunei outlet in November. The reference material further records the opening of two outlets in Thailand in August 2025 and a first Indonesian location at Puri Indah Mall in Jakarta in 2026. Because the latter dates extend beyond some contemporary reporting horizons, they should be checked against updated local and company sources. Beyond cafés, the brand broadened its product scope in April 2025 with NGUPI, a local instant-coffee line introduced through a lifestyle-innovation initiative. ZUS Coffee has also had a sports-branding association in the Philippines: Strong Group Athletics maintains a women’s volleyball team called the Zus Coffee Thunderbelles, reported as participating in the Premier Volleyball League from 2024. These activities show the brand moving from a Malaysian café chain toward a broader regional consumer and lifestyle identity.

• 2025

  NGUPI instant coffee introduced

  [1]ZUS Coffeeen.wikipedia.org

  ZUS Coffee expanded into packaged instant coffee under the NGUPI name.

• 2024

  Expansion into Singapore and Brunei

  [1]ZUS Coffeeen.wikipedia.org

  The brand opened its first Singapore outlet at Changi Airport and entered Brunei later in the year.

• 2023

  Domestic network reaches approximately 360 outlets

  [1]ZUS Coffeeen.wikipedia.org

  By the end of the year, ZUS Coffee had approximately 360 outlets across Malaysia.

• 2023

  First international market entered

  [1]ZUS Coffeeen.wikipedia.org

  The first Philippine outlet opened in Quezon City in September.

• 2019

  First ZUS Coffee outlet opens

  [1]ZUS Coffeeen.wikipedia.org

  The company opened its first kiosk at Binjai 8 in Kuala Lumpur City Centre in November.

An accessible, technology-enabled Southeast Asian coffeehouse brand focused on affordable coffee, convenient pickup and delivery, compact outlets, and halal-certified offerings.

• Coffee · 2019

  Coffee beverages

  The core menu consists of coffee-based beverages served through ZUS Coffee’s compact cafés and digital ordering channels. The format is designed for takeaway, pickup, and delivery rather than extended café visits.

• Food

  Pastries, sandwiches, and hot meals

  ZUS Coffee complements its beverage range with pastries, sandwiches, and hot meals. These items support the chain’s convenience-oriented model and broaden usage beyond coffee-only purchases.

• Digital commerce · 2019

  ZUS Coffee app

  The dedicated app allows customers to place orders for pickup or delivery. Developed before the first store opened, it is a central part of the brand’s grab-and-go operating model and was reportedly influenced by Luckin Coffee’s mobile ordering experience.

• Instant coffee · 2025

  NGUPI

  NGUPI is a local instant-coffee product line introduced by ZUS Coffee in April 2025 through a lifestyle-innovation initiative. It represents an extension of the brand from café beverages into packaged coffee for at-home consumption.

• 2023

  Controversy over the ZUS name and logo

  A Malaysian conservative-affiliated Facebook page called for a boycott after alleging that the brand’s identity resembled Zeus. ZUS Coffee stated that its logo depicted Kaldi, the Ethiopian shepherd associated with coffee-origin stories, and that the name combined “zeal” and “us.”

  Source

Read more

• 2024Zus Coffee Thunderbelles

  Philippines

  Strong Group Athletics used the ZUS Coffee name for a women’s volleyball team competing in the Philippines Premier Volleyball League.

  Outcome. The team operated under the Zus Coffee Thunderbelles name from 2024.

  Source

• 2025

  Diversification into instant coffeeProduct launch

  Background

  The café chain sought to extend its product presence beyond drinks sold through physical outlets.

  Action taken

  The company introduced locally oriented instant coffee under the NGUPI brand.

  Aftermath

  NGUPI became an additional packaged-product line alongside the café business.

  Source

• 2023

  Reported minority investment to support Philippine expansionM&A

  Background

  ZUS Coffee was preparing to expand beyond Malaysia and enter the Philippines.

  Action taken

  Frank Lao was reported to have acquired a 35 percent stake in the company.

  Aftermath

  The company opened its first Philippine outlet in Quezon City in September 2023.

  Source

• Unconfirmed

  Watsons Plus and ZUS COFFEE collaborate on an in-store coffee experience[2]Watsons Plus与ZUS COFFEE合作推出店内咖啡体验tech.china.com

  Watsons Plus collaborated exclusively with ZUS COFFEE to introduce a dedicated coffee experience in the store, including drinks exclusive to Watsons Plus.

1. 1ZUS Coffeeen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Watsons Plus与ZUS COFFEE合作推出店内咖啡体验tech.china.com