As Bo’s Coffee turns 30, it wants to regain the initiative in a market it helped to forge

The trailblazing Filipino coffee chain has been outmanoeuvred by nimbler, speed-of-service-focused competitors in recent years – but a maturing consumer base presents a key opportunity

Starting from a single kiosk at the Ayala Center Cebu shopping centre in 1996, Bo’s Coffee is one of the oldest and most recognisable branded coffee chains in the Philippines.

However, despite being a key player in the development of contemporary café culture in the Philippines, Bo’s has lost market share in recent years amid the emergence of new, value-focused competition.

With the country’s fastest-growing operators increasingly favouring low-cost, takeaway-only store formats, Bo’s focus on larger store formats and longer dwell times has been left playing catch up.