Why Do So Many Coffee & Beverage Chains Use Black as Their Brand Colour?
Walk into any Malaysian mall and count the coffee shop signboards. Chances are, more than a few are black. It’s not a coincidence: black is the dominant brand colour among coffee and beverage chains in Malaysia, and by a significant margin.
We grouped 31 coffee and beverage chains by their primary and secondary brand colours. Here’s what the data shows.
The Table
Black Dominates
Black appears in 14 out of 31 chains: The list spans coffee chains (Nononsense Coffee, Eight Ounce, Jardin Coffee), regional players (Kenangan Coffee, Kopi Saigon, Hulu Cafe), and specialty concepts (Super Matcha, Niko Neko, Pucks Coffee).
Green comes in at 7 chains. Starbucks is the obvious anchor. Green and matcha have become visually synonymous, to the point where a new matcha brand almost has no choice but to use green.
Blue and red each claim 5 chains. Blue includes ZUS Coffee, Luckin Coffee, Kee Nguyen, Gigi Coffee, and Family Mart. Red includes Tim Hortons, Costa Coffee, San Francisco Coffee, Kenangan Coffee, and Muji.
Notably, Kee Nguyen and Kenangan Coffee each appear in two colour groups: reflecting brands that use multiple strong colours across their branding.
Analysis covers 31 coffee and beverage chains operating in Malaysia. Chains are counted under each colour they use as a primary or secondary brand colour. Visualisation by Zahier Nasrudin | myvizard.com
