What Coolblog is
Coolblog is a Malaysian-originated dessert and blended-drink chain, founded in 2006 in Selangor and now operating 180+ outlets across the country, mostly in shopping-mall food courts and street-frontage units. The menu is built around three things: shaved-ice desserts (a branded take on ais kacang / ice kacang), waffles and crepes, and blended fruit drinks and milk teas.
It is one of the few homegrown dessert chains that has scaled past the Klang Valley — there are Coolblog outlets in Penang, Johor Bahru, Ipoh, Kota Kinabalu, and Kuching, plus the smaller east-coast towns. The model is mid-cost and mall-adjacent: smaller footprint than a sit-down café, larger than a kiosk, with seating for 12-30.
Real cost to open a Coolblog franchise in Malaysia
- Initial franchise fee: RM 20,000 - 40,000 - Fit-out + equipment (shaved-ice machine, blenders, waffle iron, signage): RM 70,000 - 180,000 - Working capital + first 3 months rent + staff payroll: RM 50,000 - 120,000 - Total realistic cash required: RM 150,000 - 350,000
The variation is mostly location. A secondary-mall food-court lot in a smaller town runs RM 150k-200k all-in. A flagship-mall unit in Klang Valley or Penang runs RM 280k-350k because of the higher key money and fit-out standard.
What the ongoing fees look like
- Royalty: 4-6% of gross revenue (industry estimate; exact terms not publicly published) - Marketing fund: 1-2% of gross revenue - Term: 5 years, renewable - Supply: the signature shaved-ice syrups and some blended-drink bases are Coolblog-supplied; waffle batter, crepe mix, fresh fruit, and dairy are operator-sourced from approved suppliers
What owners actually say
- Best case: a flagship-mall unit in Klang Valley or Penang can gross RM 30,000-55,000/month, with the late-afternoon and weekend peaks. Net RM 7,000-14,000/month for a working owner. - Average case: a secondary-mall or street-frontage unit, RM 18,000-32,000/month gross. Net RM 3,000-7,000/month. - Worst case: a food-court unit in a low-foot-traffic mall can fall below RM 15,000/month gross, and the dessert category is weather-sensitive — a hot rainy week in Petaling Jaya can knock 20-30% off the weekly take.
The recurring owner concern: Coolblog is a known brand, but the dessert and blended-drink category has gotten crowded — Mixue is now in most malls for under RM 6, and Tealive has the milk-tea customer locked in. Coolblog's "own thing" is the shaved-ice and waffle menu, and the operator has to actively protect that positioning.
The honest case for and against
For: - Malaysian-originated brand — no currency risk on the franchise fee, no foreign-royalty complication - 180+ outlets means the brand is well-known; customer acquisition is cheaper than launching a new dessert concept - Mid-cost entry compared to a sit-down café franchise - Proven model in second-tier malls, not just Klang Valley flagships
Against: - The dessert and blended-drink category is the most crowded segment in Malaysian F&B right now - 5-year term is short; renewal is at the franchisor's discretion - Foot-traffic dependency is real — the dessert customer is a destination, not a walk-in - Profit margin is thinner than people expect once fruit, dairy, and ice are costed in (industry estimate food cost 30-38%)
If you want the upside but with your own brand
A dessert concept can work in a Malaysian mall — but the play is the menu and the unit economics, not the brand. A custom-built independent dessert concept can keep Coolblog's economics and skip the royalty:
- A menu system that handles the lunch-rush dessert crowd, the late-afternoon student crowd, and the post-dinner dessert crowd - A custom POS that separates delivery (25-30% to platform) from walk-in - A small loyalty programme (a Telegram bot, not a paid app) for repeat customers
That's a build our team does. See [how our AI Your Business arm works](/ai-agency-malaysia), or [browse Malaysian SMBs raising on pitchdeck.my](/browse) to see what other dessert and F&B founders are doing. If you've got a concept and want a custom build, [submit your idea](/submit) and we'll come back to you within a few days. For an off-the-rack POS or waffle-iron recommendation, [send us a note](/contact).
This page is informational and is not affiliated with Coolblog. Coolblog is a trademark of Coolblog Sdn Bhd.