While it is a first foray in the food market, the Portelance family is no stranger to the Sudbury business scene.
The Portelance’s run a seasonal sunglasses stand in the mall in the warmer months. In the winter, their kiosk is where patrons go for personalized Christmas ornaments.
Now after 20 years of business there, they have brought a bubble tea franchise to the Sudbury market called Presotea.
Nakita Patton, one of the owners and a Portelance sister, said Presotea offers them a way to pay homage to their mixed Asian heritage.
“We visited our uncle in Windsor and he has a Presotea shop,” Patton said. “We wanted to bring some of our Asian culture to the Sudbury market and bubble tea is what we landed on.”
Presotea is a newer chain to Canada that started in Taiwan. The shop exists in major markets like Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. It’s the first for the North and the chain’s first in a smaller market.
Nakita said this was also an opportunity for their large family to work together on something bigger and tastier. Nakita has joined forces with her brother David, Chris and husband Mark Patton.
Mark Patton came from the United States where bubble tea shops have been hugely popular for years.
“Virginia and DC have huge Asian communities and bubble tea cafes are a way of life weekly for socials. We want to bring that idea here to Sudbury. Come for the tea and stay for the warm family friendly environment complete with cultural music.”
The shop offers a wide variety of toppings for tea including white and black tapioca, popping bubbles and fruit slices. There are more than 18 choices of toppings.
The most popular is by far the mango series with mango “slushes” with fruit combinations like coconut, aloe vera blueberry or pineapples.
There are mango teas with boba jelly and milky mango drinks and brewed teas with the fruit.
For those with dietary restrictions or healthy preferences, the shop also offers plenty of dairy alternatives such as oat milk, soy and buckwheat.
The Portelance’s are looking to add traditional Asian pastries in the coming months once the rush settles.
The Portelance parents are tickled pink at the idea that their kids have brought Presotea to Sudbury. Their father, Roddy, owned a grocery store in Markstay back in the day. David Portelance said “entrepreneurial spirit has always been in my dad’s blood.”
Presotea is in New Sudbury, across from the Superstore at 1526 Lasalle Boulevard. Click here to visit the shop’s online menu. Follow them on Facebook at Presotea Sudbury.
Presotea also takes orders on Uber Eats, Door Dash and Skip the Dishes, and has its own app to order online for pick-up. The bubble tea shop is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Anastasia Rioux is a writer in Greater Sudbury. Let’s Eat! is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
