A Minnesota-based coffee chain, Caribou Coffee, will officially open in Jakarta on Wednesday morning to offer a vast range of coffee from all over the world, including Indonesia, and invite Jakartans to seize the day through a cup of coffee amid their bustling routines.

The Jakarta store is Caribou's first outlet in Southeast Asia, although it has some 600 outlets in the United States and 11 other countries. The Caribou Coffee house is located in one of Jakarta's trendiest streets: Jl. Senopati in South Jakarta.

Caribou partnered with local business venture, PT Mega Mahadana Hadiya (Mahadya), a subsidiary of PT Mahadana Dasha Utama, which operates other US-based food and beverages chains like Carl's Jr, Wingstop and LOKA lifestyle supermarket.

Mehdi Zaidi, chief operating officer of PT Mahadya'€™s food and beverage division, said on Tuesday that the company wanted to bring a brand that compliments coffee in Indonesia.

"We don't want to be a mainstream coffee house that is everywhere and anywhere. We want to give an opportunity to enjoy coffee and enjoy the life that resonates around coffee."

"With Caribou, stay awake for the best coffee and the best experience," he told thejakartapost.com on Tuesday.

Caribou offers a wide range of coffee from all over the world like from the US, Africa and Indonesia. Its Indonesian coffee from Sumatra and Java accounts for 10 percent of all the coffee products that Caribou sells.

Amid the growing number of coffee joints in Indonesia, Caribou wants to give not only a unique coffee profile but also ambiance to customers and aims at the younger generations.

"Everybody is selling coffee. We sell experience. That's what differentiates us," Mehdi said when asked about competition amid the mushrooming coffee houses in the capital.

Caribou's tagline of "Life is short. Stay awake for it" is believed to invite customers to join the coffee experience along with a team of people that serve a unique taste of coffee.

"It's not only a marketing tagline but it's a mantra for people to seize the day," Darren Miles, Caribou's vice president of development and operations said.

Mehdi added that Caribou believes coffee must connect people and let them have the best experience in enjoying a cup.

The two-story store in Jakarta was designed for customers to feel at home while having discussions over coffee.

The coffee house offers a meeting room '€“ something rare in Jakarta's coffee joints, Mehdi claimed '€“ as well as a patio for people to enjoy the varied coffee blends and selections of teas. The coffee house also offers food and freshly baked bagels and scones every day.

Michael Tattersfield, chief executive officer of Caribou, said that the company saw a big opportunity in Indonesia because of its big population and growing middle class. Indonesia's current economic slowdown, he said, was not a factor to cause the company to backtrack from expanding into Southeast Asia's largest economy.

"It's the long term growth of Indonesia that I always look at, not what'€™s in front of us the next one or two years, but what it looks like in the next 20 and 30 years and how the country provides the opportune set-up to be successful," he said in an interview.

The Boston Consulting Group projected that Indonesia's middle class and affluent consumers would double to 141 million by 2020 from the current 74 million.

The Caribou Coffee Company, founded in 1992 by John Pucket, operates more than 272 owned stores and 131 domestic license locations in the US and 220 international franchise stores in 12 countries.

Caribou highlights high-quality and handcrafted beverages and food.

The coffee from all over the world is specially roasted under one roof in Minnesota before it is sent to all the branches worldwide.

Caribou Senopati opens every day from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. and at 12 p.m. on the weekends. (rin)

Popular

Undoing the sweet aftermath of Eid festivities

Indonesia may offer dual citizenship to attract overseas workers

Indonesia may offer dual citizenship to attract overseas workers, minister says