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Executive Column: Kopi Kenangan takes on FMCG, global market
Coffee chain start-up Kopi Kenangan, recently valued at more than $1 billion, is aiming for global expansion and the ready-to-drink market.
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Kopi Kenangan cofounder and CEO Edward Tirtanata (Courtesy of Kopi Kenangan/-)
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em>Indonesia welcomed five new unicorn companies last year, one of which is coffee shop chain Kopi Kenangan. The company has become the first food and beverage (F&B) retail start-up in Southeast Asia to reach a US$1 billion valuation.
The Jakarta Post’s Eisya A. Eloksari interviewed Kopi Kenangan CEO Edward Tirtanata on Jan. 12 to explore the F&B company’s journey to becoming a unicorn, its plan for global expansion and its latest venture into the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment.
Question: How did you come up with Kopi Kenangan?
Answer: I tried various industries like coal mining, consultancy and retail; then in 2017, I realized that coffee was an underpenetrated market.
People were spending Rp 40,000 [$2.79] to Rp 50,000 on a cup of coffee every day, or around Rp 1.2 million per month, which was a little over the minimum wage in Jakarta back then. The alternative was getting instant coffee for Rp 1,000. Looking at this gap, I wanted to offer high-quality affordable coffee.
How do you compete with global coffee chain brands?
We intentionally opened our first outlet in front of global and other local coffee chains to test the scalability of our brand.
