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Executive Column: Bacha Coffee enters Indonesia's specialty brew market
Taha Bouqdib, CEO of Singaporean luxury group V3 Gourmet, speaks about reviving and modernizing Bacha Coffee and opening the its premium coffee chain's flagship outlet in Jakarta to cater to Indonesian customers.
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Taha Bouqdib, CEO of Bacha Coffee's parent company V3 Gourmet in Singapore, poses on May 29, 2024 at the newly opened outlet of the Marrakesh-headquartered premium coffee chain at Plaza Senayan in South Jakarta. (JP/Ruth Dea Juwita)
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ndonesia is the fourth-largest coffee producer in the world and the largest modern coffee market in Southeast Asia. Seeing the country’s rich coffee culture, Bacha Coffee of Singaporean luxury group V3 Gourmet opened its flagship Indonesian outlet on May 29 at South Jakarta’s upmarket Plaza Senayan.
During the grand opening, V3 Gourmet CEO Taha Bouqdib spoke to The Jakarta Post’s Ruth Dea Juwita about the brand’s story, consumer spending on premium coffee in Indonesia and Bacha Coffee’s sister brand, TWG Tea.
Question: How did you start Bacha Coffee?
Answer: The original place was located inside of the royal palace Dar El Bacha, Marrakesh, which was closed for over 60 years before undergoing extensive renovations to become a heritage site. I was invited to visit by the king, along with many others. When asked if I [had any specific request], I requested to see the palace's oldest private coffee house and said, this is the best.
We bought the rights from the Moroccan government and now the brand belongs to V3 Gourmet, our parent company. Our partner for a long time in V3 Gourmet, Ron Sim, shares a similar vision of aiming for global expansion in the fastest time possible.
Taking over the brand meant undertaking the renovation to revive it and make it global. My specialty is modernizing and integrating details to rebirth the brand. Back in the day, people would sit on the floor on nice carpets, but we cannot do this today, so we upgraded everything. We simplified the name from “Dar El Bacha” to Bacha to make it more accessible and allow people to appreciate the place’s rich history.
A week after the renovation completed in Morocco, we opened in Singapore, achieving the same success, despite the Asian audience not being familiar with the palace’s history. [That] motivates us to spread the spirit around the world. The same energy from the opening persists today in Jakarta.
