Kopi is changing into dearer, so that they turned to merchandising machines to make it extra accessible
Singapore has a wealthy and saturated espresso scene, from heritage manufacturers like Killiney to native aesthetic cafes. However for Leow Jun Heng and Loh Jian Yuan, the great ol’ long-established cup of kopi is their go-to caffeine repair.
The duo first met in early 2024 via widespread pals and bonded over their love for the beverage, however quickly got here to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic had elevated the working prices of companies, together with Singapore’s kopitiams, making an excellent cup of kopi much less accessible.
“I believe getting a constant cup of kopi is getting tougher. The pandemic accelerated it, with some areas stopping operations,” lamented Jun Heng.
Decided to make it extra accessible, the duo determined to discover merchandising machines as an answer. Drawing on Jun Heng’s three years of expertise within the merchandising machine house and Jian Yuan’s self-taught barista abilities, they launched Kopi Close to Me, a kopi merchandising machine enterprise that has expanded to 70 places throughout the island inside only one yr.
Vulcan Put up sat down with the duo to find out how they differ from different merchandising machine manufacturers and what their recipe for achievement is.
Brewing kopi constantly
Presently, Kopi Close to Me’s merchandising machines serve three sizzling drink choices: Kopi, Kopi-C, and Kopi-O. Prospects may customise the drink to be thicker (gao), much less candy (siew dai), or with out sugar (kosong), which ranges from S$1.10 to S$1.70 relying on location.
Whereas espresso merchandising machines should not a brand new idea, they usually provide Western-style espresso choices. Jun Heng and Jian Yuan believed that having localised choices is extra appreciated by shoppers in Singapore, and follows the evolution of the merchandising machine trade.
“It’s now not the very customary prepackaged meals. These days, merchandising machines are attempting to push the bounds of what’s truly doable to be served,” defined Jun Heng.
However reaching the best style and consistency for his or her kopi proved difficult. Totally different merchandising machine fashions have various calibrations and programs, which made standardising recipes difficult.
Therefore, to check their idea, the duo determined to buy 10 completely different merchandising machines, which required a S$200,000 upfront dedication.
“If it had been something much less, then we’d not be giving it a good probability to succeed, whether or not it’s a machine or location-specific concern,” shared Jian Yuan, including that the transfer made the operation asset-heavy.
Jun Heng and Jian Yuan additionally took the time to determine the “Golden Ratio” for his or her kopi, which I ultimately discovered wasn’t in relation to particular numbers, however is used as a approach to describe how the enterprise tunes its recipe quite exactly, right down to the gram, to make sure consistency throughout all their merchandising machines.
Small adjustments could cause espresso to style completely different. Even in kopitiams, the place the identical espresso powder and recipe are used, a slight variation in the way it’s brewed can result in noticeable variations in flavour. That’s why the duo pays such shut consideration to precision.
Rising their fleet with new options
Jun Heng and Jian Yuan took roughly 9 months to excellent their recipe and supply the best beans from native suppliers. Finally, in Oct 2024, the duo efficiently deployed their first merchandising machine at Sunshine Plaza.
Only a yr after its launch, Kopi Close to Me now operates over 37 machines throughout the island.
Jun Heng defined that deciding on places includes each technique and experimentation. Their core focus is on areas with frequent merchandising machine customers, similar to workplace buildings and industrial zones, whereas their secondary goal consists of extra area of interest audiences, like round the clock hospital employees and personnel at military bases.
This method additionally helps offset downtime. “Throughout vacation intervals, places which might be within the workplace or industrial areas would do poorer, however our deployments, for instance, at Tanah Merrah Ferry Terminal, the place individuals are touring to Batam or Bintan, then gross sales there are doing extraordinarily properly.”
To date, take-up for Kopi Close to Me’s choices has been promising. “Till at this time, I believe we have now crossed a couple of quarter of one million cups of espresso served,” shared Jun Heng, including that the corporate has generated month-to-month revenues of roughly S$80,000 to S$90,000 over the previous two months.
The enterprise has even acquired a number of enquiries from institutions trying to provide their espresso in workplace pantries—however the merchandising machines needed to be tailored, as these corporations typically lack the house or sources for a standard espresso setup.
This led to the launch of tabletop machines in Mar, that are smaller, extra moveable variations of Kopi Close to Me’s merchandising machines. The corporate has deployed 33 of them, bringing the entire variety of merchandising machines it operates to 70.
Introducing these machines allowed the enterprise to extend the variety of touchpoints and use instances, which has additionally helped diversify its income streams and opened the doorways to partnership alternatives with a number of firms.
Amongst its companions are Japanese drugstore big Welcia, Singaporean well being meals chain Grains & Co, and Chinese language quick meals buffet model Hundred Grains.
Conserving issues measured because it grows
Whereas the pair has expressed ambitions to extend the entire variety of touchpoints to 300 by 2026 and introduce extra native drinks similar to Teh and iced choices, they’re additionally adopting a extra pragmatic method to make sure Kopi Close to Me’s long-term sustainability.
Specialised merchandising machine companies, similar to Kopi Close to Me, require resilient and well-developed programs to make sure a constant provide of components, which is a extra complicated operation in comparison with stocking canned drinks and packaged meals. As such, the corporate will deal with strengthening its workflows and staff construction to help the enterprise’s development.
With extra companies rising with their very own merchandising machines, buyer expectations have been raised, and it has pushed them to introduce extra revolutionary but handy and contemporary F&B choices. The barrier for the pair proper now’s getting the economics proper, however to Jun Heng and Jian Yuan, it’s a problem they’re itching to deal with.
- Be taught extra about Kopi Close to Me right here.
- Learn extra tales we’ve written on Singaporean companies right here.
Featured Picture Credit score: Kopi Close to Me
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