The rise and fall of coffee chains in Singapore

The rise and fall of coffee chains in Singapore | Journalist Reacts

Рет қаралды 41,883

Күн бұрын

Sip or Skip? As Flash Coffee and Spinelli shut their doors, new players like Luckin Coffee, Kopi Kenangan and Tim Hortons are entering the local saturated coffee market.
Why are these chains aggressively expanding despite high rental costs and fierce competition? BT’s Claudia Chong tackles online comments and the factors driving the fluctuating dynamics of coffee in Singapore.
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Пікірлер: 69

@wenderis 4 ай бұрын

For players from Indonesia, building and sustaining chains in SG isn't only about profit. It's about branding, pride and legitimacy to investors and customers back home. Let's be real, by some distance, Indonesia is the biggest market in Southeast Asia but SG is this prestigious facade of Southeast Asia. Also, Singapore is the stepping stone for another bigger market in Southeast Asia that looks at trends in SG, where in this country the coffee market rise is higher than any other (major) country in the region, the Philippines.

@Globalurb 4 ай бұрын

That also applies to other international players like Tim Horton's. Singapore can be a good stepping stone to expand in Southeast Asia/Asia. They're learning on how to adjust their products/experience. They also get visibility from new investors/business partners.

@hc8714 4 ай бұрын

at least in malaysia, don't see any sg brand has substantial advantage over the pure local ones.

@TheMisterk91 4 ай бұрын

You forgot to mention that many Indonesians come to Singapore! They are the main target since Kopi Kenangan are already well known by them at home.

@wenderis 3 ай бұрын

@@TheMisterk91 yes! Familiarity counts. But if I'm Kopi Kenangan, that is just a bonus point. My ultimate goal of existing in SG would be to place the Philippines in striking distance.

@lzh4950 2 ай бұрын

@@Globalurb Tim Hortons in SG looks a bit more upmarket than the photos I saw of its branches in Canada e..g use of lighter beige colours for its walls instead of wood-like colours

@anandgoud4120 5 ай бұрын

I like this reporter and the way she reports ;)

@wonjontheaxolotl 4 ай бұрын

agreed!

@DarylSpykerman 5 ай бұрын

coffee is highly interchangeable. I drink Nespresso at home, kopi at work and Luckin on weekends while I may grab a Starbucks when its 1 for 1. Customer loyalty is easily spread among such coffee chains so good luck to them and may the best win.

@gozalijo 5 ай бұрын

This is an interesting topic but the coverage and analysis seem superficial. I’d love to see more numbers and trends. How much are people spending on coffee in Singapore today? Is it growing? How does inflation impact consumer behaviour? If chains targeting the middle segment succeeds, will we see kopitiams and hawkers going out of business instead?

@silverchairsg 5 ай бұрын

I don't think kopitiams and hawkers will ever go out of business. There will always be people who want cheap coffee.

@dmarl1042 5 ай бұрын

I agree about the coverage being skin deep. But such companies nowadays, in my opinion, are also superficial in their analysis. Their investment may look good on paper, but in reality, the uncle/auntie kopitiam may have higher profit per store. I mean I understand the concept of economy of scale but multi-store chain must bear management and supervisory cost. In the end the return might not be as high as calculated.

@jly5828 4 ай бұрын

Kopitiam is for Old People & Low income people, Coffee Chain is for Middle Class People, their customer base is totally different.

@blose4793 5 ай бұрын

Instead of my cheap local coffee, I have been buying Luckin coffee fairly regularly because I get 50-60% discounts.

@fayea78 5 ай бұрын

These new players are more about gimmick drinks - Just be creative & make it sweet. That's all they've got. I was a barista, so the litmus test for me is their cappuccino. If they don't make it well, they are not a real cafe. I tried Luckin & Kenangan to see what the fuss is about. Eh.

@ellielinyan1521 4 ай бұрын

Luckin’s menu was originally catered to China where people aren’t very big into drinking coffee. People only started drinking coffee more when QOL began to increase, and not necessarily a big part of most people’s lives culturally like how it is in Singapore (except maybe Shanghai where it’s more common, but even then it’s a recent development). The drinks are less like coffee and more like coffee-flavoured drinks esp their famous coconut latte 😂 at least that’s what I’ve heard from the China socmed discussions. I’ve always ordered orange americano (cuz their other offerings don’t have enough coffee for me) as an alternative to my usual kopi c siew dai while I was in Shanghai (hard to get cheap coffee outside of luckin/cotti). It also tastes kinda refreshing though, which is nice in SG weather, so I still do drink it sometimes back here.

@vaibhavjain3116 5 ай бұрын

According to reporter Luckin coffee expand is because they are doing good that they can come up with 30 stores in short time. I can just say this is very naive comment showing lack of business understanding. For any store to expand like that, definitely it is not because of success, it is purely based on management having huge capital, agressive strategy and NOT focussing on business fundamentals in short to medium term. This is dumping at its best. These companies are getting free access to huge capital which is something of a big question mark. Banking sector is to be blamed. At the end the company's executives will walk away with millions in salaries and perks while the store being never profitable. They will launch IPO with just unflated "brand value" and no real cash.

@unicornopia 4 ай бұрын

Spot on!

@Kid47483 5 ай бұрын

Competition is only good to consumers when there are competitions.. That is to say high prices that are passed down to consumer will eventually kills it, and the sole survivor will likely jack up the prices to recoup the losses.

@Banayaga 5 ай бұрын

Why only compare with Starbucks? I go to Yakun, Toastbox, Food Court and Kopitiam. 😂 Starbucks only once in 6 months, once a year no problem too.

@silverchairsg 5 ай бұрын

My favourite is still Flash Coffee, because you can keep making merciless jokes about how they were a flash in the pan.

@jefri4176 5 ай бұрын

Singapore cost too high in Singapore for rental and labour cost compared to neighbouring countries. Profit margin for f&b very low in Singapore compared to let's say Indonesia. Price wise for coffee maybe only 20% cheaper in Indonesia but labour cost is 1/3-1/4 compares to Singapore.

@arsenal_84 5 ай бұрын

Same idea in Thailand as well, the 7 elevens there have products similar to a mini mart. Foreign coffee chains cannot expect to out compete the 7 elevens in locations of lower foot fall.

@Henry-ve3ye 4 ай бұрын

Singapore also have very bad customer service. Compared to Australia, Singapore is on another level of Bad Customer Service. Singaporean are so stingy in terms of spending on coffee, and employer in Singapore doesn't pay good salary for their partimer or worker. sorry to say, barista coffee is not a thing in Singapore. People want to live like westerner but with still have their villager mindset

@ajourneytogrowth 4 ай бұрын

A different approach to business reports, but I like it!

@megatonhammer4723 5 ай бұрын

I love Luckin coffee! I’m a loyal fan!

@melissang2695 5 ай бұрын

Where do you think RTD coffee come into place into a country like Singapore where there’s a strong kopitiam coffee and cafe culture?

@leontinusyanthestya5890 4 ай бұрын

my fave part, when she tackled the question whether the rent cost actually killing the coffee chains. The way she made it, "oh, not just rent, but everything is expensive here". hm.......

@jasonlai1892 5 ай бұрын

Better engage Singapore Pools team to do a marketing survey and set the odds for sucess and failure. They are experts in probability and statistics. Listen to them. The comsultancy fees will be a life saver.

@FrankWu 4 ай бұрын

In Taiwan , Hong Kong Japan and Malaysia instance coffee is very popular in convience store .

@thepreciousstones4789 5 ай бұрын

7-11 coffee tastes better and cheaper than most of these new comers. IMO.

@om_Sed 5 ай бұрын

if company got finance injection in more than dozen millions dollar? if they dont use it, look like they doesnt work n dont have progress. so expansion is must, what is the bestbway to spend money? rental spaces in expensive places😂 .. a lot of investor money came from singapore..so they think, they should open in singapore.. create global/intl/regional brand image. kopi kenangan should survived if the management do right. kenangan means memories. they have local/traditional touch/ambiance, n they used to compete with a lot of competitor in indonesia from starbucks to 50cent coffee shop

@meat_loves_wasabi 5 ай бұрын

Most of the time we like new shiny stuff and if the quality is good it will last Bake cheese tart was so popular also couldn’t survive .. 😢

@silverchairsg 5 ай бұрын

Oh wow I've totally forgotten about bake cheese tart... it was truly a fad. Now that I think of it, there was one bake cheese tart shop at where the current Gokoku Japanese bakery is in Tampines Mall basement, but obviously they've closed.

@jasoncloner4816 4 ай бұрын

nice, thx

@ivanlimzg 5 ай бұрын

I watched a channel 8 or U interview where a local wholesaler said that coffee is on the downhill

@dmarl1042 4 ай бұрын

That's interesting. Is it available in YT? What search terms did you use?

@legionsa 4 ай бұрын

TBH Kopken just cheap coffee, I don't feel will fit in SG, in ID we buy it coz cheap, has caffein but bad taste. Many local coffee chain are on the raise here, like Konniciwa, Tomoro, Arah and Janji Jiwa (old player but redefine their self andd step up their game from head to head with Kopi Kenangan to beyond it). Flash said more focus in ID but really the presence of their value just very low in ID market

@mic5391 5 ай бұрын

I prefer my nanyang kopi!

@andrewxuan8005 4 ай бұрын

coffee business is in general a bitter business unless you are Starbucks. There is little moat to speak of. Outside US, some people visit Starbucks because it is an American cultural icon. But this kind of competitive advantage can be hard to reproduce.

@noproblematallmate 5 ай бұрын

Singaporeans can afford capsule coffee machines at home and work which taste better than all the ang moh coffee chains

@wangelite5279 4 ай бұрын

kopitiam coffee is a mix of burnt corn and butter to save cost, and luckin coffee "sound business fundamentals" is for a way for rich chinese or guan to move money out of china legally. An investigative journalist will dig into this deeper.

@harukrentz435 4 ай бұрын

Kopi Kenangan is really good, their cappucino is better than Starbuck's imho.

@dreameister1212 4 ай бұрын

I'm Indonesian, to be honest I think Kopi Kenangan taste is so mediocre. I think they're big because they have money to burn. As for Fore Coffee, it's okayish but nothing special too. My personal favorite of local Indonesian coffee shop is Point Coffee by Indomaret.

@Primasanto2011 4 ай бұрын

It’s the economy! I’m at the point of making my own coffee at home

@mrtienphysics666 5 ай бұрын

Coffee chains cannot fight with coffee shops in Singapore.

@ttxu6218 4 ай бұрын

I choose luckin because of the flavour. I think Starbucks always tastes burnt.

@Jo_Zh 4 ай бұрын

The only coffee for me is from the coffeeshop and hawker, anything else are overpriced.

@cac1504 4 ай бұрын

No need so many high priced ones. Ya Kun is the best - cheaper and better.

@gamhaotin8503 4 ай бұрын

How avout comparing product and analysis

@edwardlumsianming3430 5 ай бұрын

Have very deep pockets CAN

@stevennathaniel6566 4 ай бұрын

In Indonesia, starting a coffee shop doesn't have to cost a lot of money. just build a simple coffee shop. so that the coffee shop business can last a long time. Apart from that, Indonesia is a coffee producer, so raw materials do not need to be imported from abroad. This is different from Singapore, which does not grow its own coffee plants. so raw materials have to be imported from abroad.

@harukrentz435 4 ай бұрын

In Indonesia you can buy a cup of coffee from 0.2 to 100USD 😅 so many options.

@Towkeeyoh 4 ай бұрын

Just make GOOD coffee.

@SivalinPuthery 5 ай бұрын

You youngsters can go ahead and eat and drink at these overpriced coffee chains. I am traditional. I get my coffee and tea or bread at heartlands kopitiams for less than 2 dollars. Just don't crowd the neighbourhood kopitiams for me. Thanks

@harukrentz435 4 ай бұрын

Less than 2 dollars, really?