first, I would like to know a little more about your background. Where did you study and what do you like to be part of the coffee industry?
I had a vision that one day I would be in the F & B industry, but my experience is not F & B; no background and no experience - ly zero. I had more experience in the telecommunications industry!
At first I did not choose the coffee industry or cafes to start.
Along the way, I met with some potential partners and also learned about the industry and tried to understand more about the company F & B in Indonesia, especially in Jakarta and how to survive in this highly competitive market. After much consideration and discussion, we decided to have a concept that would be sustainable and would also be easier to reproduce in the future. Based on this analysis, we came up with an idea to have unique cafes, focusing on Indonesian coffee beans.
Do you think the study at the University of Canberra in Australia instilled a love for coffee cultivation?
Surprisingly, I'm just a casual coffee drinker when I was in Australia and I'm not very picky about coffee. I learned coffee in Indonesia and also the culture behind it. To be honest with you, I learned more about the culture of wine and beer while I was in Australia!
Tell us a little about Liberica Coffee. How this brand was born? How many points do you have now and where are they located
We have now eight points ?; five in Jakarta, a solo one in Medan and Palembang to come. In Indonesia, we plan to open several outlets in Bali, Solo and several cities in Indonesia, so that we do not just focus on Jakarta. We also have a test output to Melbourne to understand the market, the challenges and also the culture during the market entry of overseas territories.
We set several criteria for our brand in the beginning :. 1. Be easy to remember, 2. Have a strong relationship with the coffee, and 3. The name must be unique / unique from the rest of our competitors
What are the core values Liberica Coffee
Our core values are as follows :?
• Be unique; we do not want to imitate or duplicate what is already available in the Indonesian market.
• Passion for the coffee industry and the growth of /industry.[19459031d'affaires]
• Focus on Indonesian coffee beans.
• Continued improvements in terms of product development, customer satisfaction (service) and new ideas for outlets.
• Passion for customers.
Tell us about your mixes. Do you have a secret recipe?
We mixtures special Liberica. Our house blend contains Arabica beans from several different regions in Indonesia and differentiate us coffee blend for hot drinks and coffee blend for iced drinks. We also provide several unique origins of several regions for our retail package.
Your Americano coffee knocks the socks off me every time! The Indonesian coffee generally stronger than others? Is there a reason for this?
Not always, it is how we roast the beans. Some people like dark roast, some people they like medium roast and some people like the in-between. We make between medium and dark and it is all about customer preference. You can ask our barista to stir the mixture that matches your criteria.
In your three years with Liberica Coffee, have you seen a change in how the Indonesians enjoy coffee? What is the trend today?
Yes, the market is growing faster than expected and also the industry and competition. The customer is more educated about coffee and they started to become very difficult and critical. At the same time, we need to track trends and monitor customer expectations. It is quite different to there three or four years.
Could you share with us the demographics of your customers? What percent are expatriates?
Currently, probably even 95% of our customers are Indonesian and 5% are expatriates. But for our Kemang branch, the percentage of expatriates is more like 10% - 15%. Generally our customers are mainly young executives aged 25 -. 40
How did you develop your business in the past three years? What this job entails?
In early discussions with all our partners, we agreed that Liberica must have more than 20 outlets in the future and, on this basis, we tried to create single and very easy to duplicate items, products for design. We started our first release in August 2011 and we have studied for nearly a year to understand the business, the coffee culture, and customer profiles, giving us time to create and adjust the standard operations baristas, service mechanisms and all that relates to the -Day day operations.
There is a long learning process and every time we open a new outlet, we find new challenges because different regions have unique characteristics and we need to understand the culture and habits of customers. We never stop learning and it is like each region or city shows us various challenges or obstacles that we must solve. It's very exciting.
What makes Liberica stand out from the crowd?
The products, labor and the idea behind Liberica. We have the most complete products, which are also quite different compared to other cafes in Jakarta, and our idea behind the design and the way we build the atmosphere. We tried to create our own character as a coffee that has to be different and unique. Our workforce must be very professional and engaging with the customer.
Liberica not only sells coffee, it also serves the Stark beer and imported beer. What are the reasons for this and how your customers responded? Use also other alcoholic beverages? What time do you open up?
This is something that makes us different, right? In fact, we are not the first coffee to sell wine and beer. We also have coffee cocktails signature and we have only a few cocktails which were distinctive. In some places, we close around 12 to 2 hours due to the regulation of commercial centers or customer requests. We provide these products as an alternative option for non-coffee drinkers, especially at night. The contribution of these two products are small compared to coffee drinks.
Finally, Pak Rully, what do you think is the key to success? Any advice for other aspiring barista / coffee shop owners out there?
The coffee business is a very interesting industry and we believe that all coffee shop owners in Indonesia to grow the business / industry the most. We should be proud of our local brands, I think some are more innovative and creative as some international brands, in terms of products, design and ambience. For all baristas, continue to improve because you are playing a very important role in this industry and how we move forward in the future.