Expanding consumer base, unicorn retail chain Kopi Kenangan releases light coffee series with new beans from bumi flores

Image: Kopi Kenangan

Kopi Kenangan in collaboration with barista Mikael Jasin released the new beans of Light Coffee Series made with Bumi Flores beans. Light Coffee Series is a series of coffee beverages made with low acidity arabica coffee beans.

The series was initially released last April. The previous series featured arabica coffee beans from Banjarnegara in Central Java. Bumi Flores is the new arabica beans for the second series.

Locally sourced from farmers in Bumi Flores, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), the beans boast chocolaty, cedarwood and brown sugar aroma. 

According to a representative from Kopi Kenangan, low acidity coffee could be an alternative solution for coffee drinkers with stomach issues like GERD or acid reflux. While coffee is not as acidic as beer or soda, drinking multiple cups of coffee a day could accumulate the acidity. Low acidity coffee beans are gentler for digestion.

Arabica beans contain lower amounts of caffeine compared to robusta beans. Arabica is also gentler on the stomach than robusta. They are planted on higher grounds than robusta. Bumi Flores beans are planted 1,400 to 1,500 metres above sea level. 

Coffee, if consumed in the right amount, has plenty of health benefits. Cited from Halodoc, caffeine in coffee could stimulate energy and improve memory. Caffeine also has antioxidant properties that could reduce risks of colon cancer.

The Light Coffee Series line also provides more options for coffee lovers as Indonesia is among the top coffee-consuming nations. Data from the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) shows that Indonesia consumes around 4,800 bags of coffee. Each bag amounts to 60 kg.

Based on 2020 Indonesian Coffee Statistics from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), coffee production in 2020 totaled 762,380 tonnes. Almost every province has coffee plantations, except Jakarta.

Founded in 2017 by Edward Tirtanata, James Prananto and Cynthia Khaerunnisa, Kopi Kenangan is currently one of the largest local coffee chains. The chain in 2018 received seed funding from Alpha JWC. In 2019, the company bagged $20 million in Series A funding and opened 224 outlets in Java and Sumatra. 

A year later, the company sold 3 million cups of beverages every month and raised $109 million in Series B funding. The number of stores doubled from 224 to 422.To serve different segments of consumers, the company in 2021 opened an upscale outlet Kopi Kenangan Reserve. As of February 2022, there are 630 outlets of Kopi Kenangan in 45 cities.

Kopi Kenangan is valued at $1 billion after its $96 million Series C funding in December. It became the first unicorn in retail business in Asia.