Although coffee is expensive, Cambodians dare to be extravagant
There are about dozens of coffee and equipment booths on site. There are also the most people in front of each coffee counter, the booths are relatively large, and many booths can enjoy coffee for free. At the scene, there are both large coffee machines, home coffee machines, and coffee pots that are easy to carry.
The STORM brand coffee booth surrounded a lot of people. When the barista made the coffee, he would throw out the coffee cup from time to time in a few graceful movements, then pour milk on top of the brown coffee, and quickly draw a beautiful flower. Patterns, various flower patterns. Many people took pictures around the coffee.
A line was lined up in front of the coffee booth of the FLOUR GENIOUS brand. It turned out that you only need to register a name on the company’s computer or provide a business card to put a new type of seal on your hand. This seal is invisible to the naked eye. Wait until the guests go. When you receive coffee, you only need to take out a flashlight-like lamp to light it, and it will show a logo of the company, and customers can receive a cup of coffee for free.
Promotion of international brands
Most Cambodians have a relaxing and romantic weekend. They like to enjoy them in Western-style cafes. The soft music and the rich aroma of coffee can make people intoxicated. They like to consume in high-end cafes, in addition to tasting coffee, this is also a reflection of fashion and modern life. Cafés are blooming everywhere in Cambodia. Coffee chains from international brands have swarmed to promote their presence in the market, and the investment in the coffee industry continues to heat up.
Drinking coffee was originally not a Cambodian habit, but five years ago, the coffee market expanded rapidly in Cambodia, especially chain coffee shops, including Gloria Jean's from Australia, Costa Coffee from the United Kingdom, and the United States The Coffee Bean&TeaLeaf (The Coffee Bean&TeaLeaf) and the local self-made brand Brown Cafe (BrownCafe) are all competing on the same stage, and the world's largest coffee chain Starbucks (Starbucks) also joined the battle at the end of 2015.
"We are very happy to be able to expand to Cambodia. We look forward to sharing the Starbucks experience with Cambodian customers with the expertise and knowledge of the Starbucks brand." said Wu Weiguo, Chairman and Managing Director of Maxim's Group.
At present, the coffee war in Cambodia is becoming more and more fierce, but industry insiders believe that as the country's economy rises and the middle class rises, this emerging cafe industry will continue to be "hot" in the future.
The local brand BrownCafe, co-founded by 5 Cambodians from the Western countries, opened its first coffee shop in 2009. It has more than 10 branches in Phnom Penh and has become the most popular coffee shop.
The 30-year-old co-founder Zhang Wenliang just won the Outstanding Entrepreneur Award in August this year. The awards are presented by a judge composed of government officials and business people. Zhang Wenliang and 4 partners invested 170,000 US dollars to open the first coffee shop. Zhang Wenliang said that in recent years, the number of people who love to drink high-quality coffee has grown substantially.
Zhang Wenliang said that many people have gradually switched from traditional iced coffee with condensed milk or sugar-free coffee to drinking latte or cappuccino. "This proves that Cambodian coffee lovers know more about coffee taste and culture." He said that although many international coffee brands have entered Cambodia, as long as Brown Cafe continues to innovate products and improve service quality, it is still a popular cafe .
Charo, the operation manager of CostaCoffee in the UK, said that it is good for the market to compete with local and international coffee brands on the same stage. He believes that the target customer groups of local and international brand coffee chains are very different. "For us, our customers are between 25 and 40 years old, and our products mainly cater to consumers of specific ages." He said that as for local cafes, their customers are under 24. "These are young people. The coffee and food in the cafe are specially made for customers of this age." He also said that Brown Cafe is a gathering place for many young people. Most of their coffee tastes are latte and coffee ice. Sand (frappes).
Market research to guide consumption
At present, the population of Phnom Penh has increased to 2.2 million. Due to the improvement of people's income and living standards, dining out has doubled over the past two years. ParkCafe and Harvard Business School conducted research on the "consumption power" of Phnom Penh citizens, including monthly income and average daily breakfast cost. The survey found that people who eat out spend an average of US$1.53 million a day, of which US$810,000 is for breakfast and US$720,000 for lunch.
Xing Chengli, general manager of ParkCafe, said that more and more high-end restaurants, such as cafes, are favored by young people aged 15 to 30. "This is a great time for mid-range and high-end restaurants to develop to attract the emerging middle class, who like to try fresh and fashionable things." Xing Chengli believes that restaurant owners should consider improving the restaurant's store decoration style, layout, and restaurant furniture. , Lighting and sound systems to attract "trend" consumers.
Hintorasi, a senior researcher at the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, said that thanks to economic stability and a major young population, food and beverages will continue to grow.
"When income is low, people will only choose to eat out on special days, but once their income increases, they may eat out once a week."
He believes that local brand cafes, such as Brown, still have a lot of market space, but once international brands such as Starbucks appear, it shows that local brand cafes must improve their services.
However, for many coffee lovers in Cambodia, international coffee brands are more widely known, but once they enter the Cambodian coffee market, they need to beware of large domestic competitors. "If Brown and Starbucks compete in Hong Kong or the United States, Starbucks may be the best choice for customers, but in Cambodia, Brown's reputation may not be overwhelmed by Starbucks for a while."