Indonesian coffee chain startup Fore Coffee revealed the secrets behind its recent positive EBITDA achievement for Q3 2021, one of them being cutting off its promotional budget by up to 50 per cent. The company said that this move continued all the way to 2022 by 30 per cent and is set to continue by 20-30 per cent in 2023.

Apart from that, Fore Coffee stated that about 50 per cent of its non-functional outlets were badly hit by the pandemic in 2020-2021. This was caused by changes in supply and demand, supply chain as well as coffee production and distribution process. This situation encouraged coffee chain industry players to keep on innovating in order to survive.

Under the leadership of Co-Founder & CEO Vico Lomar, Fore Coffee has been reviewing its business strategy. He shifted the focus of the company back to its core business as a provider of quality food and beverage products that the customers adore.

In the fifth year of its operations, Lomar explained the three strategic steps that have become Fore Coffee’s secret sauce to success in expanding and achieving profitability: Producing quality products through R&D, optimising the quality of human resources, and targeting new outlets.

Up until today, Fore Coffee owns 134 outlets in Greater Jakarta Area, Java, Sumatra, and Borneo. The company intends to add around 75 new outlets and expand to mid-sized cities, aiming to operate a total of 200 outlets by the end of 2023.

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“Our dream is for Fore Coffee to become a beloved and trusted brand by Indonesian customers. This might seem like a simple goal, but it requires a great commitment from every element within the company. With the principles of openness and transparency, and willingness to innovate, we believe that we can make it come true,” Lomar said.

The company also performed a brand image reposition to become a trendy, affordable beverage. It presents seasonal products all together with its core products.

Fore Coffee CMO Matthew Ardian said in a press statement that the company has a different approach to other coffee brands. This encouraged customers to believe that Fore Coffee is a premium local brand–a perception that it aims to change.

“In early 2022, we decided to sharpen our position not to be known as a premium player but instead as a power house brand that provides essential, unique, high-quality products that customers love. We understand that customers deserve a better product,” Ardian said.

Some of its notable products in 2022 include Aren Latte, Pandan Latte, and Butterscotch Sea-Salt Latte. The company claimed that these products had carried the Fore Coffee brand into the list of top five brands with the highest top-of-mind score in Indonesia.

“In 2022, Fore Coffee has achieved many firsts, from launching a children’s beverage product called Fore Junior and Fore Deli line to collaborating with premium lifestyle brands such as Grab, Laneige, Green Rebel and Oma Elly. These launches are packed with trendy, digital-centric marketing campaigns,” Ardian said.

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Organic marketing

Moreover, the company highlighted the key role that marketing plays in R&D and operations. In addition to understanding the aspirations and inspirations of Indonesian customers, marketing helps to answer their demands with a range of product innovations.

The target is to perform organic and sustainable marketing in 2023. The high number of new customers acquired through either online or offline channels is attributed to the sharpening of the company’s brand. Apart from that, the company also actively perform monthly campaigns, leading to customers spreading their content on various social media network.

Based on research that it performs with a third party, Fore Coffee is discovered to have experienced a sharp increase in customer satisfaction level and (Net Promoter Score) by 25 per cent, placing it as a top NPS scorer amongst Indonesian brands.

“Our own core beverage products are the most effective promotional instruments. These products have successfully carried the message of the quality of the products that Fore Coffee served to Indonesia. This is why we focus on intensive, sustainable research and development to help us start new trends and introduce new products that the customers are going to love,” Lomar closed.

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The article was written in Bahasa Indonesia by Kristin Siagian for DailySocial. English translation and editing by e27.

Image Credit: Fore Coffee

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