Siti Aindah Sabidin, a former barista at well-known cafe chains like Espressoul, Spinelli and Starbucks, has opened Coffee Story Co. in Komplex Nagoya Hill, Batam.
The cafe/bistro, a joint venture with her husband that began operations in November last year, was the result of failed attempts at getting her coffee fix in various parts of Indonesia while on holiday.
In an interview with Berita Harian, Siti Aindah explained that she and her husband started doing market research in Singapore and Malaysia after seeing the business potential in specialty coffee outlets. But when they realised how high the capital needed and operating costs were in the two cities despite the fact that cafes were a well-received concept, they decided on Indonesia.
32-year-old Siti Aindah (second from left in above picture), who has 10 years of experience in making coffee under her belt, also cited substantially lower startup capital, an expanding middle class and a workforce that is experienced and educated as pull factors.
When asked about the challenges they faced, Siti Aindah said there were certain products they needed for their kitchen that were not produced in Indonesia, but switching to local sources for fresh produce and syrups worked.
The 32-year-old Siti Aindah further cites other pull factors like a substantially lower startup capital, a growing middle class and an experienced and educated workforce.
The menu at Coffee Story Co. includes classic spin-offs like Chicken Gordon Bleu (IDR40,000/SGD4.20; pictured), as well as coffee staples like Signature Latte priced at (IDR28,000/SGD2.95).
Photos: Coffee Story Co. Facebook
