Kopi Kenangan launches in Malaysia, plans 4 more outlets

Indonesian F&B chain Kopi Kenangan has officially entered the Malaysia market under the brand name Kenangan Coffee, launching its first store in Suria KLCC. CEO and co-founder Edward Tirtanata said Malaysia was chosen as its first market expansion due to Malaysians' love for food and the steady growth in coffee culture, especially the grab-and-go concept.

He added that Malaysians and Indonesians also share many similarities when it comes to taste profile and receptivity to try new things.

"The F&B sector's future also appears promising as Malaysia is transforming into a high-income digital economy with a key focus on digitisation, which is in line with our business operations," he explained.

While the chain is popularly known as Kopi Kenangan in Indonesia, co-founder and chief business development officer, James Prananto, explained that Kenangan Coffee was chosen as the official international name outside of Indonesian because it wanted to emphasise on the word "Kenangan", which translates to "making memories".

"Everyone who comes to our store is treated like a friend, and every cup of coffee that we sell is made with love and we hope this translates to customers making memories with us along this journey," he said. The brand also aspires to be the most-loved consumer brand in Southeast Asia, and Malaysia will be a key foothold in helping Kenangan Coffee achieve this mission.

The brand will be opening four more stores in MyTown Cheras, Pavilion KL, NU Sentral KL and Sunway Pyramid PJ by the end of 2022. According to Bernama, Kenangan Coffee aims to launch up to 10 outlets in Malaysia by the end of the first quarter in 2023. Before entering new markets in Southeast Asia, Kenangan Coffee expects to open up to 100 outlets in Malaysia, Bernama added.

At the same time, Kenangan Coffee has launched its Training Academy in Uptown, Petaling Jaya to provide various training programmes for its baristas and employees, with an aim to become the best professional F&B training centre in Malaysia. It also brought on board Mikael Jasin as its head of coffee, tapping on his experience in the industry.

Meanwhile, on the marketing front, the brand appointed Quennie Tan as head of marketing for Malaysia. She joined from QSR brands where she was previously senior marketing manager and has also worked at F&N and Nestle.

At Kenangan Coffee, she leads all marketing components from social media, PR and digital campaigns to advertising and creative projects, commercial partnerships, product positioning & R&D. She also looks into consumer behaviour, habits and personas to identify opportunities and expand Kenangan Coffee's market share and reach.

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