For those who’ve walked down Robinson Street or One Raffles Place, a vivid yellow storefront would’ve most likely caught your eye. Espresso drinkers holding flashy yellow cups are prone to have been seen within the neighborhood too.

Flash Espresso, the well-loved espresso chain from Indonesia, made its entrance into Singapore final October and now has 5 retailers right here. It first launched in January 2020, and now operates 50 places throughout Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. 

The tech-enabled espresso chain has loved robust traction in its markets regardless of the pandemic, with nearly all of its shops already reaching profitability and demonstrating the success of its enterprise mannequin.

The rapidly-growing chain was based by CEO David Brunier and COO Sebastian Hannecker. The duo began Flash Espresso as a single outlet in Jakarta, with the ambition to turn out to be a completely tech-driven espresso chain.

Espresso That Leverages Upon Tech

Picture Credit score: Flash Espresso

In an interview with Vulcan Put up, David shared his commentary concerning the espresso business. It was principally not digitised and lots of manufacturers had been serving common high quality espresso at premium costs, making it largely unaffordable to the mass markets.

He defined that the excessive costs are principally pushed by spacious places, unoptimised staffing and under-utilised baristas. That was when the self-professed foodie and low fanatic realised there was an incredible potential to create a completely re-imagined buyer expertise within the espresso business.

Proper after college, David spent greater than 4 years at European meals supply large Supply Hero SE with the objective of finally constructing a startup of his personal.

In 2019, Rocket Web’s founders Oliver Samwer and Alexander Kudlich reached out to him and requested if he could be open to founding a brand new firm with them. Rocket Web is a Berlin-based tech incubator, and a number of the firms it has helped kickstart embrace Lazada and Zalora.

“It was additionally round that point that Luckin Espresso had their S$four billion IPO after working for 18 months, which acquired me excited and made me take a deeper look into the espresso business,” mentioned David.

David describes the day he met co-founder Sebastian as “possible probably the most impactful day for Flash Espresso”, as the 2 hit it off the second they met. They’d a really comparable concept of how they envisioned Flash Espresso to be.

A 12 months after its launch, Flash Espresso has developed right into a full fledged tech-driven firm that’s “able to assist the launch of tons of of shops within the subsequent months and energy 1000’s of our prospects’ orders each day.”

That is completed through a myriad of technological processes that the model has integrated into its operations.

First, its client app allows prospects to order and pay on-line, choose up their drinks or get them delivered, use Flash’s loyalty programme and participate in challenges.

The app additionally allows Flash to make use of e-commerce methods to accumulate and retain prospects proactively,  which reinvents the way in which espresso and F&B companies develop and construct their buyer bases.

Picture Credit score: Flash Espresso

It additionally permits Flash to draw prospects who would have by no means independently handed by certainly one of their retailers. 

Flash additionally has a barista app, which is the bridge between the buyer app and the respective retailers that customers order from. In keeping with David, it improves the operational effectivity of shops and allows  performance-based incentives for its baristas, making certain an unparalleled buyer expertise. 

Apart from apps, Flash can also be engaged on implementing totally automated inventory counts and buy orders through sensor know-how. Moreover, it makes use of a centralised on-line configuration and monitoring system to keep away from the breakdown of kit and guarantee consistency of merchandise throughout totally different retailers.

Property tech softwares are used to know buyer circulate, establish excessive demand areas, and decide offline visitors conversion charges.

Not A Run-Of-The-Mill Espresso Model

Picture Credit score: Flash Espresso

Apart from its technological capabilities, Flash additionally units itself other than different gamers within the business through different metrics.

For instance, the model prides itself on its affordability. An everyday Americano at Flash Espresso goes for S$2.80 a cup, giving rivals a run for his or her cash.

David informed Vulcan Put up that many shoppers change from different business espresso manufacturers to Flash Espresso, as they’re searching for greater high quality, but extra reasonably priced espresso choices to get pleasure from each day.

Regardless of its reasonably priced pricing, it doesn’t compromise on high quality.

The chain’s menu is curated by 4 internationally-renowned barista champions, and the model additionally goals to supply prospects with a espresso expertise they often solely get at a specialty espresso store. 

Moreover, the pandemic has modified the way in which customers order and devour espresso tremendously. Many now get their espresso delivered to them, and the Flash Espresso idea matches the brand new regular.

Rising A Espresso Empire

Picture Credit score: Flash Espresso

Most just lately, Flash Espresso raised US$15 million in Collection A funding led by international tech funding agency White Star Capital.

Different traders within the spherical, which introduced the corporate’s complete capital to US$20 million, had been Supply Hero-backed DX Ventures, World Founders Capital and Switzerland-based enterprise capital agency Conny & Co.

The workforce is now planning to launch an extra 300 retailers by the top of 2021. It already launches three new retailers per week, however plans to deliver the quantity as much as 10 per week.

That is fuelled by the numerous development in per capita consumption of espresso throughout the area. In keeping with David, Flash Espresso’s complete addressable market is price greater than US$80 billion.

As espresso schooling progresses in Asia, the demand for premium espresso and better high quality choices can also be  rising quickly. We are going to additional allow this demand by making premium espresso extra accessible to the rapidly rising center class which is basically unable to afford nice espresso resulting from its worth.

David Brunier, Co-founder and CEO, Flash Espresso

The Flash Espresso imaginative and prescient is to democratise high-quality espresso and make it accessible to Asia’s rising center class. 

To succeed in this objective, the founders plan to construct a tech-driven powerhouse to construct new manufacturers throughout the area, top-of-class operational processes and a fully-integrated worth chain together with in-house manufacturing amenities to additional drive backward integrations. 

It additionally plans to set up its regional headquarters in Singapore, the place they anticipate to rent over 90 new employees members by the finish of 2021. 

“We are going to additional broaden our core competencies of know-how, operational excellence, and model  constructing in an effort to be well-equipped to outperform the F&B sector in Asia,” mentioned David.

Featured Picture Credit score: Flash Espresso