KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — Even though the conditional movement control order (CMCO) kicked in on Monday allowing all restaurants and cafés to reopen — under strict guidelines — many are eschewing dine-in customers in favour of takeaway and deliveries only.

For a coffee roaster like Ghostbird Coffee Company, it’s been a crisis as their wholesale customers see a huge drop in their coffee sales. The question they face is how — and how much — to pivot their business during the lockdown and beyond, when spending is likely to be slower still.

Michael Tan, Ghostbird’s Wholesale Director, believes that looking ahead during a period of rapid expansion late last year has helped them blunt the effects of the slowdown somewhat.

He says, “We are grateful that we launched our products on Shopee and developed our website earlier. So we already built an audience where people will come buy coffee beans frequently.”

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What covers the cost of green beans when there is a drop in the café sales of wholesale customers?
What covers the cost of green beans when there is a drop in the café sales of wholesale customers?

Products launched for the home user market include coffee drip bags as well as capsules for home brewing machines. Tan says, “Many people messaged us on Shopee and our website asking how to brew coffee or choose the coffee they like. I believe many people would like to brew at home but they’re hoping for an easier, hassle-free way.”

Ghostbird plans to introduce a box of 12 drip bag sachets, with different origins and roast profiles. Customers may also choose from different espresso blends. Capsules are currently available for all small offices or co-working spaces.

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Tan explains, “We feel drip bags are affordable, cost-saving and customers can brew coffee with them easily. For capsules, we can provide a solution for good coffee for those office workers during this period when they can’t visit cafés so easily.”

Ultimately, as a roaster, wholesale customers are the bread and butter of Ghostbird’s business. Building and maintaining strong relationships with them through good times and bad are paramount to their growth... and survival.

Ghostbird’s Wholesale Director Michael Tan (left) and founder Thomas Ooi (right)
Ghostbird’s Wholesale Director Michael Tan (left) and founder Thomas Ooi (right)

One area that remains relatively untapped is wholesale customers who focus entirely on online sales without a brick-and-mortar presence. In the coffee business, roasters such as Ghostbird can choose to provide beans and roasting services to these companies without branding the products as Ghostbird’s. This practice is commonly known as white labelling.

Tan shares, “We did white label packaging for some wholesale customers where previously no other roaster was doing it. So during this MCO period, they are the ones who kept ordering coffee from us as their online sales went up. We are so grateful we had them on board earlier.”

Having this dependable stream of revenue — online coffee purveyors aren’t as affected as brick-and-mortar coffee shops by the lockdown — allowed Ghostbird to have the necessary funds to continue paying employees their salaries, as well as the cost of rental and green beans (raw coffee beans).

Sorting roasted coffee beans (left) and a new series of cold brew beverages by Ghostbird.
Sorting roasted coffee beans (left) and a new series of cold brew beverages by Ghostbird.

Tan notes that, even with the CMCO in force, many of Ghostbird’s wholesale partners opt not to open their shops for the time being. He says, “I believe they will be taking this one week to observe the situation. Some will be open but without dine-in, to safeguard the staff as well as the customers.”

For now, Ghostbird will be strengthening their online presence. Tan says, “We will be pushing forward with our coffee subscription program, our weekly offerings varieties as well as OEM roasting for wholesale partners. The wholesale side will be slower for at least another six months so we will shift our focus to create platforms on the retail side as well as e-commerce.”

One new endeavour is their OEM cold brew project where Ghostbird makes cold brew coffee and bottles it by batch for wholesale partners to retail at their cafés. Just as with white label packaging for whole roasted coffee beans, these will be branded according to the wholesale partners’ business identity.

“We are still finding ways to break through. Our main focus now is to at least break even — to sustain the company and not retrench,” says Tan.

From beans to brew, Ghostbird is banking on a growing home market for coffee lovers.
From beans to brew, Ghostbird is banking on a growing home market for coffee lovers.

In a time when nearly everyone is bemoaning bleak prospects, here’s one company that is looking for new opportunities as formerly reliable streams of revenue dwindle. All the while reminding themselves constantly of the age-old question: What does my customer want?

Find Ghostbird Coffee Company online at www.ghostbirdcoffee.com and shopee.com.my/ghostbirdcoffee. For more stories about coffee, visit https://lifeforbeginners.com/coffee/.