SINGAPORE, May 18 – It’s one thing adapting to the Covid-19 crisis when you’re running a café in one place; it’s quite a different headache when you operate multiple outlets in different countries.
This is something Marcus Foo, co-founder of PPP Coffee, understands all too well. He says, “We face an unprecedented challenge with the new Covid-19 environment. Demand for our usual services may cease to exist and the business landscape may change very fast, to the tune of government policies.”
Established in 2009 as a pioneer of specialty coffee in Singapore, PPP Coffee (formerly known as Papa Palheta prior to their rebranding exercise last year) now comprises two stores in Singapore (Chye Seng Huat Hardware and PPP Coffee at Funan) and one in Malaysia (PULP in Bangsar).
For the past decade, PPP Coffee – like many other regional coffee brands – had focused largely on their customers in their brick-and-mortar outlets. There was no need to think that things would be otherwise different even with the economic downturn.
When the pandemic hit, the company had to quickly adopt a takeaway-only concept at their cafés, given the restrictions of the “circuit breaker” in Singapore and Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia, and shift their retail business online. (PPP Coffee at Funan is closed temporarily and will reopen on the second or third week of June.)
Foo says, “Prior to Covid-19, our operations were primarily structured to support our walk-in customers at our outlets, and our corporate clients comprising offices, hotels and F&B establishments. With the closures, there was a significant drop in walk-in traffic as well as the order volume from our corporate clients.”
The silver lining, Foo notes, was a significant increase in the number of orders from their online store. Hence, the PPP Coffee team decided to redeploy manpower to support and grow their online business.
One of the success stories from PPP Coffee’s recent pivots is their Send A Care Pack project, an online delivery service which combines their café and retail offerings together.
Their delivery vans used to deliver wholesale coffee but since the volume dropped, they are now redeployed for direct delivery for café operations.
PPP Coffee’s bakery in Singapore also saw a drop in sales as pastry sales dipped so it switched to baking whole cakes.
Foo says, “Our once large café team is now channelled to packing and delivering as we speak. We now deliver about 80-100 care packs daily island-wide in Singapore, half of which are usually corporate orders where companies send to their teams who are working from home. However in Kuala Lumpur, as we do not operate our own bakery, we work with local bakeries to provide the pastries and cakes.”
By partnering with local food delivery associates such as GrabFood, Deliveroo and FOODHOOD, PPP Coffee managed to maintain sales revenue close to their previous daily sales at their Singaporean cafés.
Foo observes, “Our wholesale coffee side of the business has dropped significantly by 80 per cent but retail coffee through our website has gone up remarkably, both in Singapore and Malaysia.”
Key to this speed in pivoting is having a head-start with their e-commerce business as far back as early 2010 when few other competitors were in the game. Foo adds, “Coffee equipment also saw brisk take-up as it seems everyone wants to brew coffee professionally at home!”
Another fast-moving product during the Covid-19 crisis is PPP Coffee’s Nespresso compatible capsules. Foo says, “We developed and introduced this back in 2017. It was a steep climb to get it to market then. With the current work from home arrangement the past few months, it helped advance the take-up rate of this product line.”
Moving forward, PPP Coffee’s business strategy remains nimble as Foo notes that “the wind could change its course very quickly. The roastery, café experience and coffee equipment business continue to be our core products. These need to be adapted to the current situation where mobility is limited. Online presence is ultimately the direction that we are moving towards.”
A priority for PPP Coffee is ensuring customers feel safe when their cafés fully reopen once lockdowns are lifted for both countries. Foo says, “There will be a new normal. Social distancing will be here to stay – from customer seating to adjusting how we serve accordingly. We do believe people will still crave for the café experience and social interaction.”
(PULP in Bangsar re-opens officially tomorrow after the government allowed dine-in for restaurants from May 4 in Malaysia.)
Even given the understandably challenging circumstances, the company has to manage expectations of all parties involved. Foo says, “You give them the best even in this time of uncertainty. The how part has to evolve – through the process of content communication with them.”
Beyond their online retail presence, in which they are committed in building a strong online sales and marketing team, PPP Coffee has also launched a YouTube Channel.
Foo concludes, “It is not by chance that we are still here after 10 years, and our belief has not changed, and that is to connect people with people. We see our customers as a community and our team members as family. To brighter days ahead.”
Find out more about PPP Coffee at https://pppcoffee.com/ and on their YouTube channel. For more stories about coffee, visit https://lifeforbeginners.com/coffee/.
