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Indonesian franchisee doesn't drink coffee but knows why Black Canyon is succeeding
Pitsinee Jitpleecheep in Jakarta
Dewi Damayanti, 60, an Indonesian businesswoman, did not know that a holiday trip to Thailand would change her business life and help bring Thai coffee to people elsewhere in the world.
Indonesia is among the world's five biggest coffee growers. Given its population of 240 million, most local and international coffee chains - now including Black Canyon of Thailand - sell their products there.
Over the last two and a half years, Mrs Dewi, as the managing director of Black Canyon Indonesia's master franchise PT Boga Citra Cemerlang, has opened 12 Black Canyon outlets nationwide.
"We set out to open four Black Canyon outlets every year. But, as our success went beyond our original plan, we adjusted our plan by moving at a faster pace with at least 10 outlets opened each year," she said.
She also believes Black Canyon has the potential to grow to more than 100 outlets in Indonesia, given that Thailand with a population of 64 million can sustain almost 200 branches.
Mrs Dewi is not a coffee drinker. She had never thought of entering the business until she came to Thailand in August 2005 and, while shopping in downtown Bangkok on her first day in the country, smelt a coffee aroma from somewhere.
"I asked myself and walked around the shopping complex trying to find the source of the smell. Finally, I saw a picture of iced coffee on the wall. I ordered and tasted it. Though I'm not a coffee drinker, I loved it after the first sip. The idea of setting up a Black Canyon franchise popped up in my mind," she said.
With this resolution, Mrs Dewi had lunch and dinner at Black Canyon for six straight days, quickly becoming a loyal patron.
Then, after flying back to Jakarta a while, Mrs Dewi changed her status from a Black Canyon customer to franchisee.
She attributes Black Canyon's success in Indonesia to various factors. First, Black Canyon provides good food and beverages in the same place, differentiating it from other chains.
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| Customers relax outside a Black Canyon in a Jakarta shopping district. The Thai chain now has 12 branches in Asean's most populous country. |
"Our strategy is to draw customers to try the food. I never spend even a single rupiah to promote food because I am confident that if they come here for first time, they will come back again, as is our experience in Thailand," she said.
Second is location. Mrs Dewi chose to open the first Black Canyon in Bali instead of Jakarta, the capital.
Bali is not only visited by tourists but by holidaying Indonesians. If Mrs Dewi had opened its first outlet in Jakarta, which has many big coffee houses, nobody would have seen Black Canyon.
"I have already proved the strategy of opening an outlet at a smaller place that everybody comes to. Now, Black Canyon is second to none in Indonesia," she said, adding that it takes only from one to two years for each Black Canyon outlet there to break even.
Third, she says, Black Canyon's prices are affordable.
"We have long experience in public relations at the hotel chains that I can apply to managing Black Canyon," she said. "Although Thailand is not well-known as a coffee producer, the kingdom can serve cups of coffee to nationalities from around the world coming to Bali in Indonesia."
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