Brewing a cup of comeback

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Hello reader,

As a child, I was a pretty good student. I got decent grades without too much struggle, and even when things started to get more difficult (and I began neglecting my studies a bit), I still got by.

Sounds groovy? Well, yes, but actually no. I never learned how to fail. Or rather, I never learned how to pick myself up after failing. And that’s probably a more important lesson than anything else they could teach you in school.

That doesn’t seem to be a problem for Flash Coffee. The firm’s had a rough few years – at one point, it had more than 200 stores across Asia Pacific, but it’s now left with just 67 outlets, all in Indonesia.

However, things are turning around. The coffee chain has onboarded ex-Foodpanda CEO Jakob Angele as its new executive chairman, and it has also increased its revenue per store figure by more than 50% between February and June this year.

Read on to see how else Flash Coffee is dusting itself off, learning lessons from its mishaps, and forging a new future.

Today we look at:

• How Flash Coffee is getting back up
• The imminent IPO plans of a Singaporean ecommerce enabler
• Other newsy highlights such as India’s quick commerce rush and Shanghai’s plans for its livestreaming sector

Premium summary

Everybody gets knocked down; how quick are you gonna get up?

Image credit: Timmy Loen

I actually moderated a panel on coffee brands in Southeast Asia at our Kuala Lumpur conference in July, and Flash Coffee CEO David Brunier was one of the guests.

One of the questions I asked him was about what lessons he’d learned from Flash’s exit from several markets across Asia Pacific, but “show, don’t tell” is always going to be more convincing – which is what today’s premium article is doing.

I may never get to have the firm’s hazelnut chocolate drink again, but it’s always nice to see a good comeback story.

Incoming IPO in Singapore

Spoiler alert: yes, and we’re proving it

Quick bytes