Indonesia’s coffee boom enters new phase with affordable brews

Kenangan Brands, the parent firm of Indonesia-based coffee chain Kopi Kenangan, recently expanded its business by launching an affordable brand. Called Satu Kenangan, this product range caters to consumers in the country’s rural areas, which are considered Tier 3 cities.

Based on prices published on company websites, beverages from Kopi Kenangan and its peers can cost between 15,000 to 40,000 rupiah (US$0.91 to US$2.44) a cup. In comparison, Satu Kenangan’s coffee starts from 7,000 rupiah (US$0.43) per cup.

Satu Kenangan, Kopi Kenangan’s new sister brand / Photo credit: Kopi Kenangan

However, Kenangan Brands isn’t the only homegrown coffee startup that introduced a more affordable option in Indonesia. Jago Coffee and Sejuta Jiwa did it first.

Founded in 2020, Jago Coffee operates traveling carts that offer caffeinated beverages at prices starting from 8,000 rupiah (US$0.49) per cup.

The company says it currently has 300 coffee carts that cover 7% of Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. Jago Coffee also has an app that customers can use to place online orders.

On the other hand, Sejuta Jiwa is a business unit of Jiwa Group, a food and beverage company known for its Janji Jiwa coffee brand. Launched in 2023, Sejuta Jiwa shares some similarities with Jago: Both sell their drinks via carts and have set their base price at US$0.49.

In addition to affordability, Satu Kenangan, Jago Coffee, and Sejuta Jiwa operate on a partnership model. Partners manage the operations of a coffee cart or a stall on a profit-sharing basis.

Broader market reach

One of the reasons why the three coffee chains chose to make their products affordable is to capture a market opportunity that has eluded other players.

A 2023 SnapCart survey revealed that across all socio-economic backgrounds in Indonesia, most coffee drinkers spent 6,000 rupiah to 20,000 rupiah (US$0.37 to US$1.22) per cup.

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