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Miguel Cordon · · 3 min readYellow fades as Flash Coffee’s new CEO helps brew fresh strategy
Flash Coffee, a tech-enabled coffee chain based in Indonesia, has appointed former Fore Coffee executive Bardon Matthew as its new CEO.
Matthew brings over two decades of experience in Southeast Asia’s food and beverage industry to his new role. At Fore Coffee, he served as the vice president of operations. He previously held key positions in brands such as Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, and Indofood.
Bardon Matthew, Flash Coffee’s new CEO / Photo credit: Flash Coffee
Meanwhile, Flash Coffee founders David Brunier and Sebastian Hannecker will no longer hold operating roles in the firm and focus on a new venture, which is currently in stealth mode. The company said they will remain as strategic advisors to Flash Coffee.
Matthew will be reporting to Jakob Angele, who was hired as Flash Coffee’s executive chairperson last August, nearly a year after the liquidation of its Singapore operations.
Going big in Indonesia
The appointment follows strategic shifts Flash Coffee made in the past few years to focus on the Indonesian market.
In 2023, it shut its operations in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea. That year, it also sold its Thailand business to Turn Capital.
Under the new leadership, Flash Coffee aims to expand its footprint to 130 stores by 2026, targeting the underserved medium-to-premium segment. As of October 2024, the company had 67 branches.
In comparison, Starbucks had around 603 stores in Indonesia as of September last year, while Fore Coffee had 232 branches at the end of 2024.
Matthew tells Tech in Asia that Flash Coffee’s new strategy is to position it as a contender between large chains like Starbucks and its coffee startup peers like Fore Coffee and Kopi Kenangan.
As part of this strategy, it introduced a new store model last May. With this, Flash Coffee is swapping its signature bright yellow aesthetic and grab-and-go emphasis with a more community-focused in-store experience.
Photo credit: Flash Coffee
According to Matthew, this has been performing well for the company, as Indonesian consumers appreciate the larger and more comfortable spaces.
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Backed by a fresh US$3 million round, Flash Coffee makes a strategic shift to larger coffee stores from the flashy grab-and-go model to win in Indonesia.
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