“We aspire to make delicious coffees more accessible by allowing roasters around the world to share their coffees with a wider audience via capsules,” says Foo. “Coffees offer the same breadth of variety and flavours as wines; we built the Morning Machine to help people discover that.”

Read more: The Most Beautiful Coffee Shops in Asia

How have your experiences as an entrepreneur enabled you to create this machine?

Leon Foo (LF): Having been in the industry for over 10 years, my experiences helped me to understand coffee through the different roles in the supply chain—that of a farmer, roaster, cafe owner, and barista. The machine is made for different coffee drinkers, whether it’s the busy professional who needs a quick fix, or those who prefer to create their own brews.

This can be done with the features that allow the users control over how they enjoy their coffees through temperature controls, a built-in scale, and pressure profiling. It is also a machine with built-in Wi-Fi, enabling software updates for users to enjoy the latest features.

How do you drink your coffee?

LF: My coffee cravings vary depending on my mood and the occasion. For example, in the morning I might crave a shorter, medium-roast coffee. Later in the day or after a bike ride, I might want something more refreshing like an iced, light-roast coffee.

What’s your idea of a good housewarming gift?  

LF: A coffee table book such as the Softer Volumes: Cafes coffee table book that we were fortunate to be featured in. 

Complete the sentence: You’ll never see ________ in my home. 

LF: Leopard prints. 

You recently had a successful collaboration with Beyond The Vines to create three colourways for Morning Machine. How was the response to it? 

LF: This ensued from a serendipitous friendship with Rebecca and Daniel, the founders of Beyond the Vines, and was borne from a shared vision of making design and quality accessible to all. 

The response we received from the collaboration was terrific and it has also inspired us to possibly work on a third Morning Machine colourway apart from our current satin black and silver-white options. 

What’s your favourite stay-home activity? 

LF: When at home, I enjoy being able to prepare home-cooked meals for my family and winding down the day by playing some of my favourite tunes on the vinyl player. 

Read more: 9 to 5: Beyond the Vines Co-Founder Rebecca Ting on Overcoming Challenges as a Working Mother

What’s your secret to hosting a good party? 

LF: I believe the essence of a good party is good food and drinks. My secret is definitely ensuring that there’s always enough alcohol to kickstart the party and get people in good spirits before the party officially starts. (wink) 

What are your upcoming plans for the brand?

LF: We’re taking what we have learned in Singapore and making it happen in other markets such as the UK and Australia. We see parallels across these three countries, in terms of consumer behaviour and the progressiveness of the local coffee industry.

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