Edward Tirtanata on his bittersweet journey in Indonesia’s F&B industry
In the What Matters To Me series, a Generation T honouree describes what they do, why they do it, and why it matters
Inspired by memories of enjoying a cup of tea with his mum at their favourite teahouse in Boston, Edward Tirtanata wished to create a similar experience for others. He built Lewis & Caroll, an artisanal tea lounge, in 2015 before expanding to the mass market in 2017 with Kopi Kenangan. With its high-quality drinks at an affordable price point, Kopi Kenangan has opened more than 335 branches around Indonesia in less than three years.
In May 2020 Kopi Kenangan secured Series B funding of US$109 million from B Capital, Horizons Ventures and Alpha JWC Ventures.
Here, Edward discusses his work in his own words.
What drove me to build Kopi Kenangan was to address the gap between instant coffee and international “third home” coffee brands. When we first started, affordable quality coffee was nonexistent in Indonesia. This is why I created Kopi Kenangan, with high-quality local beans sold at a significantly cheaper price tag, to reach a bigger market here. While Kopi Kenangan is a grab-and-go concept, the approach for my teahouse, Lewis & Carroll, is a premium ‘third home’ tea lounge.
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