Perk Coffee was SEA’s largest online coffee subscription launch – Wired PR Lifestyle Story

Paul and Serena Berthelsen are a self-proclaimed “crazy coffee couple.” Their coffee trip began in Kenya, Africa, where they both lived for several years.

Kenya is known for its mountainous plantations and “fruity” coffees, and was the place that sparked its love and appreciation for coffee.

Serena grew up in Kenya and attended boarding school and university in the United States. She now serves her community in health care.

Meanwhile, Paul moved to Kenya after graduating from an Australian university. He quickly fell in love with the country and its coffee culture, which led him to abandon his legal and financial title to be a farmer and trader in the Maasai lands.

He started a commodity trading business before entering agriculture, where he established one of the largest cereal farms in the region. He started with a small plot of 300 acres and gradually built a farm of over 12,000 acres.

The couple spent the next two years in Hawaii, where they continued to explore biodiversity coffee plantations. They eventually settled in Singapore, and Paul found a gap in the newly burned cafe on demand, which he described as a “much-needed market.”

Combining his appreciation and passion for fresh coffee with Paul’s past farming experience, the couple decided to start. Perk Coffee – Get high quality specialty coffee and toast it and deliver it to your home within 48 hours.

One stop shop for all your coffee needs

“I’ve always walked for coffee. My first [business] the idea was to start my own coffee shop because I wanted to drink fresh coffee, best of all, roasted coffee in a few days, ”Paul Perk Coffee founder Paul Perk told the Vulcan Post.

“So I thought, ‘Why not create a business that can fix this?’ Instead of a capital-intensive, competitive cafe, I thought the online space would have fewer people and more opportunities.

Perk Coffee is a one-stop shop for all things coffee. It offers a variety of coffee options (whole beans, ground coffee, drip bags, beans), as well as coffee tools and accessories.

The platform adds value to educational content, such as cooking tips and guides, as well as information on coffee beans and their origins.

With the goal of helping customers bring the coffee experience to the comfort of their own homes, Perk also offers coffee subscription services so that customers can enjoy the new coffee delivered directly to the door.

Their plan is very flexible. Subscribers can easily pause their subscription, reschedule the next burn date, or change coffee types with just a few clicks. They also don’t block customers from charging you in advance because they only bill you on the day of smoking.

Subscribers can also get a better price for coffee, which is 20 percent cheaper than individual orders.

After all, more people want to understand and enjoy the experience of making coffee at home at an affordable price.

It is a win-win situation for both consumers and farmers

“Perk coffee is just like your good friend who loves coffee. Although we really know our coffee, we don’t complicate things too much and we’re certainly not coffee snobs. We try our best to make specialty coffee close and fun,” he said. said Paul.

“Our target market is coffee lovers, both fans and beginners. To be honest, our best customers are the ones who start from scratch with a beer experience at home, and discover the varieties and wonders of the coffee world. ”

The founders have pledged to buy responsibly. Their coffees come from an ethical background around the world, from dedicated and reputable farmers who take care of their land and workers responsibly.

They help farmers by making sure they pay for all their coffee at fair trade rates. This is especially important for Paul, who has been a farmer for 19 years.

Most farmers have not been properly compensated for their work. They are often harmed by intermediaries who brand their products. Although most of the work is done by farmers, they are only paid peanuts.

Although their beans are sourced from abroad, they are roasted here in Singapore.

With coffee, it starts to stop as soon as it is toasted. To keep it fresh, it must be toasted and consumed within a few weeks.

Perk’s special “Required Roast” model solves this problem by conveniently sending you freshly roasted coffee, one package at a time, in a space that suits your needs.

They roast coffee twice a week and toast and send the beans within 48 hours so that customers can enjoy the coffee at its best, with the highest flavor and aroma. This also means that they never maintain an excess inventory, so there is no outdated beans.

Perk Coffee is also proud of its specialty coffee, which is rated 80 points high on the 100 scale by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA). This score is given after a rigorous tasting by professional coffee tasters called Q-graders.

Coffee prices vary depending on the method of preparation, the type of package and the subscription compared to the point purchases. A pack of 10 drops starts at S $ 14 and a pack of 250 g of whole or ground coffee starts at S $ 19.90.

While the prices may be higher than some coffee brands, the freshness and quality they offer is something that stands out from the rest.

Building a core set of customers for the business

“When I started Perk, I had almost no technological and digital experience, so it was a tough learning curve. However, I focused on what I knew best, which is building relationships with my clients,” Paul said.

“I remember each of my first 50 clients. I would share it with friends, and go to farmers markets and unpaid events to talk to people and share my new business. ”

He would then personally approach each of them to receive their customer feedback directly. He remembers all the finger problems that Perk Coffee had when it was first launched, from website issues to delivery delays.

“I treated each issue as an opportunity to connect and build a relationship. What I learned was that customers are human beings [too]. When you are honest, open and apologetic for something, even though it may be out of your control, people often understand. ”

“In fact, most people love helping a startup or an underdog, especially if you involve them in some way and make them feel part of the journey.”

Perk Coffee also says how much effort they put into their marketing campaigns and after-sales support work to successfully grow their customer base.

According to Paul, the first 500 customers were organically acquired by word of mouth.

“We believe so much in our product that we are not afraid to do a free trial, or if you are not happy with the product to get your money back, always make an effort to make the customer happy.”

Covid-19 is a double-edged sword

When the Singapore switch came on, e-commerce went up and Perk Coffee saw an increase in online demand in an effort to get people to find an affordable alternative to coffee-quality coffee.

Paul was unfortunately stuck in Kenya during that period – in the good six months, in fact – because the airport was closed.

Although their software system was well equipped to meet the demand, they still had a couple of problems in other aspects.

“At one point in the switch, our last mile delivery provider was so late that the normal delivery time of one or four business days became two or three weeks. .

“We had to start looking for more customer support right away to make sure our customers were happy throughout the night. [handling] last minute change refunds with door-to-door shipping providers. It cost us a bomb, but we value our customers, so it was something we had to do. ”

Although the pandemic initially posed some business challenges, it generally boosted their business as more people turned to online opportunities, as well as when it came to fixing coffee.

“Until then, those who were curious about home development could now browse with us, those with coffee and brewing tools, and a subscription would allow them to have one less thing to worry about,” Paul said.

It is now the largest company to launch a SEA online coffee subscription

Perk Coffee is a startup that took about two years to break even. Their business model is a pure network, with 80 percent of their revenue coming from subscriptions.

“The subscription model works very well for coffee, as coffee drinkers are common; The model that provides quality fresh coffee at regular intervals in line with consumption is not a pillow, ”Paul said.

It reached its first active 1,000 subscribers a year since its inception, and has grown more than 10fold since 2020 to more than 10,000 subscribers.

Beyond Singapore, Perk Coffee has also spread its wings to Malaysia in October 2018, and then to Hong Kong in October 2020.

“We saw synergy with a greater presence, and we are proud to have the largest online coffee subscription [service] In Southeast Asia, ”Paul said proudly.

Although it intends to hold on to that title in the years to come and conquer beyond the region, it acknowledges that the coffee industry is a highly competitive space, especially for the traditional retail trade, which sees the regular entry and exit of several cafes.

The e-commerce space – Perk Coffee’s bread and butter – is no different. Paul saw that there was an influx of new players, that he was very crowded and competitive.

“However, we see an opportunity to build a stronger community and use technology to better understand our customers, to ensure that we give them the best possible experience, not only in terms of coffee products, but also in terms of education and commitment.”

Going forward, Perk Coffee aims to use quality content and a growing interest in coffee specialty to attract and educate customers. It also aims to keep abreast of industry changes and innovations in order to maintain a competitive advantage.

“I am optimistic about the future of Asian e-commerce and specialty coffee. We are going through difficult but exciting times, and things are changing fast. But one thing is for sure, coffee will not be out of fashion any time soon, ”said Paul.

If you’re a coffee aficionado and new to Perk Coffee, try their specialty coffee for a free trial here.

Featured Image Credit: Perk Coffee