Kenangan Coffee’s Raffles City store opened in September 2023 | Photo credit: Kenangan Coffee

Indonesian coffee chain Kopi Kenangan has announced Zeno Group as its integrated communications partner in Singapore. 
 

Kopi Kenangan, which trades as Kenangan Coffee in markets outside of Indonesia, debuted in Singapore with an outlet at the Raffles City shopping centre in September 2023. 

Quennie Tan, Head of Marketing at Kenangan Coffee, said Zeno Group’s ‘comprehensive approach’ to both earned media – organic, unpaid coverage – and social media had been key in its Singaporean launch and subsequent communications rollout. 

“This marks a significant milestone for our business, and we were seeking an agency partner who not only understands the Singaporean market but, more importantly, can offer us expert guidance in devising the most effective strategies for an integrated and dynamic media landscape,” she said.   

Founded in 2017, Kopi Kenangan attained coveted unicorn status in January 2022 after securing $96m in Series C funding. 

The coffee chain operates approximately 850 stores across 45 cities in Indonesia, as well as 18 in Malaysia, where it made its international debut in October 2022. 

Kopi Kenangan is currently exploring a new ‘pre-IPO’ funding round to help finance outlet growth in Malaysia and Singapore, and potential expansion to new markets in 2024. 

Singapore is Zeno Group’s regional headquarters in southeast Asia. The agency’s Managing Director, David Lian, said the business is currently focusing on Kenangan Coffee’s next phase of growth in Singapore, which will centre on ‘introducing high-quality Indonesian coffee at an accessible price’. 

Zeno Group’s client portfolio in Asia Pacific includes technology companies Lenovo and Intel, Chinese automotive firm Wuling Motors, global streaming service Netflix and healthcare business Johnson & Johnson. 

Singapore is proving an opportune market for several of southeast Asia’s largest coffee chains, with China’s Luckin Coffee and South Korea’s Compose Coffee entering the market this year, and Indonesia’s Fore Coffee set to debut next month. 

However, highlighting fierce competition in the Singaporean branded coffee shop market, Flash Coffee closed its 11 stores in the city-state this month to curb costs and focus on company-wide profitability. The technology-focused chain filed a notice with local regulators on 11 October 2023 stating it was unable to continue operating because of its liabilities.