Singapore is the newest destination for global coffee brands looking to expand outside their home country.
In recent months, prominent coffee house chains have opened their first locations here, according to press releases and various reports.
Companies expect Singapore’s coffee market to grow and see the country as a springboard for further expansion in Asia.
Tim Hortons, China’s Luckin Coffee, Indonesia’s Fore Coffee and Kenangan Coffee, and Taiwan’s Luisa Coffee are among the brands expanding to Malaysia’s southern city-state.
Luckin Coffee, which opened its first cafe in China in 2017 and quickly became one of Asia’s largest chains, opened a store in Singapore in March, according to The Straits Times.
According to a news release, Fore Coffee expanded to Singapore in September.
The brand sees growth opportunities in the island nation. Singaporeans drink six to seven cups of coffee a day, the news release said, citing research by consulting firm Redseer.
The company said in a release that it expects Singapore’s coffee market to grow by 5% to nearly $1.3 billion by 2027.
According to Bloomberg, Tim Hortons’ Chinese subsidiary Tim’s China expanded into Singapore in November. The move is part of Tim’s China’s plan to expand to 2,750 cafes by 2026.
Another Indonesian coffeehouse chain, Kopi Kenangan, is looking at its entry into the Singapore market in September as a way to expand into more Asian countries.
“We have some pretty ambitious ambitions for international expansion,” Kopi Kenangan co-founder and CEO Edward Tirtanata told CNBC. “We believe that Singapore and Malaysia are just stepping stones. And we want to expand to even more countries than we currently have.”