BROWN Coffee and Bakery was established in 2009 by a group of young Cambodian entrepreneurs. Serving coffee and food, the business is a homegrown Cambodian success story. It now boasts the third highest number of stores in the capital at 19, with two more stores planned for later in the year.

The Cambodian coffee market is continuing to grow despite its current crowded nature.

Establishing a new brand may present a difficult proposition in today’s crowded market.

Continuing to build an established brand is a much more accessible proposition. Brown Coffee and Bakery are equipped with a strong enough customer base and many unique points of difference that represent real choice for customers, and the opportunity to grow despite the crowded nature of the sector.

To find out more about the business The Post spoke to Chem Srey Oeun, Brand Manager for Brown Coffee and Bakery. The Post asked Srey Ouen what the key to their success was, she said there were three key points to this success, “the first point was to help create a particularly Cambodian coffee culture” said Srey Ouen.

Until quite recently, coffee was seen as an older persons drink in Cambodian culture, mostly restricted to road side stalls.

The coffee was fine but Brown Coffee and Bakery are now “pushing for a modern style” said Srey Ouen.

The second point is “consistency and quality, we make all our own food and pastries, and we roast our own coffee” explained Srey Ouen. The last point that Brown Coffee and Bakery use to explain their success is “tuning in to our customers, customers need change, but we also understand that we have to compete with ourselves”, to continue to develop and experience ongoing success.

With stiff competition from some big players Brown Coffee and Bakery are maintaining market position and growth momentum. Srey Ouen remarked this was because “we think we have the full package, we go beyond coffee” at the moment in Cambodia “I think it’s a thing that is unique to us, Cambodian style hospitality.”

She put Brown Coffee and Bakery’s consistent sales on the domestic market down to a few things, but largely it was about appealing to a new Cambodian middle class. Providing a space for students, families, business associates, new friends and old, to come and relax in air conditioning with free wi-fi and of course drinks and food.

The “feeling of pride, to be able to receive the full package of a modern coffee culture but investing in Cambodia as a Cambodian is rewarding,” Srey Ouen added, “tourists and expats also get to feel like a part of our Cambodian community”.

In terms of challenges and constraints in the Cambodian market, Srey Ouen suggested that one of the things that is going to challenge Brown Coffee and Bakery as the company continues to grow will be maintaining “innovation, keeping ourselves highly innovative, there is strong competition and we have to acknowledge that”, she went on, “we have to listen to both our customers and our staff” in order to continue building the business in a positive direction.

Another challenge that Srey Ouen pointed out was sourcing motivated and enthusiastic staff that Brown Coffee and Bakery insist upon, “on the recruitment side it can be so hard to recruit the right people, there are so many jobs for people in Cambodia right now”, not that it deters Brown Coffee and Bakery from maintaining high staff recruitment standards. Those high recruitment standards are another key point of difference that goes some way to explain Brown Coffee and Bakery’s continued appeal in Cambodia.

What makes Brown Coffee and Bakery a great value proposition in the Cambodian coffee market is that it continues to innovate and listen to both staff and customers.

Srey Ouen explained that further expansion will adhere to current policy with the creation of three separate styles of iconic stores. The first is Brown Express. It is a smaller establishment, focusing on the time poor. Brown Express stores offer Brown Coffee and Bakery high standard food but for takeaway customers. The Brown Classic store is a traditional, spacious and welcoming store. Customers to the Classic Brown Coffee and Bakery stores can expect to lounge or meet in comfort.

The full range of Brown Coffee and Bakery food as well as coffee products are available at the Classic stores. The last style of store is Brown Roastery store, these stores represent the flagships of the Brown Coffee and Bakery brand.

These are the largest of Brown Coffee and Bakery stores where customers can smell the delicious notes of freshly roasted coffee on the air.

The coffee beans at Brown Coffee and Bakery Roastery stores are roasted in front of customers and they can learn a little more about the process.

Though the Cambodian coffee market is crowded, it is still a growth sector in the Cambodian economy. As the economy continues to grow and more Cambodians have access to expendable income, it is predicted that the populace will enjoy spending more time and money on unique experiences.

This concentration on the experiential nature of their stores, as well as consistency and quality, is a unique point of difference that Brown Coffee and Bakery will be looking to exploit as they continue to expand in 2019.