Ly Thirith in his coffee factory (Photo: Khem Sonnara, Cambodge Soir)
Angkor Coffee proudly displays the "Khmer craft" label (Photo: DR, Cambodge Soir)Tuesday, May 08, 2007
By Sarah Oliveira
Cambodge Soir
Unofficial Translation from French by Luc Sâr
Cambodia produces coffee but it had to wait until 2007 for a young Sino-Khmer entrepreneur to come up with the first local label. Angkor Coffee tries to make its name next to foreign labels.
Nothing seems to destine him to launch himself into the coffee business. 30-year-old Ly Thirith used to manage a garage shop and taking care of the marketing for a small tourism agency. It is his business intuition and his audacity that led him to create at the beginning of 2007, the first Cambodian coffee label. “Here, you can find Vietnamese or imported coffee. Cambodia produces coffee also but, there is no local coffee label,” said the indignant young entrepreneur who is trying to fill this gap.
The name became obvious: nothing could better represent the taste of Cambodia than “Angkor Coffee,” in spite of the fact that Siem Reap does not produce coffee at all. Ly Thirith buys his coffee beans from small family-owned producers in Mondolkiri, Ratanakiri and Stung Treng. “It is not cheaper than from Vietnam, but if we don’t support the local production, these small producers will disappear. A few months ago, I bought coffee beans from Memot, Kompong Cham province, but the producers stopped selling them because they couldn’t find enough buyers.”
An ambitious Sino-Khmer entrepreneur
Angkor Coffee is a challenge for this Sino-Khmer entrepreneur who was initiated to trade by his parents. He sees far ahead of him: only five month into production, his small company already employs 8 people for coffee roasting, packaging, and sale in supermarkets. He has no mean to buy modern equipments, but he is already spending several hundred of dollars each month in advertisement in magazines and on TV.
Icing on the cake: he is currently renovating, with the profit he made from his garage, a coffee shop not too far from the Monument of Independence. His goal for the coffee shop is “to give consumers the opportunity to taste Angkor Coffee.” According to Ly Thirith, having his product known is already half of the (marketing) work, he assures that people who taste his coffee will be seduced (by its flavor). During the April fair for Cambodian products, he earned almost $500 in one weekend.
Paying tax: the toughest task
In spite of everything that happens, he has not seen any profit yet. “It’s difficult to find a spot on the Cambodian coffee market, there are already a lot of foreign labels,” Ly Thirith said. He confessed that some Chinese coffee shop managers saw no interest in selling his product since they already sell bulk Cambodian coffee which they buy directly from small producers. However, sales in the supermarkets are doing good up to now.
Ly Thirith prefers selling his coffee somewhat cheaper than the competition even though the profit margin does not cover yet the operation cost of his company. “I will continue until I succeed. I believe in it because in only a few months, I already have a lot of regular customers,” he said with enthusiasm.
Nowadays, Angkor Coffee takes most of his time, his friends are encouraging him and they try to pass on the words. “If the coffee sells well, I will borrow from my family or from the bank to but new equipments,” he already plans ahead. “But the toughest part is paying taxes,” Ly Thirith confessed while regretting that these taxes are not advantageous enough for small companies to take the risk to launch new products.
By Sarah Oliveira
Cambodge Soir
Unofficial Translation from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read Cambodge Soir’s original article in French
Where to buy Angkor Coffee:
Angkor Coffee Shoppe
No. 35 Road 192, Phnom Penh
Tel: 012 598 567
Email: angkorcoffee@citylink.com.kh
Nothing seems to destine him to launch himself into the coffee business. 30-year-old Ly Thirith used to manage a garage shop and taking care of the marketing for a small tourism agency. It is his business intuition and his audacity that led him to create at the beginning of 2007, the first Cambodian coffee label. “Here, you can find Vietnamese or imported coffee. Cambodia produces coffee also but, there is no local coffee label,” said the indignant young entrepreneur who is trying to fill this gap.
The name became obvious: nothing could better represent the taste of Cambodia than “Angkor Coffee,” in spite of the fact that Siem Reap does not produce coffee at all. Ly Thirith buys his coffee beans from small family-owned producers in Mondolkiri, Ratanakiri and Stung Treng. “It is not cheaper than from Vietnam, but if we don’t support the local production, these small producers will disappear. A few months ago, I bought coffee beans from Memot, Kompong Cham province, but the producers stopped selling them because they couldn’t find enough buyers.”
An ambitious Sino-Khmer entrepreneur
Angkor Coffee is a challenge for this Sino-Khmer entrepreneur who was initiated to trade by his parents. He sees far ahead of him: only five month into production, his small company already employs 8 people for coffee roasting, packaging, and sale in supermarkets. He has no mean to buy modern equipments, but he is already spending several hundred of dollars each month in advertisement in magazines and on TV.
Icing on the cake: he is currently renovating, with the profit he made from his garage, a coffee shop not too far from the Monument of Independence. His goal for the coffee shop is “to give consumers the opportunity to taste Angkor Coffee.” According to Ly Thirith, having his product known is already half of the (marketing) work, he assures that people who taste his coffee will be seduced (by its flavor). During the April fair for Cambodian products, he earned almost $500 in one weekend.
Paying tax: the toughest task
In spite of everything that happens, he has not seen any profit yet. “It’s difficult to find a spot on the Cambodian coffee market, there are already a lot of foreign labels,” Ly Thirith said. He confessed that some Chinese coffee shop managers saw no interest in selling his product since they already sell bulk Cambodian coffee which they buy directly from small producers. However, sales in the supermarkets are doing good up to now.
Ly Thirith prefers selling his coffee somewhat cheaper than the competition even though the profit margin does not cover yet the operation cost of his company. “I will continue until I succeed. I believe in it because in only a few months, I already have a lot of regular customers,” he said with enthusiasm.
Nowadays, Angkor Coffee takes most of his time, his friends are encouraging him and they try to pass on the words. “If the coffee sells well, I will borrow from my family or from the bank to but new equipments,” he already plans ahead. “But the toughest part is paying taxes,” Ly Thirith confessed while regretting that these taxes are not advantageous enough for small companies to take the risk to launch new products.
8 comments:
Excellent, congratulation to you
and good luck with your veture, Ly
Thirith!
we should support khmer products
We love you, Ly Thirith. Keep up the good job!
I will surely bring back a whole bunch when I go to PP again
KA
Yes, you should if you are a coffee
drinker because it is organic and
naturally grown. It contains
various minerals to keep the bone
strong if you use it regularly.
Many of our farming goods are like
that, not just coffee.
We support you. We must promote the slogan " Cambodian product First"
We support you.
I drank some of this coffee but it smells just like a Apsara Girl..
Here's an idea for you, 7:09: how
about play "follow the leader"? I
mean drink a can of Ankor beer
followed by a mug of Ankor coffee,
and the one who consummed the most
sets of drink will win the game.
How's that sound?
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