CARBON KOPI
Tell us how did you create Carbon Kopi? What kind of processes did you go through?
We lived in New Zealand for a long time, and after moving here, craved the speciality coffee that used to drink on a daily basis so thought we would start our own. It was also good for us to have a fresh start in a new – for one of us – country. Every weekend we had in New Zealand was consumed by coffee and brunch, so we’ve inadvertently been doing café research for a decent amount of time and had a pretty good idea of what we wanted our coffee shop to look like.
What was the most challenging thing whilst you were establishing Carbon Kopi?
Finding a location was a lot harder than we thought – so many attempts at securing a lease, so many conditions to fulfil, and a lot of legal red tape.
Where does the name come from?
Carbon was one of the elements we thought would illustrate coffee and its attributes as well as the chemistry that goes into brewing coffee. With one of us being Malaysian, we thought the Malay word for kopi would tie in nicely, and with consistency at the heart of what we do, we wanted each cup to be a carbon copy of the other.
What is your most popular drink?
There’s not a day where the flat white isn’t the most popular. Being a Kiwi-inspired café it’s pretty apt we think.
You also serve delicious snacks and various options for breakfast. How do you decide to add new choices to your menu? How do you manage to keep up with new trends like healthy food, drink, lifestyle etc?
We eat out a lot, and in general we like to be a little more adventurous so we do see what is on trend and are inspired by those experiences. We add new choices based on whether we would order it ourselves, and whether our team can make it well.
How important do you think it is to have a good barista on the board?
An exceptional barista is absolutely at the heart of what we do. Importantly, personality is what we look for as there is really no room to hide in a neighbourhood location like ours and we need them to shine.
How would you say Carbon Kopi is different from the other coffee shops?
For us Carbon Kopi is a dream come true, and we are so grateful to have come as far as we have so we try not to take things for granted. We have a clear vision of where we want to be in the future and will always be changing, adapting and improving our offerings.
As a business partner of the Magic Stamp, how do you think it helped/supported your business?
It’s totally set the right tone for who we are as a cashless business as well as provides the seamless experience we want our customers to have. Above all, it’s simple, fuss-free and a no-brainer. Coming from an IT background, we see it as a simple technological solution to a simple problem.