Social Mixer 2024 Singapore
marketing interactive Content360 Singapore 2024 Content360 Singapore 2024
marketing interactive

OWL looks to move away from being just another supermarket brand

share on

During the celebration of its 60th anniversary this year, Marketing caught up with Richmond Te, assistant general manager at OWL International, to learn more about OWL’s journey from an everyday B2C to a both B2B and B2C one.With a vision of becoming Singapore’s complete coffee company, it went for a “bean to cup” concept, said Te. Re-evaluating at its strategy in 2014, the home-grown coffee brand realised untapped potential in the food service segment that required a focus in growing.“We created a special division to grow which is food service segment, food service meaning hotels, restaurants, cafes and offices,” Te said. As such a team was grown to deploy its brand in many major hotel chains locally. Ultimately OWL wanted to move away from being just another supermarket brand.This process of moving away from the local supermarkets started first in 2012 when it decided to embark into the cafe business and into high level service. Moreover, an OWL flagship store is currently in the pipeline for the coffee brand, as it hope to build a one stop shop to showcases all that OWL has to offer - not only its repertoire of products but also the experience it hope for coffee lovers to experience.“Right now in the market, there hasn’t been anyone who has been able to combine the café, food service and retail at the same time,” Te said. As such, the brand is aiming to change that. “We are very proud of our heritage and we are trying to be a local curator of coffee – which in different countries have different definitions. What we are trying to do is curate these different coffees – and this is something which we hope to express in our flagship store and that is the objective,” Te said.Challenges of diversifying into other facets of the coffee businessNonetheless, finding the right talent to run the service industry is a challenge as the people running the cafes have to be well versed in food service and those running the retail side require specific skills sets.“People management is tricky, because everyone is different, some are looking for benefits, and some are looking for money and flexibility. Everyone wants flexibility,” Te added. Moreover, expansion is also on the cards for the brand as it looks to grow regionally. Currently, it has already opened two new cafes in China and a city franchise in Jakarta, Indonesia.“Workplace flexibility is something that we are trying to implement because it is something everyone is talking about and focusing on right now. Empowerment is important,” Te added.From preparations for their new flagship store which is set to open in the next half of the year, investing in talent management is something OWL hopes to grow as it transitions from a retail brand to one which curates a coffee drinking experience.However at the end of the day, it's vision is  to bring the Singapore coffee culture into other countries, so anyone and everyone would be able to have their traditional Singaporean “kopi-o”.

share on

Follow us on our Telegram channel for the latest updates in the marketing and advertising scene.
Follow

Free newsletter

Get the daily lowdown on Asia's top marketing stories.

We break down the big and messy topics of the day so you're updated on the most important developments in Asia's marketing development – for free.

subscribe now open in new window