Having lived in Portugal all their lives, surrounded by a strong daily coffee culture, when Cristiana Figueiredo and her husband Rui first came to Macau, they felt that they couldn’t experience coffee in a way that they were used to. So eight years ago they established their own coffee shop, CuppaCoffee, an all-original brand which is today arguably one of the best known local coffee shops in town.
“People now use our shop as a reference for giving directions,” says Cristiana, a true indication in a city like Macau, that your brand is a success.
Cristiana, a sociologist and her husband Rui, a physics engineer, did not come to Macau with the intention of running a coffee shop, but they have nonetheless made a great success of their brand, after much hard work and dedication to the project.
“Initially the challenge was introducing the concept here, because there were not many foreigners living in Taipa and most local people just went to noodle shops to eat and meet,” notes Cristiana.
Today the challenges are very different but very clear: staffing and rent.
Eight years on, Cristiana is pleased that many of their regular customers are now locals who have truly embraced the idea of a coffee shop as a place to not only eat and drink, “but to experience a lifestyle, or a special moment, with friends or just by yourself.”
CuppaCoffee has always maintained the same address on Rua de Fernao Mendes Pinto, the street running into Old Taipa Village, and Cristiana puts the success of the business down to a few key elements.
“Consistent quality, having good staff and a welcoming environment, being creative, and carefully choosing ethical suppliers so that people see that being here and using our products brings added value,” she explains.
The company also owns the Nata Bakery which Cristiana admits allows them great freedom to experiment with their food offerings.
In terms of coffee, CuppaCoffee also sells a range of origin coffee beans “so people can extend the coffee experience to their homes.”
The beans come from a number of different countries including Guata Mala, Honduras, Costa Rica and Kenya, each with their own unique flavours and characteristics, and CuppaCoffee’s staff will grind the beans to match whatever type of coffee machine you are using.
“We think this is a simple way to show how different coffee from different origins can be,” says Cristiana.
And she is pleased to see the growth of the coffee shop culture in Macau.
“There are many new personalised, boutique coffee shops, so I think Macau is coming closer to other Asian markets like Taiwan. Different shops offer different experiences and there are so many creative things you can do with coffee.”
Recently CuppaCoffee began an online shop and they are currently looking to expand to the peninsula, in part so they can provide a more convenient pick up point for the online purchases. They are also aiming to take this home-grown Macau coffee shop brand to Hong Kong in the near future.
