How cafés work with us

Case 01

Thirty-seat Tiong Bahru café, open fourteen months, struggling with inconsistent extraction

Challenge

Head barista reported daily variance in espresso timing despite identical grind settings. Previous roaster supplied a medium-dark blend with no documented origin or roast profile, making diagnosis impossible. Weekend rushes regularly depleted stock by Saturday evening, forcing them to borrow beans from a neighbouring café.

Approach

We switched them to a documented washed Colombia-Brazil blend roasted to a lighter City+ profile, visited twice in the first month to re-train grinder workflow, and set up Thursday standing deliveries with a 24-hour emergency top-up line for weekend shortfalls. Tasting notes rewritten in plain Singlish for the front-of-house team to use confidently.

Outcome

Extraction variance dropped to under five seconds daily within three weeks. Emergency top-ups called twice in six months. Café now charges S$8.50 for the house filter and prints origin and process on the menu board — average ticket up 12% according to their POS data.

Case 02

New Joo Chiat shophouse opening with a seasonal-focused menu and premium positioning

Challenge

Owners wanted to rotate single origins every ten weeks to justify S$9 filter pricing and create destination appeal, but had no experience specifying or dialling in naturals or anaerobics. Existing roaster quoted a 10 kg monthly minimum and offered no on-site support.

Approach

We built a three-origin rotation — washed Ethiopian, natural Kenyan, anaerobic Colombian — with 500 g pre-launch samples and two dial-in sessions per rotation. Co-wrote menu descriptions and trained the opening team on how to describe processing methods without sounding like a textbook. Set a 5 kg monthly minimum across all three origins combined.

Outcome

Café launched with a documented coffee programme that locals and food bloggers mentioned in early reviews. Filter sales represent 31% of total coffee revenue after four months — well above the Singapore specialty average of 18–22%. Owner now texts us origin requests eight weeks ahead of each rotation.