Meet the Dominics!
Taken at Ho Tit Coffee Powder Factory
Ever sat back, enjoyed a cup of coffee and wondered where it came from and how it was made? No? Well, me neither. But today’s blog entry is going to cover a crucial aspect of coffee making, grinding the coffee beans into the powder we know and drink. My team and I visited Ho Tit Coffee Powder Factory, located at 402 Upper Paya Lebar Rd on the 7th of October at about 5 pm as part of our community mapping process of our final year project. The expected short twenty-minute interview turned into a one and a half-hour conversation with the owners, Dominic and Cynthia, as they provided us much insight regarding the coffee powder industry and the rich history behind their business. As such, I would be sharing more about their business and my thoughts behind some things that struck me during our conversation over coffee.
The business
Established in 1953, Ho Tit Coffee Powder Factory is one of Singapore’s oldest coffee powder manufacturing companies producing high quality and custom blends for generations of customers. Running the show since 2010 is 54-year-old Dominic Chua, together with his wife, Cynthia Aw, after his father passed away and his brother retired.
Ho Tit offers seven types of singular arabica and robusta beans, sourced from Indonesia, Malaysia and Columbia. These can be mixed to produce more than 100 customised blends of coffee. It also sells pre-blended coffee powder to both corporate enterprises and individuals using both the B2B and B2C business models.
My Thoughts
After having some time to reflect upon the conversation I’ve had with both Dominic and Cynthia, it was clear to me that the unique selling points that they have are not only their quality coffee beans, but also their good service. Though just a coffee powder factory, each design inside was meticulously planned out by Cynthia to preserve and give younger generations such as myself, a taste of how coffee powder was sold in the past. Some examples include having a coffee cart painted and drawn out on the wall of their factory, and even having usable traditional coffee tables inside their office for customers to sit and enjoy a cup of freshly brewed coffee with them.
Due to the pandemic, Ho tit, like many other businesses suffered a drop in sales. While we were unable to find out exactly how their current sales are compared to pre- covid times, it was clear, from Mr Dominic’s physical expressions, that the business was in a tight spot. However, his wife, cynthia, also shared that many malaysians who were unable to return to their country have also cried while drinking coffee with them, because of how touched they were when they realised the coffee tasted the same as back in their hometown, providing a silver lining to the pandemic.
In conclusion, I believe that everyone should at least head down to Ho tit coffee powder factory at least once to try out the different blends of coffee that they provide, and support the business owners in keeping it alive.
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