The archive · Consumer Apps · Strategic decision · 2022–2024
Tomoro Coffee's $1.50-cup bet: 600+ Indonesian stores in 2 years, 3,000 planned
Ex-J&T co-founder Star Yuan chains Indonesia's fragmented coffee market with ~US$1.50 drinks; 600+ stores by 2024 and a 3,000-outlet SEA plan.
Tomoro Coffee (PT Kopi Bintang Indonesia)
What the business is
A venture-backed Indonesian coffee chain selling ~US$1.50 drinks through small, app-driven company and franchise stores, expanded with community marketing and fast outlet growth.
Starting capital：US$60M raised by Dec 2024, including backing from VC firm ATM Capital
How it started
Star Yuan — an ex-OPPO engineer who co-founded J&T Express and helped make it Indonesia's #1 courier — opened Tomoro's first store in North Jakarta on 2022-08-09. His market research showed Indonesia had ~60,000 coffee shops with a chain rate under 5%, which he read as room for a standardized mass-market brand.
What happened
Within a year Tomoro passed 200 direct stores, with its peak single outlet selling 3,000+ cups a day. By Nov 2024 it had 600+ stores and claimed #1 in Jakarta and #4 nationally; it raised ~US$60M, sold 40M cups in 2023, and expanded to Shanghai (Dec 2023), Singapore (Feb 2024) and the Philippines (Apr 2024), with a stated target of 3,000 SEA outlets.
How it ended up
Still scaling: CEO Super Wang said in Oct 2024 that Indonesia was only ~50% developed, with a target of 1,000 stores by end-2024 and 3,000 across Southeast Asia.
Background
Tomoro Coffee (PT Kopi Bintang Indonesia) is a venture-backed Indonesian coffee chain founded in August 2022 by Star Yuan (Yuan Xingwei), an ex-OPPO engineer who had co-founded courier J&T Express and helped it become Indonesia's #1 delivery company. His bet: Indonesia's ~60,000 coffee shops, with a chain rate under 5%, would consolidate around a cheap, standardized, digitally-run brand — the Luckin Coffee playbook transplanted to a 280M-person market.
The wedge was price plus community. Drinks cost about US$1.50 — palm-sugar lattes became the top seller — and the chain hired world-champion baristas to keep quality consistent while local KOL campaigns and in-store coffee salons built a fan community reported at 3 million members. Within a year Tomoro had 200+ direct stores; its peak single outlet sold over 3,000 cups a day.
By November 2024 Tomoro had 600+ stores, claimed the #1 spot in Jakarta and #4 in Indonesia, had sold 40 million cups in 2023, and had expanded overseas — Shanghai in December 2023, Singapore in February 2024, and the Philippines in April 2024. CEO Super Wang said in October 2024 that Indonesia was only about half developed, with a target of 1,000 stores by end-2024 and 3,000 across Southeast Asia.
The company had raised about US$60 million by December 2024, including backing from venture firm ATM Capital, and continued opening new outlets through 2025-2026. The open question is whether aggressive capital-backed expansion can hold quality and unit economics as Tomoro pushes past 1,000 stores and into five countries.
What has to be true
- Indonesia's coffee market was huge but unconsolidated — about 60,000 shops with under 5% chain penetration — so a standardized mass-market brand had a long runway.
- Yuan's J&T Express experience showed that capital-backed scale-building could work in Indonesia when most incumbents were still single-store operators.
- At ~US$1.50 a cup, Tomoro undercut premium shops and matched local taste with palm-sugar lattes, converting price sensitivity into volume.
- Community marketing — 3M fans and in-store coffee salons — created repeat demand without a big advertising budget.
- Overseas entries into China, Singapore and the Philippines hedged the bet that Indonesia alone could support 3,000 stores.
What can be applied
In a fragmented, price-sensitive market, whoever standardizes unit economics and builds the brand first wins: price for mass adoption, localize the product, turn repeat customers into a community.
Aftermath
As of the December 2024 report, Tomoro had 600+ Indonesian stores, a fan community of over 3 million, and a stated plan of 1,000 Indonesian outlets by end-2024 and 3,000 across Southeast Asia, with Indonesia described as only ~50% developed. Overseas stores were open in Shanghai, Singapore and the Philippines, and the chain had raised about US$60M. Local reporting through 2025-2026 shows Tomoro continuing to open outlets in new Indonesian cities, so the company remains live and scaling; no shutdown or sale has been reported.
Sources
- Perluas Ekspansi, Tomoro Coffee Siap Buka 3.000 Gerai di Asia Tenggara
- “印尼版瑞幸”，2年600+门店，正征服印尼消费者 (The 'Luckin of Indonesia': 600+ stores in 2 years)
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