Coffee drinking is the new trend in Southeast Asia, and Cambodia is not an exception. In Phnom Penh, there are two things that keep growing: coffee shops and coffee drinkers. Brown Coffee is one of the biggest brands when it comes to coffee shop. But Brown doesn’t just provide coffee; it serves the best taste that many coffee drinkers want and need. From a high school student to the high-ranking official in the government, not to mention businesspeople, Brown Coffee has captured their taste of coffee and caters to the demands. Let’s dive deep into the secret that makes Brown Coffee one of the biggest brands in Cambodia.

In the interview with Baksey Asia, Mr. Bong Liv Chhoung who is the CEO of Brown Coffee Co Ltd. has observed that there have been many coffee shops opening and closing over the years. However, the coffee shop sector is still growing because the opening shops actually outnumbers the ones that go out of business.

Bong Liv Chhoung doesn’t just sell coffee; he is obsessed with bringing the best tastes of coffee to his customers. Brown Delight, for example, is a unique taste only available at Brown Coffee shops (which are 45 branches nationwide). If you choose Brown Delight coffee, you will be given three options of cup sizes: small, medium, and large.

For those who prefer sweet taste, large size is your best choice because in it there are plenty of sweet red beans mixed together with coffee and caramel. Not to mention whipping cream. For small-size option, it gives a fair amount of sweetness even when you prefer not to add caramel and whipping cream. The red beans would simply do the job.

The art of coffee drinking, from Brown Coffee ingredients, has many ways for different coffee drinkers. If you sip Brown Delight coffee right away, it will be sweeter. If you wait for thirty minutes, the ice inside the cup will melt, giving away a new taste: bitter-sweet taste.

In his view, coffee shops in Cambodia as well as Asia compared with Europe, there are significant differences. In Europe, he observes, the coffee shops are smaller and serve only coffee and cake where coffee shops in Asia are considered cafes, catering the needs of coffee, cake, and dining space. In Cambodia, particularly, the movement of coffee drinking culture is notably progressing in a positive direction. It will grow bigger and better in the future, he says. The CEO also hopes that in the near future, Cambodian baristas will be able to bring Khmer coffee taste to compete on the world stage. He is confident that Khmer taste is similar to that of the world, and the qualities are almost identical, given that Cambodia is able to grow and harvest Arabica as well as other types of coffee beans, compared to other places like Brazil, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico to name a few.   

Needless to say, the success story of coffee shop was a long shot, if not impossible, especially in Cambodia market in 2009. Bong Liv Chhoung told Baksey Asia that when he and his cofounders first opened their first Brown Coffee shop, they sold two or three cups a day, back in 2009. He jokingly adds that opening a coffee shop is easy, but closing it is more difficult.

BROWN Coffee and Bakery (Near IFL) is the first branch opened since 2009, and today a customer will not be able to find a table after 10 A.M. on Saturday or Sunday. That’s not speculation; it’s a guarantee. What it means is that Brown is so successful and it receives so many customers that it cannot provide enough space in one shop. What does Brown do in response to that? Brown recently has opened another nearby branch, which is 2 minutes away from the oldest one, but only bigger and better.

However, that is not a new nor surprising fact about Brown Coffee business playbook. In Boeng Keng Kong area alone, Brown has had its footsteps near two of the busiest streets in the city: Preah Trasak Paem Street (63) and Pasteur Street (51). About five minutes away from these branches stands another famous Brown Coffee branch along Preah Norodom Boulevard. Samdach Sothearos Boulevard also hosts another branch of Brown Coffee.

Recently, Brown has opened its flagship branch inside the house of Vann Molyvann, along Mao Tse Toung Boulevard. It happens to be around Toul Tompong Market (aka Russian Market) where an older branch is serving its hungry customers from Monday to Sunday.

If a tourist who gets lost in Phnom Penh city, he or she could simply search for any branches of Brown, and he or she will find the way back to the hotel, for example. To reiterate, Brown is the brand, not just a brand.