Journey into Business Model Agility: How Coffee-drinking Behavior Shape-shifts the Landscape

As one of the top coffee producers in the world, the retail coffee industry in Indonesia developed in a unique manner. This study explores the business model agility that occur in the retail coffee industry where changes in customer behavior have directed the necessary adjustments over time. The case analysis includes an overview of the Jakarta metropolitan coffee retail landscape, followed by a more detailed examination on those in South Jakarta, which showed the highest number of coffee businesses. Based on a sample data of retail businesses collected from online search engines, the study observed whether adoption of certain business models is the consequence of catering to specific customer behavior. Excluding the coffee chains and franchises, this study observes five different models, which are café, coffee shop, private roastery, traditional coffee house and coffee center. Existing markets appear to encompass a large population of coffee-drinkers who increasingly demand the café experience, prefer casual meeting places or working spaces and devoted to high-quality coffee. Depending on the coffee-drinking behaviors, the coffee retail landscape slightly varies between one city and the other. Overall, the spectrum of coffee business models in Jakarta demonstrates the agility to accommodate changing circumstances and maintain good performance. Data showed that the proliferation of retail coffee businesses are the direct result of the industry’s ability to develop a strong market positioning despite fierce competition from modern coffee chains. Finally, this research discovered the significant role of coffee enthusiasts and communities in building agility for Indonesian coffee.