Office workers carrying a cup of coffee is a common scene in the mornings. However, as a consumer, you may not know the story behind the coffee that you drink. The Charlestrong Coffee Company Limited decided to establish a factory in Macao in 2019, which is dedicated to the production of specialty coffee, from processing and roasting green organic coffee beans from East Timor to the final packaging, thereby creating a special coffee story between Macao and Portuguese-speaking countries.

East Timor coffee has an aromatic and luscious taste

 Growing environment in East Timor 

(photo courtesy of the company)

Assuring product quality from the source to provide supreme taste

        East Timor, an island situated between Indonesia and Australia, was once a Portuguese colony  and  introduced the first batch of coffee seedlings to the island. Unexpectedly, East Timor is a suitable place for cultivating coffee beans, thanks to its hilly terrain covering over 70% of the country, the tropical rainforest climate and the long hours of sunshine. Moreover, East Timor adheres to traditional methods of planting coffee and doesn’t use any chemical fertilisers or pesticides, so coffee beans can grow naturally without artificial intervention, which is highly appreciated by coffee aficionados.

      Proficient logistics is essential for the exportation of high-quality coffee beans; however, the East Timor’s complex terrain and inadequate transportation facilities  are obstacles to this. At present, East Timor produces an annual average of 10,000 tonnes of coffee beans, which accounts for less than 0.1% of the total global coffee exports. Charlestrong, therefore, has seized a business opportunity from a scarce production area.

        Chairman of the Charlestrong Coffee Company Limited, Charles Shi, said that at first, the company was mainly engaged in infrastructure business in African and Portuguese-speaking countries, and after years of development in these countries, they learnt about the rarity of East Timor’s coffee in terms of its quality and special characteristics. Therefore, the company has explored procurement channels for raw materials by leveraging its economic and trade network in East Timor, thereby assuring quality from the source. Meanwhile, a factory has been set up in Macao to produce specialty ‘Made in Macao’ coffee, while giving full play to Macao’s edge as a commercial and trade co-operation service platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. 

Chairman Charles Shi

Coffee roasting equipment

Building up ‘Made in Macao’ reputation as a Macao-based company

        The coffee from East Timor is neither bitter nor acidic, but has an aromatic and luscious taste, and can be roasted at different levels to enrich the layers of its flavour. To fully leverage the characteristics of East Timor’s coffee, Charlestrong has launched an array of high-quality coffee products to cater for clients’ diverse demands, such as hanging ear drip coffee, cold/hot brewed coffee and civet cat coffee.

        Shi believes that Charlestrong, as a Macao-based company, should make use of Macao’s resources as a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure to produce souvenirs with Macao characteristics, so as to offer more options for tourists in addition to egg rolls and pastries. For this purpose, the company has specially called for members of the cultural and creative industries to re-design product packaging. The packages feature elements of Macao’s world heritage and history, allowing consumers to learn about the city’s culture and stories during their coffee breaks, and strengthen their impressions of the city. In the future, gift packs of coffee products will also be launched, which are suitable for gifts as well as personal use.

Packaging procedures

Automated packaging equipment

Promoting products both online and offline through Macao Ideas

        When deciding to establish a factory in Macao, Charlestrong used the Investor’s ‘One-stop’ Service provided by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), which not only saved them time by avoiding going back and forth between different government departments to deal with the formalities, but also had designated personnel to follow up the investment projects during the whole process from preparation, project execution and follow-up. With regards to the expansion of retail outlets, through IPIM’s business matching services, Charlestrong has successively introduced its products to large hotels, restaurants, petrol stations and retail stores in Macao and even entered into co-operation with the China Duty Free Group, thereby enabling tourists to buy the products in duty-free stores.

        Shi went on to say that in an era when online marketing prevails, the company can gradually expand its business connection in Macao through the online and offline promotional platforms of Macao Ideas and the ‘Macao Ideas, Join & Match’ Business-matching Showcase hosted by IPIM. The company has also actively participated in a number of exhibitions outside of Macao organised by the SAR Government in a bid to promote ‘Made in Macao’ and ‘Macao brands’. Currently, the company hopes to further increase the factory’s production and expand its brand influence, which may, on the one hand, contribute to the moderate economic diversification of Macao, and on the other, promote the economic development of Portuguese-speaking countries to improve their quality of life.

Co-operation with a large integrated resort 

(photo courtesy of the company)

Product promotion at the ‘Macao Ideas, Join & Match’ Business-matching Showcase

Contact Charlestrong

If you are interested in discussing co-operation with the above-mentioned company, please contact the staff of “Macao Ideas” during office hours.

Tel.: 

Ms Cheang +853 8798 9707

Ms Chong +853 8798 9739

Email: 

fionacheang@ipim.gov.mo 

elizachong@ipim.gov.mo