ZUS Coffee is the newest coffee chain in Malaysia that has grown from two outlets within two years of the pandemic to a total of 71 outlets, in six states across the country. Co-founder Terence Ho, born in Ipoh and raised in Kuala Lumpur, comes on the show to profess his love for Starbucks & HaiDiLao and how he modelled his start-up after these brands. He also shares about taking the road less travelled, being called a “kopi boy” by his parents and recognizing a problem as an opportunity to deliver quality coffee throughout Malaysia.

“I did a bit of reflection and found that weakness is strength in disguise. That’s how we’ve always been approaching all our problems.” - Terence Ho

Timestamps:

00:00 - Guest Intro

00:54 - KL: A City of Options

3:18 - Must-Eats in KL: Banana Leaf

4:05 - First introduction into the coffee space

6:16 - ZUS Coffee early days

7:19 - Life prior to ZUS Coffee

7:58 - The 3 waves of Coffee

9:58 - Specialty Coffee vs. Commercial Coffee

11:42 - Biggest contributing factor to the company's growth 

13:04 - The hardest state to penetrate in Malaysia

14:30 - Thoughts that keep me up at night

16:20 - “It is always about how we treat people.”

18:28 - Appealing to the memories of people when creating

21:35 - The Making of Signature ZUS Gula Melaka

23:12 - Learning from the big brothers

25:36 - How the app became a crucial part of ZUS

27:23 - ZUS value

28:18 - Improving the barista industry in Malaysia

30:55 - Do you actually like drinking coffee OR be seen drinking coffee?

32:34 - Going international with ZUS Coffee

33:33 - Advice: Weakness is strength in disguise