"Sharing High-End Machines, Subscribing Regularly to Roasted Coffee"

Gokyungim, CEO of T-Point Studio

Ko Kyung-im, CEO of T Point Studio. Photo by T Point Studio

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] "We roast coffee beans directly sourced from Panama, Guatemala, Kenya, and Brazil and deliver them right to your doorstep. Since we send them randomly without specifying the type, customers can look forward to and feel excited about which kind of coffee will arrive each week."

Go Kyung-im, CEO of T-Point Studio, who runs a shared roasting cafe in Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, is busy packaging specialty coffee beans to be delivered every Friday to subscribers of her coffee subscription service. The coffee Go roasts is made from rare beans directly shipped from famous coffee-producing regions around the world.

Formerly an airline flight attendant, Go naturally developed an interest in coffee while serving high-quality coffee to first-class passengers. After leaving her long-term job, she honed her barista skills and became fascinated with coffee beans and their origins. For the past two years, she has been visiting coffee farms in Africa and South America. She personally visited renowned coffee bean regions such as Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Chiang Mai in Thailand, establishing direct shipping routes from these origins.

In the early days of her business, Go was content with sharing the coffee beans she sourced with close acquaintances. As word of the coffee’s taste spread, more customers requested regular deliveries, gradually evolving into the current coffee subscription business.

The emergence of coffee subscription services is considered the 'third generation' of the coffee market. The first generation was the 1990s when instant coffee became popular, and the second generation was the 2000s marked by the rise of large franchise coffee shops, allowing people worldwide to enjoy coffee with the same taste and quality. Since 2010, consumers seeking unique specialty coffee have driven the coffee subscription market.

Specialty coffee refers to premium coffee made from excellent beans scoring 80 points or higher out of 100 in quality evaluations by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA). These high-quality beans are often directly sourced from the origin and roasted in-house, with a single cup sometimes costing over 10,000 KRW.

Recently, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as people reduce outings and dining out and instead prepare food and beverages at home, the 'home cafe' trend has grown, accelerating the growth of the coffee subscription market. T-Point Studio’s coffee subscription sends 200 to 500 grams of beans once a week via courier. Some customers who receive beans at home become interested in the roasting process and visit Go’s studio to experience being a barista.

Currently, about 150 people participate in Go’s coffee classes. The students vary in age and occupation. Go said, "Coffee is like wine; the taste varies greatly depending on the bean origin, distribution and storage methods, techniques, and time, so you can get deeply absorbed in studying it and find enjoyment. It’s ideal for retired workers to learn as a hobby." She added, "Since espresso machines and roasting machines are quite expensive, the business naturally developed into a sharing economy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.