Thomas Neir struck a chord with Hong Kong’s sophisticated consumers when he introduced Western coffee culture through his Pacific Coffee shops

Thomas Neir arrived in Hong Kong in 1990 to work as the Asian finance director for a Silicon Valley computer company and discovered a vibrant, buzzing city, but with one thing missing ─ a decent cup of coffee.

Pinning for the ready availability of his daily fix of two or three cups of "quality" coffee, in 1993, the Seattle-born entrepreneur opened the first Pacific Coffee outlet in the lobby of the Bank of America Tower, and has since opened a further 31 outlets in Hong Kong and three in Singapore. Employing more than 250 people, he has earned the unofficial title of "Millionaire Coffee King of Hong Kong".  The company has a number of investors with the majority of shares owned by Mr Neir and his family.

"I came to Hong Kong having lived in San Francisco, a town with a strong coffee culture, which at the time was missing in Hong Kong. I saw an opportunity and thought, why not try it?"

Setting up the business was easy, Mr Neir said. Paperwork was minimal and straightforward and a steady stream of customers soon proved there was the potential for further growth. Taking its inspiration from a blend of the North American and European coffee cultures, Pacific Coffee began offering Hong Kong consumers the chance to experience the virtues and finer points of coffee drinking and Western coffee culture.

Mr Neir says Hong Kong's cosmopolitan lifestyle and familiarity with a wide range of world-class products made the introduction of top-of-the-range coffee a popular concept. "Hong Kong's remarkable economic performance during the early 1990s, its sophistication and willingness to embrace new concepts, also played a key role in Pacific Coffees' initial success," he added.

Valuable partner in business

"To expand we needed to establish outlets in the busy retail and commercial complexes," Mr Neir continued. "The challenge was to work with multiple property landlords and convince them we were a valuable partner that provided a value-added component to their businesses. This was new, untried territory in the retail sector. We needed to appeal to the opinion leaders and target those people who had lived or were educated in Europe and North America to develop a world-class coffee culture in Hong Kong."

The initial years were a struggle convincing landlords that its presence would be an asset, Mr Neir said. Now that Pacific Coffee is well established and has achieved a sizable presence, landlords readily include the company in their property portfolios. There was also the challenge to teach frontline staff English language proficiency in coffee terminology and tailoring the operation to satisfy Hong Kong consumers' demand for speedy service.

 "I would say that the Pacific Coffee system is one of the fastest delivery systems in the world, but we have also created a comfortable environment where people can relax or conduct business," Mr Neir said.  Over the past decade the market has matured and now the average length of time people spend lingering over their coffee has increased from 20 minutes to between 35 and 40 minutes. The company has also introduced broadband internet access so that people can keep in touch with business or hold meetings while enjoying their coffee.

Mr Neir says the company plans to set up the same uncompromising business model in strategic cities in China. "Hong Kong remains the trendsetter or branding window for mainland China so we will be opening Pacific Coffee outlets in the mainland when the time is right."

Related link:
Pacific Coffee www.pacificcoffee.com