23-Year-Old Opens KL Café After Selling Coffee By The Side Of The Road To Support Family
From humble beginnings to brewing success!
By Aqasha Nalani — 17 Oct 2023, 05:58 PM
A 23-year-old barista and content creator, Hijjaz Suhaimi, recently opened his own café, Randevú Coffee, after a year of selling coffee by the side of the road
In a conversation with SAYS, Hijjaz said that he started selling coffee in January 2022 with his brother, Haridz Suhaimi, 25, by the side of the road in Wangsa Maju.
At the time, both Hijjaz and Haridz were planning to continue their studies at a local university, but they decided to stop their journey to help financially support their family during the pandemic.
"My brother used to be a barista, and we were looking for business ideas when we saw people selling food by the side of the road, and that inspired us.
"Initially, I didn't want to just open another typical food and beverage (F&B) place, I wanted to build an eatery where communities can gather and spend quality time together. That made me dream about opening my own café a lot," said Hijjaz.
According to Hijjaz, both him and his brother faced a lot of obstacles while selling coffee by the side of the road
"The weather was always unpredictable when we were selling, sometimes it would rain heavily and it would get really dangerous," he recalled.
Despite the difficulties, Hijjaz shared that the business gained at least RM45,000 in assets after nearly a year of operation.
"Instead of spending money on entertainment or leisure activities, we began to invest more and more in the business, and we purchased machines that we knew we could use for our own café one day.
"We also learned more about coffee by helping out other small businesses at food events and carnivals," he added.
Hijjaz finally opened his dream café in October 2023, with Haridz continuing to brew coffee for their customers
At Randevú Coffee, the brothers sell speciality coffee from all around the world that caffeine enthusiasts will find difficult to find elsewhere, including Kyoto latte, ajisai from Yame, Japan, and fazenda bossa nova from Brazil.
The siblings were responsible for the café's vibrant and aesthetically pleasing interior decorations, ensuring that customers would fall in love with the café's cosy and warm ambience.
Their business is also entirely run by their family, with their mother, Yoko Noni, 57, baking all of the pastries sold at the café.
Hungry customers can purchase delectable and filling meals, including creamy tomato linguine, baked breakfast plate, and tomato bisque soup.
Here's where you can find Randevú Coffee:
Address:
Randevú Coffee @ Wangsa Maju,
37, Jalan Wangsa Delima 5, Wangsa Maju,
53300 Kuala Lumpur
Operation Hours:
8am - 10pm (Daily)
Check out their Instagram.
