Launching a new café concept – kid’s café: a case study in Kuching.

Foods have always being a vital product that is needed by every people in daily basis. The need for food and beverages was noticed by food producers and manufacturers where they create food that can be marketed and distributed to users to meet their needs. However, not all users are eating foods that are preserved or durable because they are aware of the disadvantages of consuming preserved foods. These user groups are more likely to choose where to eat such as fast food restaurants, cafes or other restaurants as their routine for lunch or dinner. The food prepared in a restaurant or café is fresher than preserved foods as cooked food has higher nutritional value. Apart from the restaurant, the café has become a focus of the public to relax and enjoy a variety of offered food and drinks. The difference between the restaurant and the café can be seen where a restaurant is a place where people can eat without limit but the place is not suitable for resting because the customers will not sit longer in a restaurant. Furthermore, most of the restaurants are exposed to the outside air where they are usually dirty and hazardous. Café is also known as a more exclusive place where it is equipped with a sofa, charming music, counters exciting and offers a variety of food and beverages which is more attractive and safe to be consumed. Café has grown everywhere in the world but they are created with a different concept. There are themed artists, ‘kopitiam’, hobbies such as motorcycles, cars and fashion hair and there is also a sports theme. Food lovers are more likely to try new places to eat just to feel the special of the food offered. One of the café in Kuching, Kid's Café has been around where this café concept themed children's playground large scale to meet the demands of parents who want a comfortable dining and excitement for their children. This concept is considered new in Kuching as there is no available café that offers a play area for children and parents to enjoy recreational activities together. Kid's Café was created to bridge the children who come to play on the playground without regard to race, religion and age. In addition, children who visit Kid’s Cafe have the opportunity to learn to communicate and interact with each other and increase their knowledge when reading books that are available at Kid’s Café. The community of children around Kuching could flock together to Kid’s Café to gather at all & added more friends of similar ages. The café is furnished with several technology facilities like burglar securities technology, latest espresso machine & POS system to ease the staff jobs inside the cafe. The inspired concept is used to open this café at new place which is quite different and never be found in other place in Kuching, Hence, the competition within Matang area for this café is low compared to other part of the city. The concept of café & restaurant can be combined to create more attraction to the people to dine in or relax at these places. The competition amongst the well-known café could be an advantage for Kid’s Café as it is the only café that debut with playground and birthday party package. There are pros and cons of the combination between café and restaurant as in café, the foods offered for the guest is limited and the beverages ingredients mostly are imported from overseas. However, the café looks more luxurious and exclusive comparing to the restaurant as they are no fancy about the restaurant itself. To sustain in the foods and beverages industry, various analysis need to be done to prolong the café operation. STEEPLE analysis, SWOT analysis and Service Positioning are the methods that required to be used for analyzing the market of this café. The measurement and strategies of the café could be implemented thorough feedback from the guest, collection of information from the public, survey poll and reading of published of successful café around Kuching where it would be hard for other predecessor to imitate or follow in the future. To create value amongst the guests who visit the Kid’s Café, many alternatives and future plans have been prepared so that Kid’s Café could develop well in foods and beverages industry not only in Kuching but also around Malaysia.