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With Cinta Kupi, Coffee Star offers new entrepreneurs a portable coffee business
Coffee Star introduced Cinta Kupi, a compact machine for portable coffee booths, and opened the first phase of an entrepreneur programme to 15 people, Sinar Harian reported.
KUALA LUMPUR, 19 July 2023 — A coffee booth at a wedding. Another at a school event, a product launch or a corner of an office. Coffee Star’s newest machine, Cinta Kupi by Coffee Star, was meant to make each of those possible with minimal, portable equipment, Sinar Harian reported.
The machine opened a new line of business for a brand that, after four years in Malaysia’s small and medium enterprise sector, was known for the Coffee ATM, its cashless self-service kiosk. Raja Ahmad Fauzan, managing director of Fario Holdings Sdn Bhd (Coffee Star), described Cinta Kupi as the next step after that machine’s success, and as a way to share the company’s good fortune with people starting out in business.
He credited the Coffee ATM’s reach, more than 100 public sites around the country, with winning the brand a following of its own. “So why not, after this, help new entrepreneurs improve their own economies through this business, at an affordable cost” (translated), he told the paper.
Cinta Kupi’s menu topped 15 items, with tea, chocolate and matcha alongside coffee, and could be extended to suit customers. The unit had room for 70 cups. Coffee Star guarded quality by supplying the ingredients itself, including coffee imported from Belgium.
The machine came with a programme. Each entrepreneur would receive standard operating procedures, marketing techniques and coaching, so that every booth had clear targets and carried the Coffee Star name to the same standard.
Eligibility was wide. Besides people already in business, Raja Ahmad welcomed applicants from B40 households, single mothers and asnaf who were serious about a second income, and people choosing business as a career. Fifteen places opened in the first round.
He traced the plan to MSME Week 2023, the national event run by the entrepreneur and cooperatives ministry, KUSKOP, and SME Corp. Malaysia, where Coffee Star had recently sponsored the official drinks. He cast the effort as backing for the government’s economic, social and entrepreneurship goals.
Interest had also come from abroad. He said the quality of the company’s coffee had caught the eye of a Middle Eastern firm, and in January Fario Holdings signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Mrasi Almamoura Group. It would start by supplying 12 Coffee ATMs, prepared for the country’s needs and climate, and the partnership covered beverage products for the haj and umrah sector. The company had 10 permanent staff at the time.
He linked that progress to the company’s emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles. A share of the profit from each cup sold went to Tabung Perubatan Kebajikan Malaysia (TPKM), and Coffee Star had joined the UN Global Compact in August 2022.
“Waste coffee grounds are not simply thrown away; instead, we turn them into fertiliser for plants” (translated), he said. Cups could get a second life as seedling pots, he added, and the company had set 2025 as its target for zero waste.
Sinar Harian noted that Raja Ahmad had received the Anugerah Inovasi Pilihan (Choice Innovation Award) at the Sinar Harian Business Awards (BISA) 2023, recognition he said had helped introduce the brand to more Malaysians. He also spoke of a 10-year goal of listing Coffee Star on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange, built on work begun from the ground up.
Today, Coffee Star runs Auto-Baristas at more than 114 locations across Malaysia, and Bean2Blossom is its coffee-grounds composting programme. The company is National Winner, SME ESG Challenge 2025/2026 (SME Corp Malaysia × UN Global Compact Network Malaysia, Brunei & Cambodia) for Bean2Blossom.
For events today, Coffee Star offers mobile coffee carts and pop-up coffee bars.
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