Charlestrong Coffee Factory

Mr Charles Shi, Chairman of Charlestrong Coffee Co. Ltd., is another entrepreneur that commends IPIM’s “One-stop Service” for Investors. Mr Shi is an expert in the field of infrastructure and mining, and is particularly experienced in developing housing and other infrastructure projects in Portuguese-speaking Countries via Charlestrong Engineering Technology and Consulting (Macau) Ltd.

During numerous visits to Portuguese-speaking Countries, the entrepreneur became aware of the quality of organic coffee beans grown in Timor-Leste. Thus, he started mulling the possibility of setting up a coffee factory in Macao, importing coffee beans from Timor-Leste and processing the beans and packaging the relevant products in Macao, leading to the launch of a series of coffee products under the brand “Café Diliy”.

Seeing that his other businesses have been well supported by IPIM, Mr Shi said it was clear that his project to establish Charlestrong Coffee and its processing plant could get help from IPIM’s “One-stop Service” for Investors. After it was established in July 2019, Charlestrong Coffee spent about a year to transform an old industrial unit with 5,000 square feet of floor space in Areia Preta into a coffee processing plant. The plant was granted an industrial permit in July 2020.

“IPIM has taken great care of us at every stage of this process, and followed up on our progress,” Mr Shi said. “When we had any abrupt challenges, it would also actively help us out. These are all the reasons why we could set up a factory in Macao so swiftly.”

Café Diliy has established itself in the Macao market, with its products in MGM restaurants and shops, and at the online shopping mall run by Nam Kwong, a Chinese state-owned enterprise. On the recommendation of IPIM, Charlestrong Coffee has exhibited at major trade events such as the MIF, and held meetings with enterprises and other entities in Macao to discuss business, Mr Shi said. He said this could help the Café Diliy brand have a greater presence in the market.

For now, development of the business has been stalled by the pandemic. “However, with the stabilisation of the pandemic and the resumption of visitor arrivals to the city, the local business environment will gradually recover,” Mr Shi said. “If the number of visitors to the city could get back to pre-pandemic levels, receiving nearly 40 million visitors in 2019, this enormous number of travellers and residents here could prove enough demand for our business volume at the moment,” he added.

The company is now looking for a newer, bigger place in Macao to relocate its processing plant so that its production capacity can increase to transform 5,000 tonnes of coffee beans a year. The company may venture into the Mainland Chinese market in the future. “The goals for this coffee brand are very straightforward: helping the Portuguese-speaking Country Timor-Leste achieve prosperity through coffee exports, while creating a ‘Made in Macao’ brand so that more people around the world can know about Macao and the Portuguese-speaking Countries through our products,” Mr Shi said.

“The goals for this coffee brand are very straightforward: helping the Portuguese-speaking Country Timor-Leste achieve prosperity through coffee exports, while creating a ‘Made in Macao’ brand.” Mr Charles Shi, Chairman of Charlestrong Coffee Co. Ltd.

Café Diliy is now an established coffee brand in the Macao market