In 1948, a family in Indonesia started selling homemade biscuits.

Today, the founder of the company is now Indonesia’s 11th richest man, worth $4.4B dollars.

This is the story of Mayora.

It’s the Indonesian conglomerate that created Kopiko (the Elon Musk-approved instant coffee and coffee candy that went to outer space with NASA).

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☕️ The beginning

A family of Indonesian-Chinese immigrants started selling homemade Marie biscuits.

Business was growing, and they launched more biscuits, like their coconut biscuits that became a favorite snack for many.

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✅ Making it official

The family had a son named Jogi Hendra Atmadja.

In 1977, he decided to register the company as Mayora and with two partners, he launched the family’s first full-production biscuit factory and another new biscuit product.

Their biscuits were selling extremely well.

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💪🏼  Not enough

But this wasn’t enough for him. Jogi wanted more sales. So, he started to innovate and create many more products for Mayora. But what would be a hit?

They noticed that there was a coffee and cafe boom in Indonesia in the 1980s.

Since coffee was becoming a major part of everyone’s daily life, they decided to release a coffee-flavored candy named Kopiko. And people loved it!

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🌏 International expansion

First made for Indonesia, Kopiko coffee candy quickly became popular across Southeast Asia.

It is still their most popular—if not one of their most popular—products today.

Coffee lovers liked it because it tasted just like real coffee. But it was easier to have anytime and carry around since it's just candy made with real coffee bean extract and milk!

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🤩 A new winning category

Because of Kopiko’s success, they realized two things. One, they could go beyond biscuits. They could start creating even more candy!

They launched Beng-Beng, Choki-choki and Torabika, which were successes and became childhood favorites for many.

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💰 Riches are in the niches

The second thing they realized from Kopiko candy? They can win in the coffee category too.

They diversified into coffee mixes and ready-to-drink beverages.

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✅  Creating for a big market

Again, this wasn’t enough for Mayora.

They wanted even more people to enjoy their candy and coffee, so they came up with new flavors like Cappuccino, Java, and more.

They also created multiple variants of their 3-in-1 instant coffee mix, which has coffee, sugar, and creamer.

They have their White Coffee, Kopiko Brown Sugar, Black Coffee, and even a Kopiko LA for those with acidity concerns.

With multiple types of coffee, they could target customers from different countries, age groups, and health concerns with different tastes.

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📲  Marketing in modern times

But how does a product stay relevant across generations and changing times? Creative marketing.

They teamed up with famous Korean dramas like “Vincenzo” and “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha” to get the younger generation interested in their candy.

They also spent a lot on ads, using catchy slogans like, “Coffee in Your Pocket,” to show how convenient their products are.

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🧑🏻‍🚀 Made in Indonesia, now out of this world

Kopiko coffee candy isn't just famous around the world; it even went to space with NASA astronauts!

This made Kopiko really proud because NASA has really strict rules about food quality, and Kopiko passed all their tests.

Oh, and in 2022, Elon Musk tried Kopiko candy when he visited Indonesia—and even he approved of it.

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🇮🇩  Here and now

Mayora is recognized as the world's largest coffee candy manufacturer through the Kopiko brand.

Mayora founder and head Jogi Hendra Atmadja was listed by Forbes as Indonesia’s 11th richest man, worth $4.4B dollars.

It wasn't an overnight success for Kopiko.

To become the top brand in coffee candy and 3-in-1 coffee globally, it required years of effort, commitment, and creativity. Kopiko's success comes from understanding what customers want, never settling, and continuously innovating.

Now, more than 80 countries all over the world, like the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, sell Kopiko.

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Updated on May 12, 2024 to reflect that Mayora did not invent the globally known Marie Biscuit. However, they did create biscuits called Marie as their first product.