the thing about Yakun's coffee

There's a Yakun outlet just beneath my office, and it's spoiling me all right. Despite having no lack of kopitiams in the area, I have been satisfying my daily caffine needs through Yakun. At $1.20 per cup - and the cup is samller than those served at most kopitiams - it is pricier than what one would get elsewhere.

But Yakun serves consistently good coffee; fragant and crisp. And i readily admit that I am fussy about my coffee and tea. I am entitled to be fussy, for i need them to survive the day and long night in office. So I don't like to buy from kopitiams and food courts because their coffee and tea are served in foam cups. Believe me, the taste and fragance is just different from that served in paper cups, which Yakun uses; I've tried and i think foam cups have a degrading effect on the flavour of its contents. Other than that, I don't have to remove the cover when i drink from Yakun paper cups, so my coffee actually stays warmer for a longer time.

Economists talk about opportunity cost and how the price of a product is determined. I am no economist, but i dare say the lack of a similar alternative (rather than branding) is what gives Yakun its competitive edge. At a few cents more per cup than what is sold elsewhere, a cup of Yakun coffee/tea is still very affordable by most standards. Add to that the reasons i mentioned earlier, and it probably explains why they are still drawing the crowds despite the availability of so many competitors, all of which are located nearby.

As I told my friend, if i compare a Yakun coffee with one from Starbucks, I definitely am making a lot of savings.

So yes, unless my work becomes any easier, I will need coffee to sustain myself, and I will continue patronising Yakun. It doesn't hurt that they have nice-looking cups either.