The price of Kopi (and likely tea) is estimated to rise in the near future. Mothership covered it and the reasons are your usual greatest hits of 2026: raw materials up, shipping up, electricity up, manpower up. Kim San Leng, which runs over 30 outlets, is rolling out hikes from April 15. As average folk of Singapore, there is little we can do about the daily increases in prices except rant on it on Facebook. The only viable solution is as the saying goes, “If you can’t beat them, join them.” To this end, here are 6 SGX listed companies which could be potential beneficiaries as our everyday prices continue to rise.
Stock 1: Kimly Ltd [SGX: 1D0]
Kimly owns the kopitiams. They’re the largest traditional coffeeshop chain in Singapore with about 83 to 85 outlets, which works out to roughly 10% of the approximately 776 coffee shops on the island. Beyond just owning the space, they also run their own food retail stalls directly so they benefit from the price hike on both the landlord and the operator side.
Even a $0.01 increase matters as revenue flows upwards and with that, the thousands of daily transactions add up fast. PE of 13x, 5% dividend yield, revenue around S$162 million last quarter. Boring stock that quietly does its thing.
Stock 2: Olam Group [SGX: VC2]
With regard to the actual ingredients themselves, Olam’s Food Ingredients segment trades cocoa, coffee, nuts, spices and dairy. Higher commodity prices mean higher transaction values through their books.
The problem is the charts are ugly. Stock is at S$0.89, well off its 52-week high of S$1.11. Chart pattern does not look good but support is holding steady.
Stock 3: Samudera Shipping Line [SGX: S56]
Most of our commodities come by sea and Samudera operates exactly those routes. When shipping costs rise, so do their freight rates.
What I find interesting is how under the radar this stock is. ROCE has climbed to 12% over the past 5 years and total returns over that same period are over 1,000%. That’s not a typo. For a regional shipping company, that’s wild. The capital base has also grown 262% over 5 years which tells you they’ve been reinvesting and growing the business, not just sitting on it.
Nonetheless, shipping is cyclical, and there are plenty of macro variables beyond kopitiam costs driving their business which in my opinion can cause volatility.
Stock 4: Sembcorp Industries [SGX: U96]
The Foochow Coffee association chairman called out electricity bills as the biggest pain point for operators. Sembcorp is a key beneficiary when commercial electricity bills go up. Through Sembcorp Power and their recently acquired controlling stake in Senoko Energy, they are one of the dominant power retailers in Singapore.
Near-term electricity tailwinds aside, the bigger picture is the brown to green pivot they are executing and the Alinta Energy acquisition in Australia that closed earlier this year. Plenty of moving parts with perhaps some not fully priced in yet.
Stock 5: Food Empire Holdings [SGX: F03]
This is the one most people miss and honestly my favourite on this list.
When kopi gets expensive, people make their own at home. Who benefits? Food Empire, makers of MacCoffee.
When kopi O hits S$1.50 at the kopitiam and 20 sachets of MacCoffee costs S$5 at Sheng Siong, the math does itself. And this isn’t some niche brand either. MacCoffee dominates markets across Russia, CIS, Vietnam and Southeast Asia. If you grew up in a HDB household you already know what this is. If you don’t, ask your parents.
Beyond the kopi angle, their FY2025 was genuinely record-breaking. Revenue hit US$576.9 million, up 21% year on year. Normalised net profit after tax was US$68.6 million, up 37% year on year.
Only issue is the stock is a bit extended sitting 27% above its 200-day MA. Wouldn’t chase it here. But on a pullback this is the first one I’d add.
Stock 6: Sheng Siong Group [SGX: OV8]
Same trade down thesis as Food Empire but from the retail side. When people decide they’re done paying kopitiam prices, they head to Sheng Siong to stock up on their own kopi supplies. Instant coffee, teabags, condensed milk, all of it. Sheng Siong is the heartland supermarket that captures exactly that kind of behaviour shift.
What I like about Sheng Siong is how robust the thesis is regardless of what happens in the economy. People eat at home more when times are tough. People cook more when eating out gets expensive. It’s almost a heads I win, tails I also win kind of setup.
DBS flagged that a lot of the growth is already priced in and I’d agree. The stock isn’t cheap. But as a long-term hold with a reliable dividend, this is the most defensive name on the list.
What am I doing?
If I had to move on one first it would be Food Empire on a pullback. Sheng Siong second if a pull-back ever happens. I really missed the boat on this one. Overall, the kopi price hike is just the news hook. The real story is that as cost pressures here are broad and structural we might as well structure our portfolios to be on the right side of it.
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