In 2009, JWC started as a small café in Johor with just 16 seats. Today, it has grown into an eight-figure, multi-company coffee group with retail outlets, a coffee academy, a roastery, and a fast-growing wholesale business. In this episode, we speak with Nelson Lai, Founder & CEO of JWC Global, and Michael Tan, Wholesale Director of JWC Roastery, about this company's journey from bootstrapped beginnings to building an integrated coffee ecosystem.



We dive into:


How JWC grew from a café into an 8-figure, multi-vertical business.


The surprising profitability of their coffee academy.


Their wholesale growth strategy, from five to seven figures.


How JWC tackles supply chain risks through direct sourcing.


Expansion ambitions, including exports, regional markets, and future fundraising.



Discover how JWC balances coffee craft, business scale, and people development to grow Malaysia’s homegrown coffee presence at home and abroad.

In 2009, JWC started as a small café in Johor with just 16 seats. Today, it has grown into an eight-figure, multi-company coffee group with retail outlets, a coffee academy, a roastery, and a fast-growing wholesale business. In this episode, we speak with Nelson Lai, Founder &amp; CEO of JWC Global, and Michael Tan, Wholesale Director of JWC Roastery, about this company's journey from bootstrapped beginnings to building an integrated coffee ecosystem.We dive into:<ul><li>How JWC grew from a café into an 8-figure, multi-vertical business.</li><li>The surprising profitability of their coffee academy.</li><li>Their wholesale growth strategy, from five to seven figures.</li><li>How JWC tackles supply chain risks through direct sourcing.</li><li>Expansion ambitions, including exports, regional markets, and future fundraising.</li></ul>Discover how JWC balances coffee craft, business scale, and people development to grow Malaysia’s homegrown coffee presence at home and abroad.

The flagship entrepreneurship show on BFM, featuring personal business stories from early stage start-ups, all the way to billionaire octogenarians in Malaysia and abroad. Notable guests include Martin Cooper (father of the mobile phone), Julian Assange (founder of WikiLeaks), Ralph Henry Baer (father of video games), Tony Buzan (Mindmap Guru), Isaac Tigrett (Hard Rock Cafe founder), Robert Kiyosaki (Financial Guru), Nick Vujicic (motivational speaker) and more. Tap into this valuable resource of shared experiences for the SME industry, which also touches on news, issues and trends affecting the business community and beyond.

Open For Business

Discover fresh concepts, tackle obstacles, and unleash growth - Open For Business is the dynamic show where BFM engages with entrepreneurs, business leaders, and industry trailblazers, igniting inspiration, sparking success, and exploring new business models.

From 1 Cafe to 12 Co’s: JWC’s Coffee Ecosystem Play

Major enterprises are rushing to deploy AI, but many are hitting a brick wall: their underlying data is a mess. AI is only as smart as the context it’s given, and without proper data lineage, ownership, and quality controls, enterprise AI initiatives are doomed to stay in the experimental phase. Enter Decube. Founded by Jatin Solanki, Decube is building the "context layer" for enterprise data—a platform that sits between raw data and AI models to ensure the data is trustworthy, explainable, and production-ready.



Fresh off a $3 million funding round led by Taiwania Hive Ventures (bringing their total funding to $5 million), Jatin joins us in the studio to discuss how they manage to integrate with massive legacy systems in just 40 minutes, why Decube is keeping its core engineering talent in Malaysia while expanding across APAC, and how a neutral startup survives when cloud giants like AWS and Google are looming in the background.

Major enterprises are rushing to deploy AI, but many are hitting a brick wall: their underlying data is a mess. AI is only as smart as the context it’s given, and without proper data lineage, ownership, and quality controls, enterprise AI initiatives are doomed to stay in the experimental phase. Enter Decube. Founded by Jatin Solanki, Decube is building the "context layer" for enterprise data—a platform that sits between raw data and AI models to ensure the data is trustworthy, explainable, and production-ready.Fresh off a $3 million funding round led by Taiwania Hive Ventures (bringing their total funding to $5 million), Jatin joins us in the studio to discuss how they manage to integrate with massive legacy systems in just 40 minutes, why Decube is keeping its core engineering talent in Malaysia while expanding across APAC, and how a neutral startup survives when cloud giants like AWS and Google are looming in the background.

How Decube Is Unblocking Enterprise AI

Is "regenerative business" a practical reality, or just an ESG buzzword? Benjamin Parent decided to find out by doing something extreme: quitting his corporate job to cycle from France to Japan. His project, Trees on the Way, is a three-year global expedition to interview 21 "regenerative" entrepreneurs who are actively redesigning capitalism to respect planetary boundaries. Operating on a model inspired by Kate Raworth's "Doughnut Economics," Benjamin is also pledging to plant one tree for every 21 kilometers pedaled.



Currently passing through Malaysia on his way to Japan, Benjamin joins us in the studio to discuss the logistics of funding a global expedition, the stark realities of trying to implement Doughnut Economics in developing nations, and whether businesses can actually create value while saving the planet

Is "regenerative business" a practical reality, or just an ESG buzzword? Benjamin Parent decided to find out by doing something extreme: quitting his corporate job to cycle from France to Japan. His project, Trees on the Way, is a three-year global expedition to interview 21 "regenerative" entrepreneurs who are actively redesigning capitalism to respect planetary boundaries. Operating on a model inspired by Kate Raworth's "Doughnut Economics," Benjamin is also pledging to plant one tree for every 21 kilometers pedaled.Currently passing through Malaysia on his way to Japan, Benjamin joins us in the studio to discuss the logistics of funding a global expedition, the stark realities of trying to implement Doughnut Economics in developing nations, and whether businesses can actually create value while saving the planet

Is Regenerative Business Just A Luxury? A 50,000km Quest For The Truth

For years, kombucha was dismissed as a niche, "hipster" health drink. Now, WonderBrew has transformed it into a mainstream Malaysian beverage, scaling from a home kitchen in 2018 to over 2,000 retail touchpoints today. But how do you mass-produce a living, fermenting beverage without compromising its quality—or having it explode on the supermarket shelf?



Co-founders Joseph Poh (CEO) and Loke Boon Eng (COO) join us to share their story: 




WonderBrew’s journey from a Subang Jaya home kitchen to generating RM3 million in annual revenue.


The operational realities of scaling a "living" product and transitioning to giant stainless steel vats.


The rigorous process and gradual revenue payoff of becoming Malaysia's first Halal-certified kombucha brand.


How the 35% equity deal with Loob Holdings (makers of Tealive) integrated a corporate, data-driven playbook into an artisan brand.


Regional expansion plans, their new honey-based line 'Jun Tea', and whether the endgame points to an IPO or a full acquisition.

For years, kombucha was dismissed as a niche, "hipster" health drink. Now, WonderBrew has transformed it into a mainstream Malaysian beverage, scaling from a home kitchen in 2018 to over 2,000 retail touchpoints today. But how do you mass-produce a living, fermenting beverage without compromising its quality—or having it explode on the supermarket shelf?Co-founders Joseph Poh (CEO) and Loke Boon Eng (COO) join us to share their story:&nbsp;<ul><li>WonderBrew’s journey from a Subang Jaya home kitchen to generating RM3 million in annual revenue.</li><li>The operational realities of scaling a "living" product and transitioning to giant stainless steel vats.</li><li>The rigorous process and gradual revenue payoff of becoming Malaysia's first Halal-certified kombucha brand.</li><li>How the 35% equity deal with Loob Holdings (makers of Tealive) integrated a corporate, data-driven playbook into an artisan brand.</li><li>Regional expansion plans, their new honey-based line 'Jun Tea', and whether the endgame points to an IPO or a full acquisition.</li></ul>

From 1 Cafe to 12 Co’s: JWC’s Coffee Ecosystem Play

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