All hail the Lord of the Rinse
The years may have mellowed this young maverick but it certainly hasn’t dimmed his fire to conquer everything he touches, writes Intan Maizura Ahmad Kamal
THEyoungmaverickhascertainly grown up. Furtively stealing a glance at the earnest-looking, bespectacled young man who’s calmly dealing with a jittery wait staff, I couldn’t help recalling the first time we met.
It was exactly four years ago, and with his trendy sneakers and black T-shirt dotted with Star Wars characters, the selfproclaimed Lord of the Rinse, Mervin Chin, was a cocksure barista who’d just realised his dream of owning a cafe.
Rinse KL, with its nondescript façade, a smattering of chairs outside, and the name “RINSE” pasted in bold letterings against the white concrete, was then the new kid on the block; the culmination of the young man’s years as a rookie barista and his unflagging belief that he could change the coffee-scape of the tranquil neighbourhood of Bandar Sri Damansara, Kuala Lumpur.
Today, after a journey fraught with challenges — and plenty of detractors — the cafe is celebrating a proud milestone: Its fourth anniversary.
“When I decided to open my cafe, my mission was to educate the folks of Bandar Sri Damansara about coffee, in addition to being the best cafe by showcasing what good coffee actually constitutes,” begins the now 29-year-old, returning to his seat opposite me.
His gaze sweeping the view outside the window, where darkening clouds signal impending rain, he continues passionately: “There’s so many bad coffee out there. So when you taste a great one, you just have to share that happiness with everyone.”
Bad coffee? My quizzical look is met with a wry smile. “Bad coffee is one hundred per cent bitterness, very heavy body, and there’s no balance to it. In essence, it’s just one dimensional,” he elaborates, matter-offactly.
Rewinding back the years, the Marketing graduate recalls that there were plenty of detractors in the early days.
“To be honest, I only had two years of background as a barista before deciding to be a cafe owner,” confides Mervin, brows furrowing in recollection.
Adding, he shares: “Little did I realise
that going from a barista to cafe owner would be a huge jump. Having been a barista for two years, I thought it’d be enough to qualify me as a cafe owner. I was wrong! I realised half way through that I didn’t know the half of it — or rather, the ‘80 per cent’ of what it entailed, for example, accounting, team management, cooking, kitchen and bar layouts, SOPs on how to smoothen flows etc. No one teaches you all this when you’re a barista!”
Suffice it to say, there’s been plenty of challenges to overcome since Rinse flung open its doors to the folks of Bandar Sri Damansara and beyond.
Confides the KL-lite who runs the business with his father: “There were plenty of things I hadn’t anticipated. For example, just because you offer good coffee or good food doesn’t mean you got it made. Over time, I realised that I’d been focusing on the wrong core product/s for Rinse.”
BEING ALERT AND INNOVATE
It was important for him to seek the intangible — that one thing that could set his cafe apart from the rest in the saturated landscape.
Says Mervin: “If you focus on the tangible — like coffee and food — anyone can imitate that. Even good service should already be the norm for everybody. These things shouldn’t be your unique selling points. This was when it dawned on me that I needed to focus on something that the competitors might not have — convenience.”
I can certainly vouch for that. Rinse has become akin to a ‘one-stop shop’, offering a complete dining experience all in one place. Just fancy a coffee? Sure. Perhaps a light lunch? Well, there’s the rice bowls and pasta. Or maybe just a slice of cake? Why not choose from the best cheesecakes in town?
“Essentially, the core component of Rinse is convenience,” says Mervin, adding: “It’s like when you go to a 7Eleven and you get everything you want under one roof. And you don’t feel ripped off because you know that you’re paying the standard price. That’s what our cafe is all about too.”
One of the biggest lessons he’s learnt over the years is knowing what to focus on. “You don’t want to be putting so much effort into something that doesn’t make any difference to your sales or your cause,” he admits, sagely.
Chuckling at the memory, Mervin confides: “For example, I thought I had to make the best waffle, the best cup of coffee, the best rice bowl and getting artisanal with everything. But you know what? Our customers didn’t really care for a poshlooking egg or fancy salmon or a soft shell rice bowl; they just wanted simple, comfort meals comprising things like chicken, rice and egg. And at an affordable price.”
Just like everyone else, Mervin’s business has had to weather the uncertainties wrought by the pandemic. But he’s learnt to tread water and remain true to his core values.
“What we’re most adamant about is not resorting to bringing down our prices because of this present climate,” he states, vehemently.
Adding, the driven Taurus continues: “If you do this, it shows that you just want sales. In these trying times, you need to respect your food even more.
“How do I do it? I try to upgrade certain elements of the food to meet the price point. For example, if the rice bowl costs RM16, then I might just top up with some seaweed or upgrade the normal rice to Japanese rice or add in more Japanese elements to give it more value whilst still keeping to the same price.”
It’s also important to adapt to technology during times like this, believes the young entrepreneur.
“Delivery service is one example,” he offers, before adding: “Today, the delivery market has expanded almost five-fold; this is where the money is right now.”
Noting my confusion, he explains: “Do you know that delivery has a ceiling price? The price people would happily pay for a single meal is around RM20. How do you go around that? For us, we tweak the ingredients.
“For example, no more using Japanese rice but maybe keep the sauce and seaweed. Although we try to cut here and there, we still strive to maintain the quality. This way, we can keep costs down for the customer.”
Looking thoughtful, Mervin confides that he has always subscribed to the idea that disasters are actually opportunities in disguise.
“When people are afraid, that’s when you should go in for the attack,” he says, eyes flashing under his dark-rimmed glasses.
Unlike most people, he views the pandemic as an opportunity.
“I always say that a disaster helps to clear out the ‘weeds’; those who are just ‘gimmick’ all the way. When the ‘weeds’ are gone, then I can get more market share,” muses the music-loving entrepreneur.
FATHER-AND-SON SYNERGY
If there’s one other constant that regulars to Rinse wouldn’t fail to notice, it’s the presence of Mervin’s most loyal supporter — his father, Patrick Chin.
The patriarch, a veteran of the telecommunications industry, is a literal fixture in the cafe, seated discreetly in his favourite corner, his eagle eyes never far from all the action.
“Yes, my dad and I have our distinctive roles here — he’s the good cop and I’m the bad one!” confides Mervin, chuckling mischievously.
“I’m the one scolding everyone and he’s the one they go running to. He’s their sounding board!”
Asked what it’s like to work with his father, Mervin confides that there can be some fireworks sometimes.
Smiling, he exclaims: ““Of course I love my dad but sometimes I feel his way of doing things isn’t really suitable. You have to understand, it’s a millennial market out there and you need to adapt. I guess my dad is still old school lor!”
Grinning, the 29-year-old confides that to make the patriarch happy, he’s learnt to make him feel useful.
“I need to play to his strengths. For example, he’s a great handyman so I’ll get him to fix the air-conditioning or attend to maintenance matters. I make sure I don’t interfere.”
In terms of temperament, there’s little difference between the two.
Concedes Mervin sheepishly: “I always say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! But dad has mellowed over the years. Me too. We’ll shout at each other for an hour and then later enjoy a pleasant dinner together. We understand that the angry words we hurl at each other are temporary and don’t hold water. That’s important.”
He remembers being more aggressive in his early years.
“I’d often ‘attack’ my competitors and pick on all the things they weren’t doing,” muses Mervin, adding: “But in the last two years, I’ve learnt to keep my head down, move faster and just focus on what I’m doing. The ‘noise’ outside isn’t important anymore. And I have my dad to thank for that.”
That they share a good synergy goes without saying. Mervin’s quick to tell me that he would never open a cafe without his dad by his side.
“Sometimes I can get a bit cocky. And he’ll remind me to tame it. When I overstep the line, he’ll be the one to say, ‘hey, enough’. I guess he’s like the angel on my right shoulder!”
POWER TO CONQUER
As I take a lingering sip of my cappuccino, I couldn’t help scrutinising again the confident young man in front me. He seems to be exactly where he wants to be.
What drives you, ah? I blurt out. The glint in his eyes is mischievous when he replies: “Power. To know that everyone’s using my service and that I’m the best out there. I want to know that everything I do makes a difference to people’s lives. That’s important to me.”
Elaborating, Mervin, who de-stresses by jogging around his neighbourhood and indulging in a good tipple, shares that he has no qualms about throwing in the money where it’s needed to ensure that he remains at the top of his game.
“For example, when it comes to research and development, I won’t think twice about investing in it.”
Steering my gaze to a machine in the corner, he continues: “See that machine there? I remember dad asking why I had to buy it. I told him I needed to be powerful. And for that to happen, I need to be at the forefront of everything that’s new.”
If you want to be powerful, you need to know all the trends and be competitive, he adds passionately.
“My mum tells me to stop doing that because it creates anxiety. But I can’t help it,” admits Mervin, before confiding: “Actually, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure recently. For me, there’s always a mountain that’s higher and I’m constantly trying to reach it.”
So what’s the next mountain, I ask, smiling at his earnestness. An excited look crosses his face when he tells me that he’s pushing his new brand, Bowl Bowl.
“It’s my rice bowl brand,” elaborates Mervin before confidently adding that he’s aspiring for his business to be the next Subway — but for rice bowls.
“You choose your rice, protein, sauce and pay RM13.90. And you get a drink thrown
in. It’s all very convenient and affordable. This is what I’m looking to expand on,” he shares, before adding that he’s merely adapting to an emerging new trend in the market known as Fast Casual.
“Take Nandos or Taco Bell. Those are considered ‘fast casual’,” explains Mervin, continuing: “For me, rice bowl is fast casual because it’s a comfort meal, it’s casual, it’s affordable but you can still take your time to enjoy it.”
In the pipelines is an exciting new outlet — something like a Rinse 2.0, which according to Mervin will be a more “mature” cafe.
“The location isn’t too far from where we are now. Everything will be more improved and elevated there,” he says.
His dream is to be “the father of improvements and innovations. I want people to copy me,” concludes Mervin, who’s constantly seeking to push the envelope in whatever he does.
“That’s why I believe one day I’ll come out with a book and share all my secrets. I just want to continue inspiring people.”