Kimly

What Kimly does

Kimly is Singapore's largest traditional coffee shop operator, founded in 1990 and listed on the SGX Catalist Board (ticker: 1D0) since its IPO on 20 March 2017. The group operates approximately 84 coffee shops and food courts housing around 634 stalls, with 99.2% stall occupancy and 48 of 84 outlets running 24-hour operations. Underpinning this footprint is a centralized production kitchen that prepares semi-finished food distributed to outlets across the network.

The company generates revenue through three primary streams: (1) direct food and beverage sales from in-house branded stalls within its outlets, (2) master leaseholder rental income from third-party stall operators subletting space in Kimly coffee shops and food courts, and (3) third-party outlet and hawker centre management fees. Its multi-brand portfolio spans traditional coffee shop fare (Kimly Coffeeshop, Kedai Kopi), Chinese cooked dishes (Kimly Zi Char, Kimly Mixed Rice), dim sum (Kimly Dim Sum, Lion City Dim Sum), Halal concepts (Tenderfresh, Kedai Kopi Halal), and specialty casual dining (Tonkichi, Hawkermania, HOLIM, Klovex). Operations are supported by 1001–5000 employees across Singapore.

Kimly serves Singapore's mass-market consumer base, with recent strategic moves including the 2021 acquisitions of Tenderfresh (75%) and Klovex (60%), the Tonkichi acquisition (2018), and the 2026 One Punggol Hawker Centre management contract via the Hawkermania subsidiary. The group has also launched direct-ordering websites to capture digital demand and continued to roll out new menu lines such as dim sum seasonal sets and Father's Day promotions to drive same-store ticket growth.

Name

Kimly

Legal name

Kimly Limited

Website

https://kimlygroup.sg

Company type

Public

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Kimly is Singapore's largest traditional coffee shop and food court operator, running ~84 outlets and ~634 stalls under multiple brands including Kimly Coffeeshop, Tenderfresh, Kedai Kopi, and Tonkichi, serving mass-market Singapore consumers via dine-in, takeaway, and direct-ordering channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Woodlands

HQ country

Singapore

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Food and Drinks Stall Operations: Sales from operation of food and drinks stalls within food outlets
2. Master Leaseholder Rental Income: Rental income as master leaseholder of the food outlets under management
3. Third-Party Outlet Management Fees: Management fees from management of third party food outlets

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels11 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Kimly Group operates and manages an extensive network of traditional coffee shops, food courts, and food stalls in Singapore under multiple brands including Kimly Coffeeshop, Kimly Dim Sum, Kimly Zi Char, Kimly Mixed Rice, Tenderfresh, Tonkichi, and Kedai Kopi. The company generates revenue through direct food and beverage sales at its outlets, master leaseholder rental income from food outlets under management, and management fees from third-party food outlet operations. It also operates a central kitchen that supplies ingredients and prepared food to its network of 634+ food stalls.

Product overview

Kimly Group operates as one of the largest traditional coffee shop operators in Singapore, founded in 1990 and listed on SGX in March 2017. The company's product portfolio centers on a multi-brand food and beverage platform comprising: (1) Outlet Management division operating 85 food outlets including traditional coffeeshops under Kimly Coffeeshop brand, Foodclique food courts, and Halal-certified Kedai Kopi coffeeshops; (2) Food Retail division featuring specialized stalls including Kimly Dim Sum (handmade dim sum), Kimly Zi Char (Tze Char seafood), Kimly Mixed Rice (economic rice), Tenderfresh (Halal fried chicken brand), Tonkichi (Japanese Tonkatsu), and Lion City Dim Sum; and (3) Brand Management through subsidiaries like Hawkermania (hawker centre management). The company generates revenue through food/drinks sales, master lease rental income, and third-party outlet management fees. As of September 2023, the group maintains 99.2% occupancy across 634+ stalls with 48 outlets operating 24 hours.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Kimly Coffeeshop: Traditional coffeeshop brand offering Kopi & Teh and local drinks, established 1990
• Kimly Dim Sum
• Kimly Zi Char
• Kimly Mixed Rice
• Foodclique
• Tenderfresh Group
• Kedai Kopi
• Tonkichi
• Hawkermania
• HO LIM

Products and services

• Kimly Coffeeshop Traditional Singapore coffee shop offerings including coffee, tea, and local breakfast items, serving walk-in diners across Kimly's network of coffee shops.
• Kimly Dim Sum Dim sum offerings served at Kimly-operated stalls and outlets, targeting everyday Singapore diners seeking affordable Chinese dim sum.
• Kimly Zi Char Stir-fried Chinese dishes and zi char cuisine served at Kimly food outlets in Singapore.
• Kimly Mixed Rice Economical mixed rice (cai fan) stalls offering a variety of dishes with rice, served at Kimly-managed coffee shops and food courts.
• Tenderfresh Halal-certified quick-service brand offering fried chicken and Western fast food items at Kimly outlets.
• Tonkichi Japanese-style tonkatsu and related dishes served at outlets within Kimly's food retail network.
• Kedai Kopi Traditional-style coffee shop brand under Kimly, offering coffee, tea, and local fare to Singapore consumers.
• Foodclique Food court operations and management under Kimly, handling leases and tenant operations across the group's food court portfolio.
• Hawkermania Hawker-themed brand offering traditional Singapore hawker food under Kimly's multi-brand portfolio.
• Central Kitchen Operations Centralized kitchen production and distribution service supplying prepared ingredients and food to Kimly's 634+ food stalls across Singapore.

Quantifiable outcome

• 99.2% occupancy rate across 634+ stalls
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• National Environment Agency (NEA)coreOthers · 5 June 2026NEA called the tender for One Punggol Hawker Centre management in January and announced Hawkermania (Kimly subsidiary) as the new operator on June 5, 2026. The new operator must retain all existing stallholders for at least two years with rental rates unchanged for the first year.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Timbre Group (Timbre+ Hawkers): Operated the One Punggol Hawker Centre that Kimly's Hawkermania subsidiary is taking over from in August 2026. Competitor in the hawker centre management vertical and broader F&B space in Singapore.
• Koufu Group: SGX-listed operator of food courts, coffee shops, and quick-service restaurants in Singapore with a comparable multi-brand model and outlet management franchise. Direct competitor in the same Singapore traditional coffee shop and food court space as Kimly.

Broad incumbents

• BreadTalk Group: SGX-listed multi-brand F&B group with bakery, restaurant, and food court operations across Singapore and the region. Larger incumbent with overlapping food retail and outlet management exposure.

Regional players

• ABR Holdings: SGX-listed company holding restaurant and food retail brands including Swensen's and various casual dining concepts. Comparable as a Singapore-listed multi-brand F&B operator with stall-level restaurant exposure.
• Sakae Holdings: SGX-listed casual dining and sushi chain operator formerly based in Singapore. Comparable as a Singapore-listed F&B operator with multi-outlet quick-service and casual dining exposure.
• RE&LS Holdings: Singapore-listed F&B operator with traditional Chinese and seafood restaurant concepts. Comparable as a Singapore-listed casual dining operator competing for similar hawker/casual dining spend.
• Jumbo Group: SGX-listed Singapore-based restaurant operator (Jumbo Seafood, etc.) with seafood-focused dining concepts. Comparable as a Singapore-listed F&B operator, though more weighted toward full-service dining rather than traditional hawker coffee shops.
• Tung Lok Group: Singapore-listed restaurant operator running traditional Chinese dining brands. Comparable as a Singapore-listed F&B operator serving mass-market Chinese cuisine, though operating fewer coffee shop/hawker-style outlets.

Emerging players

• So Good Bakery (Defu): Singapore-based bakery and food kiosk operator serving mass-market consumer segments through retail locations. Comparable as a Singapore-based multi-brand food retail operator with central production capabilities.

Others

• Neogenix Ingredients (Food Service suppliers): Food safety and ingredient testing supplier. Comparable as an enabling vendor in the food service supply chain relevant to Kimly's central kitchen operations, though not a direct operator competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/kimlycoffeeshop
• Instagraminstagram.com/kimlycoffeeshop.sg
• TikToktiktok.com/@kimlycoffeeshop.sg

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kimly