We recently connected with Chae Song and have shared our conversation below.

Chae, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I love starting my day with a good cup of coffee, but I often find that time and cost can get in the way. Living in New York, I’ve seen how expensive it can be to grab coffee from cafes regularly, which isn’t feasible for everyone. That got me thinking about creating something accessible.

We named our brand KimlyParc with this in mind. The name is inspired by a Korean expression that uses the common last names ‘Kim, Lee, and Park(김이박)’ to represent ‘everyone.’ Our hope is that KimlyParc can be a coffee that everyone can enjoy and feel connected to—like ‘people’s coffee.’

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

We’re two women in our thirties, best friends since high school—15 years and counting! Our shared love of coffee and tea has always connected us, and it ultimately led to launching KimlyParc. People often say not to work with friends, but for us, it’s been an amazing partnership, both fun and successful. We’re fully dedicated to KimlyParc and work on it full-time.

We started developing our first product in 2022 and officially launched KimlyParc in May 2023. Our debut product, Original Korean Latte, was inspired by traditional Korean instant coffee that’s been loved since the 1970s. Explaining ‘Korean-style coffee mix’ has sometimes been a challenge, but once people try it—especially at our pop-ups—they get it right away. Often, they’ll grab a box or two to take home. We’re proud to introduce Korean flavors to a new audience while also prioritizing quality ingredients and a recipe of our own.

Our Korean Latte has quickly become a best-seller. One of the most memorable pieces of feedback we received relates to an inside joke among Asian families—that the highest compliment is “not too sweet.” Many customers have praised our latte for that very reason, noting the perfect sweetness. We even made a T-shirt featuring that review!

We’ve also received other unique feedback. A doctor mentioned that she carries our coffee in her pocket during night shifts; moms have thanked us for making mornings easier; and remote workers have told us they no longer need to leave home for a great coffee experience. It’s been rewarding to see how people make KimlyParc a part of their day.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

We were fortunate to gather four trusted angel investors from within our network. Instead of going after institutional funding, we opted to avoid the typical venture capital route because we feel that the expectations for rapid ‘hockey stick’ growth don’t align with building a lasting CPG brand. Building trust and awareness takes time, and we wanted investors who truly resonate with our vision and are willing to grow with us at a sustainable pace. That’s why we focused on people who genuinely believe in us and are patient as we work toward our goals.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

None of us had prior experience in CPG production, so we built our knowledge from the ground up. Thankfully, manufacturing in Korea provided a strong foundation, with high quality standards and impressive turnaround times.

Before we started cold-calling manufacturers, we had a clear concept and recipe in mind. We began with online research, listing potential manufacturers and reaching out to each one with countless questions. Each conversation taught us something new and helped us build a solid foundation.

One of the biggest lessons we learned was that manufacturing timelines can be unpredictable. Even with careful planning, unexpected delays happen. This taught us the importance of building extra time into our production schedule so that last-minute issues don’t disrupt our plans.

Throughout this process, we actively sought advice from mentors and industry experts to help us perfect our manufacturing approach.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kimlyparc.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimlyparc
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/94282650/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KimlyParc

Image Credits

kimlyparc