Coffee Break is a Singaporean heritage coffee and tea brand and family-run hawker business associated with traditional Nanyang-style kopi and teh. The business traces its origins to 1935, when the Sai family’s grandfather, Sua, began a coffee business after arriving in Singapore from Hainan Island. Today, the business is operated by the third generation of the family—siblings Jack Sai, Anna Sai and Faye Sai—who have sought to preserve traditional kopi-making while adapting the brand for contemporary consumers. 1

Coffee Break is particularly known for combining the traditional coffee-sock brewing method and locally familiar kopi and teh with more contemporary flavours and café-style drinks. Its offerings include traditional kopi and teh, flavoured coffees, lattes, toast and spreads, as well as packaged coffee, tea and instant beverage products.

The brand’s story is closely connected to Singapore’s hawker and kopitiam culture. Rather than positioning itself purely as a modern specialty-coffee café, Coffee Break has developed a hybrid identity that brings elements of contemporary café culture into the traditional hawker-centre environment. 2

Origins: 1935–1970s

Coffee Break’s roots date to 1935, when the Sai family’s grandfather, Sua, established a humble pushcart business in what was then Hainan 2nd Street, now associated with Purvis Street. The family’s original business was known as San Hai Yuan (山海园, S.H.Y.).

In the following years, the family business developed into a coffee-shop operation. Coffee Break’s official history records a move to a shophouse on East Reclamation Road in 1941, followed by another relocation to Block 80 Telok Blangah Drive in 1942. The business subsequently moved to 136 Telok Ayer Street in 1978, following redevelopment and government resettlement.

The family’s connection with the coffee trade therefore predates the Coffee Break name itself by several decades.

Establishment of Coffee Break

The Coffee Break name emerged under the next generation of the Sai family. According to the siblings, their father asked them for ideas for a name while they were studying. They suggested “Coffee Break”, which eventually became the name associated with the family’s modern incarnation.

The business subsequently became associated with Boon Tat Street before moving into Amoy Street Food Centre. The exact chronology is described somewhat differently across historical accounts, but Coffee Break’s own heritage timeline identifies 1997 as the year it settled at #02-78, Amoy Street Food Centre, under the Coffee Break name. 3

Third generation

The current generation consists of siblings Jack, Anna and Faye Sai. They represent the third generation of the family business and became increasingly involved in developing Coffee Break as a modern heritage brand.

Jack and Faye became particularly involved in running the business, while their twin sister Anna subsequently joined them. The siblings brought different professional backgrounds to the operation: Jack had worked as a freelance journalist, Anna had a background in early childhood education and fine arts, and Faye had studied marketing.

Their involvement marked a significant transition for Coffee Break: instead of simply reproducing the family’s traditional coffee-shop model, they began developing new products, branding, technology and operating methods while retaining the core identity of traditional kopi.

The name Coffee Break reflects the business’s central association with coffee while also conveying the idea of taking a pause from Singapore’s fast-paced urban lifestyle.

The brand’s identity is built around the tension between heritage and innovation. Its own description emphasizes preserving traditional kopi and teh craftsmanship while introducing new flavours and formats. 4

This positioning has allowed Coffee Break to occupy a distinctive space between a conventional hawker drink stall and a contemporary café. Time Out Singapore, for example, described it as occupying a middle ground between a regular hawker drink stall and a café.

A defining feature of Coffee Break is its use of the traditional coffee sock, or cloth-filter brewing method associated with Singaporean kopi culture. Coffee Break blends its own coffee beans and tea leaves and continues to use the traditional brewing approach.

Historically, the family’s coffee has been associated with robusta-based blends, while descriptions of the brand have also noted combinations of Robusta and Arabica beans.

The traditional foundation is combined with a wide range of contemporary flavours. Examples reported over the years include:

• Sea salt caramel
• Black sesame
• Mint
• Taro
• Hojicha
• Hazelnut
• Irish cream
• Caramel
• Butter pecan
• Lavender
• Various latte and mocha combinations

The family has noted that experimentation with flavoured kopi was not solely a third-generation development; their father had already experimented with flavours such as hazelnut, Irish cream and caramel coffee.

Coffee Break’s food offering complements its drinks and retains elements of traditional Singaporean breakfast culture.

Its menu has included kaya toast, butter toast and a range of house-made spreads. More contemporary options have included flavours such as black sesame, taro, matcha coconut and rum-and-raisin. 5

The brand also sells packaged products for home consumption, including:

• Coffee powder
• Tea dust
• Coffee sachets
• Tea sachets
• Coffee capsules
• Instant café latte mixes
• Instant mocha
• Instant milk tea
• Matcha latte mixes
• Flavoured instant coffee mixes
• Non-dairy and soy products

Its official online store currently lists these products alongside its physical hawker-centre operations.

A major characteristic of Coffee Break’s third-generation management has been its willingness to introduce technology into a traditionally labour-intensive hawker business.

The siblings introduced digital ordering and point-of-sale systems to improve operational efficiency. During the COVID-19 pandemic and Singapore’s 2020 Circuit Breaker period, the business also increased its use of social media and e-commerce platforms, including online marketplaces.

The business has also invested in branded packaging and product development, helping transform Coffee Break from a traditional drinks stall into a more recognisable consumer brand.

Coffee Break has operated from several locations during its history.

Its heritage timeline records:

The business has experienced both successful and unsuccessful expansion attempts. In 2017, for example, the siblings opened a café-style outlet at GSH Plaza in Raffles Place. The location suffered from low foot traffic and the outlet closed after approximately five months, resulting in a reported six-figure loss. 6

This experience helped reinforce the importance of Coffee Break’s identity as a hawker-based heritage brand, rather than simply turning it into a conventional café chain.

Coffee Break currently lists outlets at:

• Amoy Street Food Centre — 7 Maxwell Road, #02-78
• Market Street Hawker Centre — 86 Market Street, #03-03
• Holland Drive Market & Food Centre — 44 Holland Drive, #02-30

The company also provides event catering, corporate workshops, bottled beverages and business beverage solutions, and states that it is seeking opportunities for franchising and expansion in Singapore, Asia and beyond.

Coffee Break represents a broader trend in Singapore’s hawker industry in which younger generations attempt to preserve traditional food businesses while adapting them to changing consumer expectations.

The brand’s significance comes from its ability to combine several identities:

Traditional Hainanese heritage → Singaporean kopi culture → hawker-centre culture → modern café flavours → packaged consumer products.

This has made Coffee Break an example of what can be described as a modern heritage hawker brand. Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority previously selected Coffee Break as one of the Singapore brands featured at Expo 2020 Dubai, highlighting its more than 80-year heritage, traditional sock brewing and efforts to bring kopi into a contemporary context.

At its core, Coffee Break’s philosophy can be summarised as “tradition meets innovation.” The company seeks to retain the techniques and flavours associated with Singapore’s traditional kopi culture while experimenting with new tastes, formats and business models.

This philosophy is reflected in everything from its brewing methods and traditional kopi offerings to flavoured lattes, online retail products, digital ordering systems and event services.

More than nine decades after the Sai family’s original coffee venture began, Coffee Break remains a family-run Singaporean coffee business. Its evolution from a Hainanese family’s traditional coffee trade into a branded hawker and consumer-products business illustrates how a heritage food business can adapt across generations without completely abandoning its original identity.

The brand’s story is therefore not simply about coffee. It is also about migration, family succession, Singapore’s hawker culture, entrepreneurship and the adaptation of traditional food practices to modern markets. 7

1. About Us – Coffee Break
2. Guan Hoe Soon and Coffee Break: A Peranakan restaurant and kopi stall’s Hainanese connection – CNA Lifestyle
3. Coffee Break | Restaurants in Raffles Place, Singapore
4. Coffee Break Singapore
5. Faye, Jack & Anna Sai, Coffee Break – The Peak Magazine
6. Coffee Break – SG Magazine
7. Coffee Break