Founder & Chairman
The Coffee Academïcs
Jennifer Liu is the Founder and Chairman of The Coffee Academïcs.
Graduating at the Cornell University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture, Jennifer’s heart remained close to Hong Kong and returned. The eventual birth of HABITU, renowned Italian restaurant that serves up wholesome and hearty gastronomy paired with quality coffee, is a result of European influences gleaned from her extensive travels.
Jennifer is a serial global entrepreneur with an expansive perspective and a stylish eye for detail. Accomplished in the architecture of tenacious international businesses and characteristic brands, the fruition to her vision, creativity and hard work is evident and ubiquitous in Hong Kong and the rest of Asia alike – with more than a total of 30 restaurants, cafes, kitchens and academic spaces offering carefully curated epicurean experiences, Jennifer heads the 3rd largest coffee retail group in Hong Kong. The group’s portfolio includes HABITU, The Coffee Academics, Suzuki Café and Café GreenPrint, spanning across Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai and very soon in several other cities in Asia. These brands offer an annual turnover of HKD400 million.
A passionate social advocate, Jennifer serves in various important public service positions and expands her contribution to social development through JWF Charitable Foundation. Innovative workshops on social causes, particularly sustainable living are weaved together with her flair for art. As for Jennifer herself, she is an artist and a patron of the arts who sits on the committee of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Over the years, Jennifer’s achievements have been continually recognized through numerous prestigious awards, including South China Morning Post’s “25 Women of our Time 2012”, City Magazine’s “18 Notable Women in Social Business 2014”, Capital Magazine’s “CEO of the Year” in both 2007 and 2014, CEO Magazine’s Best Hospitality Group of Hong Kong in 2013. She was awarded the esteemed Piaget Award for Excellence of Entrepreneurship in 2015 and most recently in 2016, “Most Outstanding Women of Hong Kong” by the Women Development Association of Hong Kong.
She is a widely sought-after speaker and her talks, interviews and special appearances are very often featured extensively by many influential publications, media platforms and organizations including the CNBC, BBC, Bloomberg, TEDx, Google-EYE, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Asia Society Hong Kong, InvestHK, StartmeupHK, Rotary Club of Hong Kong, World Social Summit and in Sept of 2016, she will be speaking at the Allegra World Coffee Portal, in New York, featuring the most influential people in the coffee industry.
Jennifer is most recently featured books titled Born To Be Boss and Those Who Inspire Hong Kong.