The Coffee Club, Maharaj, Bangkok | Photo credit: The Coffee Club

The Coffee Club plans to open eight stores across Thailand this year after pausing expansion plans in the country during the pandemic. 
 

The Australian café chain opened its first store in Thailand in 2010 and currently operates 35 stores across the country. 
 

Nongchanok Stananonth, General Manager of The Coffee Club Thailand, told local reporters the café chain is now seeking to expand across the country via smaller, on-the-go format stores at high-footfall tourist locations. 

Two new ‘grab and go’ outlets have recently opened at the Jungceylon shopping centre and Bangkok Hospital in Phuket, with a third set to open at Bangkok’s Park Silom shopping complex in June 2023. 

The Coffee Club Thailand has reported an 81% increase in customer footfall in the first three months of 2023, with ‘significant growth in popular tourist destinations such as Phuket’. 

International tourists currently account for 60% of the café chain’s customers across Thailand, but Stananonth said she hopes to increase the proportion of local customers to 50%.

“The grab & go outlets will open mainly at community malls or department stores on the outskirts of Bangkok, with the aim of reaching more customers. This year we are moving forward with our expansion plans after experiencing a full recovery in the business last year. The return of foreign tourists and the resumption of normal life for Thais have resulted in The Coffee Club’s revenue growing by about 97% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to last year,” Stananonth said. 

The Coffee Club Thailand forecasts 40% sales growth this year to approximately ฿700m ($20.5m).  

The Coffee Club opened its first store in Brisbane in 1989 and is operated by Australian retail food franchisor MinorDKL, a subsidiary of Bangkok-based hospitality group Minor International.  

The Coffee Club operates approximately 250 stores across Australia and 200 across 12 international markets, including China, Indonesia, the Maldives, Qatar and the UAE. 

In November 2022, The Coffee Club announced plans to debut in India in 2023 via new franchise partner CK Israni Group. The New Delhi-based conglomerate said it will start opening stores later this year and is targeting 100 The Coffee Club outlets in India by 2028.