The small-format chain, which has rapidly scaled across Brazil, sees east Asia as key to reaching an ambitious goal of operating 1,500 international stores by 2028
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The Coffee’s Bangkok outlet (pictured) offers limited seating and prioritises take-away trade | Photo credit: The Coffee
Brazilian small-format operator The Coffee has made its first foray into Asia with a store in Bangkok, Thailand.
Founded in Curitiba in 2018, The Coffee has scaled to 225 stores across Brazil and a further 32 stores internationally across Latin America and Europe. The premium coffee chain, which promotes app-based ordering and on-the-go consumption, is also set to make its Middle East debut in Dubai, UAE, this quarter, ahead of expansion to Saudi Arabia and Egypt later in the year.
Like the majority of its sites globally, The Coffee’s Bangkok outlet offers limited seating and prioritises take-away trade. The format has proven popular at the chain’s stores in Spain and Portugal and is widely deployed by coffee operators across east Asia.
However, The Coffee Founder Carlos Fertonani said in an interview last month that the chain is switching its focus in Brazil to opening larger footprint stores in response to consumer demand for seating and increased food orders.
The Coffee will focus outlet growth primarily on overseas markets, with plans to reach 1,500 stores internationally by 2028, alongside 350 in Brazil.
World Coffee Portal’s Project Café East Asia 2024 report found that the total branded Thai coffee shop market comprises more than 8,350 outlets – making it the third largest market in East Asia. Café Amazon, owned by oil and retail giant PTTOR, operates over 4,000 stores in the country.