Value and convenience enable Café Amazon to extend market lead in Thailand

Café Amazon served 371 million cups of coffee in Thailand in 2023 | Photo credit: Café Amazon

Thailand’s PTT Oil and Retail Business (PTT OR) strengthened the position of its Café Amazon brand in Thailand last year but fell short in its target of opening 400 new stores globally. 
 

PTT OR opened 299 net new Café Amazon stores in 2023 to reach 4,552 outlets across 11 markets globally. The value-focused coffee chain increased its domestic footprint by 286 sites to reach 4,159 – 54% of which are in PTT OR-owned petrol stations.   

Café Amazon served 371 million cups of coffee across its domestic store network last year with its stores accounting for 94% of PTT OR’s total food and beverage footprint in Thailand. PTT OR also operates 221 stores across its Texas Chicken, Pacamera Coffee Roasters and Pearly Tea brands.  
 

The total F&B segment achieved 9.5% sales growth in the 12 months ending 31 December 2023 to reach THB 15.3bn ($425m), with EBITDA rising 8% to THB 439m ($12.2m).  

PTT OR launched Café Amazon in 2002 to increase retail sales at its PTT petrol stations. The coffee chain now holds a near 50% share of the Thai branded coffee shop market, which comprises approximately 8,400 outlets.  

World Coffee Portal research forecasts the Thai branded coffee shop market will reach 9,600 outlets by 2029. 

Read related content: East Asia branded coffee shop market booms as China overtakes US by outlets 

Café Amazon’s international presence comprises 393 stores across Cambodia, China, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam. 
 

The coffee chain opened 13 net new stores internationally last year, including new outlets in Japan and Malaysia. Café Amazon achieved 19% volume growth in international markets last year, driven by high consumption in Cambodia and Laos where it operates 231 and 90 stores respectively.  

In January 2024 PTT OR announced plans to build a coffee centre in Thailand’s Lampang province to boost coffee supply to its domestic stores. The 240-acre Amazon Park site will operate as an ‘open organic farm’ and R&D hub, educating Thai coffee farmers on planting, cultivating and harvesting premium quality arabica and robusta coffee.