The Bangkok-based coffee chain has opened 244 net new stores in 2024 as Thai petrol station operators vie to scale their branded coffee shop portfolios
PTG Energy opened 98 net new PunThai Coffee stores in the third quarter to reach 1,126 sites | Photo credit: PunThai|Facebook
Thai petrol station operator PTG Energy has posted sustained third quarter outlet growth for its PunThai Coffee business as competition in Thailand’s petrol retail segment heats up.
PunThai Coffee sales increased 77% year-on-year in the three months ended 30 September 2024 to reach THB 573m ($16.4m) –11% higher than in the previous quarter.
PTG Energy opened 98 net new PunThai Coffee stores in the three months ended 30 September 2024 to reach 1,126 sites – a 49% year-on-year increase.
The petrol station operator opened 244 net new coffee shops across the first nine months of 2024 – tracking slightly below Thai branded coffee shop market leader Café Amazon, which has opened 289 net new stores over the same period.
In October 2024, PTG Energy outlined plans to reach 1,300 PunThai Coffee stores by the end of 2024 and has a longer-term goal of operating 5,000 coffee shops by 2027.
Launched in 2012, value-focused PunThai Coffee has become a key driver of PTG’s non-oil business which contributed 8% of PTG Energy’s total THB 54bn ($1.5bn) third quarter revenues.
PTG Energy’s total non-oil segment, which also includes the 90-store premium coffee chain Coffee World and 330-site convenience store chain MaxMart, achieved 25% year-on-year sales growth to reach THB 4.3bn ($123.7).
Coffee has become a lucrative revenue stream for Thailand’s petrol station operators, with approximately 70% of the total Thai branded coffee shop market made up of chains owned by petrol firms.
PTT OR-owned Café Amazon, which has 4,339 outlets in Thailand, and PunThai Coffee are the two largest branded coffee chains in the East Asian country, with sizeable footprints across their parent company’s expansive petrol station networks.
Despite closing 23 coffee shops since the start of 2024, Bangchak-owned Inthanin remains the third largest branded coffee chain with 1,003 stores, while Singapore-headquartered petrol station operator Caltex announced plans in October 2024 to expand its concession partnership with Thai coffee chain Chao Doi.
Approximately 40 of Chao Doi’s 300 coffee shops are situated within Caltex’s 530-site Thai petrol station network, with the two organisations seeking to grow the partnership to 200 petrol stations over the next five years.
However, highlighting a more challenging trading environment for conventional branded coffee chains, US coffee chain Dunkin’ closed 183 stores in Thailand in 2023, more than halving its footprint in the country to 150 outlets. Additionally, 517-store Starbucks Thailand revised down its outlet growth forecast in November 2024 amid rising competition and lower consumer spend.
World Coffee Portal’s Project Café East Asia 2024 report forecasts the total Thai branded coffee shop market will exceed 9,550 outlets by the end of 2028.