Taiwanese chain Louisa Coffee debuted in Thailand Thursday to tap growing consumption here.
Operated through a joint venture with initial registered capital of 10 million baht, the Taiwanese parent holds a 49% stake in Louisa Coffee Thailand and Thai partners hold the remaining 51%.
Chris Huang, the founder of Louisa Coffee Co, said the company chose Thailand as the first country to expand into because of continuous growth of coffee consumption and a burgeoning coffee culture here over the past several years.
Coffee consumption in Thailand totalled 70,000-80,000 tonnes a year in the past 3-5 years and is expected to grow to more than 300,000 tonnes a year within the next three years.
Wongphun Laothamatas, Louisa Coffee Thailand's executive director, said the company spent 5 million baht to open the first Louisa Coffee outlet on the second floor of Amarin Plaza and aims to have a total of five Louisa Coffee outlets in the next three years.
"Despite high competition in the coffee market, Thailand was the top choice because of high potential, as there are raw materials and developed human resources here," Mr Huang said. "There is huge room to grow because the per capita consumption of coffee in Thailand is still small compared with other countries and coffee culture has been booming here in recent years."
The Thai Coffee Association reports that the cafe sector in Thailand is worth about 17 billion baht. Thais consume an average of 0.5-1 kilogrammes of coffee per person per year, while Americans and Scandinavians consume 3.5kg and 10kg, respectively.
Louisa Coffee was founded in 2006 in Taipei by Mr Huang, who is passionate about coffee. There are 450 branches in Taiwan.
"We are confident Louisa Coffee will be popular among Thai coffee drinkers, as in Taiwan," he said. "We want to make Louisa Coffee a second home for every visitor."
Louisa Coffee offers premium coffee varieties, with selected beans from local sources in Thailand as well as Laos, Indonesia, Ethiopia and Guatemala.
The price is set at 50-90 baht per cup, about 10-20% cheaper than competitors in the market. The chain targets many segments: teens, college students and working professionals.
Louisa Coffee plans to explore opportunities in other Asian markets with similar cultures, lifestyles and preferences.