Twenty years ago, if you wanted a coffee outside the house, your only option in Bangkok was a hotel.
Today there is a wealth of coffee shop choices in Thailand.
With the change in consumer behaviour, US coffee chain Starbucks has not rested on its laurels. It has opened coffee shops in malls, office buildings, drive-through kiosks, hospitals, the subway and a new partnership concept with food businesses.
"Starbucks' coffee business in Thailand over the past 19 years has been healthy," said Murray Darling, managing director of Starbucks Coffee Thailand. "We are going to celebrate our 20th anniversary next year and plan to continue growing our business here."
A few weeks ago, the company opened its first MRT store at Phetchaburi station, and another is scheduled to open at Sukhumvit station.
If the subway shops fare well, there will be more in the pipeline, Mr Darling said.
"What we're trying to do is to elevate the whole experience where people are looking for the best quality coffee, special experience and the best baristas," he said. "Competitors may put their stores where they want to go and we're happy with that, because that's expanding the market."
Apart from the mass-transit system, the company also plans to open at least 40 stores in Bangkok and upcountry next year. Prospective locations are particularly hospitals around the country.
"Traditionally, customers have seen us in shopping malls and office buildings, but now the company is extending to places like hospitals," Mr Darling said. "We operate 15 stores in hospitals out of the total 314 Starbucks nationwide as of November. And plans are afoot to open another five stores in hospitals.
"Starbucks is a great place to hang around in a hospital, whether you're a doctor, patient or visitor. We're finding that people love to have a Starbucks as a relaxing place when they visit the hospital. When they can't get out of the hospital, they are kind of stuck and it gives them more interesting things to do."
Initially, Starbucks operated only in major hospitals such as Bumrungrad and Samitivej. It was just a few years ago that the company decided to expand into hospitals.
According to Mr Darling, despite fierce competition and weak consumer purchasing power, the company has opened 40 stores this year, a little higher than the 35 stores last year.
"I believe there are three factors that are working well for Starbucks: having the best coffee, a good store ambience and partners, and delivering the best customer service," he said.
"Every Starbucks store in Thailand is unique. Customers will not find two stores that look the same in Thailand. The company has put extra special efforts to ensure each store is unique and special for customers. And as for the partners, they have a passion for service, love the brand, love serving customers. I think that combination is the same over the world but the level of execution in Starbucks Thailand is as good as you get in the world."
In addition to hospitals, the company is also making a foray into the drive-through channel.
Starbucks is a pioneer in drive-through in Asia and internationally. Drive-through outlets are more popular in the US but are catching on internationally. Mr Darling pioneered the drive-through model by combining drive-through and dine-in and making sure the stores are attractive stand-alone buildings.
"We created that model on highways, and other countries are now looking to us for that. Each country will execute it differently," he said. "I've seen Starbucks around the world and Starbucks Thailand has the best combination of coffee quality, store environment and the beautiful designs that we have."
Mr Darling has helmed Starbucks in Thailand for eight years. When he came here, local Starbucks outlets looked almost identical to those in the US and elsewhere in the world.
But Mr Darling felt there were opportunities to elevate the store environment with more investment and more time to make the stores look special.
"The selection has changed. We've still got espresso and cappuccino, but if you look around, you see an impressive array of coffee like the one from a small farm in East Timor," he said. "You can try rare and unique coffee. We have 15 different types of reserve coffee at Starbucks. You can try them in many different types of brewing equipment, the regular brew, the regular machine and they're all different brewing methods and equipment."
Currently, there are 18 high-end Starbucks Reserve stores in Thailand. The company is collaborating with food and bakery partners to open a 400-square-metre Starbucks Reserve store in Bangkok next month.
A logo of Starbucks at a shop in Sathorn Square Office Tower. PANUPONG CHANGCHAI
Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew is charged with nitrogen.