Chiang Rai News
Chiang Rai’s Doi Chaang Coffee Planning New Look for Company
CHIANG RAI – Chiag Rai’s famous coffee company, Doi Chaang Coffee Management Co, the operator of the Doi Chaang Coffee chain, has vowed to double its international sites and triple its chains in Thailand this year.
Phitsanuchai Kaewphichai, the company’s co-founder and business adviser, said the company recently completed its rebranding by transitioning Doi Chaang Coffee to a new brand identity with a fresh and modern look both in terms of logo and packaging.
The new brand combines modern elements with the hill tribe identity. The design concept will also be applied to its cafes. The goal is to add young customers to its base of coffee lovers, said Mr Phitsanuchai.
The re-branding also addresses the expansion of its premium coffee shops via franchising, both in the domestic and international markets.
Last year the company added 50 Doi Chaang shops via the franchise system.
He said starting from this year, the company plans to continue to open about 50 Doi Chaang coffee shops per year until the total reaches 300 branches in 2022.
Doi Chaang Coffee is offering three types of franchise shops, with investment of 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 million baht for stores sized 30-50 square metres, 51-100 sq m and 101 sq m, respectively.
The company also provides roasted coffee beans to more than 100 independent coffee shops, some of which it plans to transform to Doi Chaang franchise shops in the future.
“Over the past two decades, Doi Chaang Coffee has kept its promise on providing speciality arabica coffee to consumers. We are confident our product quality can compare to other famous coffee countries like Brazil and Colombia, so we agreed to adjust our management direction from a community business to a franchise standard to increase the chance of reaching more coffee lovers both at home and abroad,” Mr Phitsanuchai said.
Apart from the domestic market, the company also has about 50 Doi Chaang coffee shops via the franchise scheme in Canada, Britain, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.
It expects to double its coffee shop franchises to 100 branches overseas within five years.
In Thailand, Doi Chaang also wants to open its own coffee shops.
“We aim to open at least one large Doi Chaang coffee shop in major provinces,” he said.
Doi Chaang Coffee is a speciality, single estate, high-quality arabica coffee that is only grown and produced in Baan Doi Chang, Mae Sai, Chiang Rai. Its coffee beans are exported to several countries in the US and Europe.
Panachai Phisailert, the company’s co-founder and managing director, said it can produce over 1,000 tonnes of premium coffee per year. About 70% of its business is from the international market and the Commerce Ministry lists it as Thailand’s largest coffee exporter.
Mr Phitsanuchai said the company plans to launch its coffee capsule products to the business hotel, restaurant and catering segment to penetrate that market.
“The food service segment continues to grow every year because of the tourism boom,” he said. “There are new restaurants, coffee shops, and hotels popping up on every street. We can see an opportunity in making fresh coffee in a form that responds to our target customers’ lifestyle.”
Doi Chaang already provides products to hotels with rooms totalling 700, and expects the figure to increase to 1,700 rooms this year.
“The Thai coffee market has been very active the past couple years. We’ve seen many new cafes, big and small, nationwide. The market is valued at over 20 billion baht and we anticipate double-digit growth because there are more consumers drinking coffee,” said Mr Phitsanuchai.
