Retail News CRM

Tag: Cafe Amazon

  • Café Amazon Bids Vietnam Goodbye: Thai Coffee Giant Wraps up 5-Year Journey Amidst Competitive Market

    Café Amazon Bids Vietnam Goodbye: Thai Coffee Giant Wraps up 5-Year Journey Amidst Competitive Market

    The Thai coffee shop chain, Café Amazon, ended its operations in Vietnam on November 18. This closure concludes the brand’s five-year tenure in the Vietnamese market.

    The Closure

    Staff at Café Amazon locations commemorated their last day at work by sharing farewell images. The company returned its store leases, and its branches are no longer visible on prevalent food-delivery applications in the region.

    This decision follows Central Plaza Hotel Public Company Limited’s withdrawal from the Vietnamese Café Amazon joint venture in the previous month. The move demonstrates a well-planned shift in the company’s strategy due to Vietnam’s intensely competitive coffee business landscape.

    Future Plans

    Café Amazon has unveiled plans for global expansion, but Vietnam is notably absent from their target markets. The company has yet to provide an official comment on its departure from Vietnam.

    Questions & Answers

    Why did Café Amazon close its stores in Vietnam?
    Café Amazon closed its stores in Vietnam due to the intense competitiveness of the country’s coffee market. The company also underwent a strategic shift following Central Plaza Hotel Public Company Limited’s withdrawal from the Vietnamese Café Amazon joint venture.

    What steps did Café Amazon take after deciding to close its Vietnam operations?
    After deciding to cease its operations in Vietnam, Café Amazon returned its store leases and eliminated its presence from food-delivery applications in the region.

    Is Vietnam included in Café Amazon’s future expansion plans?
    No, Vietnam is not included in Café Amazon’s announced plans for global expansion. The company is yet to release an official statement on this move.

  • Cafe Amazon Accelerates Global Expansion, Sidesteps Vietnamese Market Amid Investor Exit

    Cafe Amazon Accelerates Global Expansion, Sidesteps Vietnamese Market Amid Investor Exit

    Cafe Amazon, a coffee chain operated by PTT Oil and Retail Business (OR), is accelerating its global expansion plans. Notably absent from its target locations, however, is Vietnam. This strategic decision follows the withdrawal of a Thai investor from Cafe Amazon’s joint venture in the Southeast Asian country.

    Global Expansion Focus

    As Cafe Amazon navigates its global growth strategy, it is centering its attention on several key markets. These include Laos, the Philippines, Japan, Oman, and Bahrain. The company is implementing a franchise model in these regions with a keen focus on ensuring consistent brand standards. This encompasses all aspects from design to quality and service.

    Growth Trajectory

    Cafe Amazon has seen rapid growth over the past ten years, expanding to over 5000 outlets worldwide. This impressive global presence has positioned the company as one of Asia’s largest coffee chains. Notably, in the second quarter of the fiscal year 2025, Cafe Amazon reported sales of over 107 million cups of coffee. This represents a nearly 5 per cent increase from the same time the previous year.

    Vietnamese Market Shift

    The exit of a key investor marks a significant change in Cafe Amazon’s approach to the Vietnamese market. In recent years, this market has seen increasing competition from both local and international coffee chains. While the specifics of the company’s restructuring have not been disclosed, Cafe Amazon has indicated that it intends to focus on markets with a higher potential for growth.

    Questions & Answers

    Why is Cafe Amazon not focusing on expansion in Vietnam?
    The company has decided to shift its focus following the exit of a Thai investor from its joint venture in Vietnam.

    Which markets is Cafe Amazon focusing on for its expansion?
    Cafe Amazon is turning its attention to Laos, the Philippines, Japan, Oman, and Bahrain for its global expansion.

    How is Cafe Amazon performing globally?
    Cafe Amazon has over 5,000 outlets worldwide, making it one of Asia’s largest coffee chains. In the second quarter of the fiscal year 2025, the company sold over 107 million cups of coffee, indicating a nearly 5 per cent increase from the previous year.

  • Cafe Amazon Drives Record-breaking Quarter For Thailand’s Ptt Oil And Retail Business

    Cafe Amazon Drives Record-breaking Quarter For Thailand’s Ptt Oil And Retail Business

    PTT Oil and Retail Business (OR), the lifestyle and retail subsidiary of Thailand’s PTT Group, has announced a record-breaking financial performance for the first quarter of this year. This success is largely attributable to its leading brand Cafe Amazon, which experienced a period of significant expansion throughout Southeast Asia.

    Noteworthy Performance

    Cafe Amazon sold over 112 million cups of coffee during the first quarter, emphasizing the strength of the brand. With 391 stores now in operation outside of Thailand, the cafe chain has become a key driver of OR’s earnings growth. The company’s total revenue hit an impressive US$5.6 billion, with net profits increasing by 46 per cent from the last quarter to approximately $134 million. This represents a 17.6 per cent growth year-on-year.

    ML Peekthong Thongyai, CEO of OR, credited the robust performance to the resilience of the business model. “Our strong performance this quarter underscores our long-term strategic direction. We are expanding with a clear purpose, delivering value for individuals, contributing to community prosperity and demonstrating our commitment to environmental responsibility.”

    Global Expansion

    Cafe Amazon’s reach extends to nine markets. These include Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Japan.

    The cafe chain is part of OR’s wider Global Business segment. This segment reported a 30.8 per cent year-on-year increase in sales volume together with an 81.5 per cent rise in EBITDA.

    Peekthong reiterated the company’s mission beyond monetary profit. “We’re not just about selling fuel or coffee. Our goal is to build platforms that strengthen local economies, encourage entrepreneurship, and facilitate long-term, sustainable growth.”

    OR oversees 415 PTT Stations and 391 Cafe Amazon outlets across Asia and the Middle East.

    Questions & Answers

    What factors contributed to OR’s record-breaking financial performance?
    The company attributes its success to the significant expansion of Cafe Amazon, which sold over 112 million cups of coffee in the first quarter.

    What markets does Cafe Amazon currently operate in?
    The cafe chain operates in nine markets, including Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Japan.

    What is OR’s greater mission beyond selling products?
    OR aims to build platforms that strengthen local economies, promote entrepreneurship, and facilitate sustainable, long-term growth.

  • Thai coffee chain Café Amazon struggles to expand in Vietnam

    Thai coffee chain Café Amazon struggles to expand in Vietnam

    Thai coffee chain Café Amazon, which entered Vietnam two years ago, has been slow in expanding due to intense competition and the Covid-19 pandemic stymieing its plans.

    With 15 outlets mostly in Ho Chi Minh City and some southern localities, it remains a world away from its biggest competitor, Highlands Coffee, which has 573 across the country.

    Café Amazon hopes to have 20 stores by the end of this year, none in the north.

    Other competitors The Coffee House has 153 stores, Phuc Long has 118 stores and 1,062 kiosks and small outlets and Trung Nguyen Legend has 95 stores and 572 E-Coffee outlets.

    In contrast, in Thailand, Café Amazon had over 3,400 stores as of mid-2021.

    “Everyone knows the Vietnam food and beverage market is difficult and so we are in the process of opening new stores while researching into Vietnamese consumption habits,” A-Tathak Srinon, marketing director of Café Amazon Vietnam, said.

    The Vietnam operation is 60% owned by Thai state-owned oil and gas firm PTT Public Company Ltd and 40% by retail giant Central Group.

    Its first store opened in the southern province of Ben Tre in October 2020, followed soon after in two other southern localities.

    But with Covid raging in 2021, restrictions were in place year-long, which included F&B businesses having to close for months.

    Besides, it has been unable to open coffee shops at gas stations, a strategy that has underpinned its success in Thailand, where most of its outlets are in PTT Oil fuel stations.

    Srinon said Vietnamese gas stations are smaller than in Thailand and not suitable for setting up coffee shops.

    The chain is therefore is focusing on its menu to distinguish itself from other competitors, he said.

    Last week it launched three new drinks with a distinctly Thai taste, including one called Tom Yum Ice Tea.

    Lees ook:

  • Cafe Amazon plans 150 stores in Saudi Arabia

    Cafe Amazon plans 150 stores in Saudi Arabia

    Thailand’s Café Amazon has launched in Saudi Arabia, opening its first store in the region at Riyadh’s InterHealth Hospital.

    PTT Oil and Retail Business (PPTOR), which operates the Café Amazon coffee shop chain, said it is targeting expansion to 150 stores in Saudi Arabia by 2032.

    Marking the opening of the Riyadh store, Jiraphon Kawswat, CEO of PPTOR, highlighted the potential of the retail market in Saudi Arabia, especially the growth of premium coffee outlets which she noted as being driven by increasing consumer demands.

    Project Café Middle East 2019 forecast Saudi Arabia to be the fastest growing market in the Middle East (9.6%), exceeding 2,600 outlets by 2023.

    In October 2021, PPTOR said it plans grow its Café Amazon coffee chain to 1,000 international stores by 2025, a downgraded target from an earlier goal to reach 5,800 stores globally by 2025.

    Founded in 2002, Café Amazon is Thailand’s largest branded coffee chain. The company currently operates more than 4,000 stores across Thailand, Cambodia, China, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.

    PTTOR said that the Café Amazon launch in Saudi Arabia represented the ‘first step to concretely restore diplomatic and trade relations’ between Thailand and Saudi Arabia. Political, economic and trade cooperation was agreed between the two nations in January 2022.

    Lees ook:

  • Thailand’s top coffee chain to expand in Vietnam

    Thailand’s top coffee chain to expand in Vietnam

    Thailand’s leading coffee chain Café Amazon plans to expand in Vietnam after five months of establishment in the country.

    A spokesperson said recently the chain sees long-term potential in Vietnam and will expand in Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces this year, but did not reveal specific figures.

    The chain opened its first outlet in southern Ben Tre Province last October, and later two in Tien Giang Province and Tra Vinh Province in December, all in Go! Supermarkets operated by Thai giant Central Retail.

    It also opened in December an outlet in HCMC.

    Thailand’s Central Group owns 40 percent of Café Amazon Vietnam, while the remainder belongs to another Thai fuel distributor PTT Oil and Retail Business.

    Café Amazon has over 3,000 stores in 10 countries.

    In Vietnam, it will have to compete with long-established domestic players like Highlands, Phuc Long, The Coffee House and Trung Nguyen.

    The market in the past has seen the withdrawal of foreign brands like NYDC – New York Dessert Café and Gloria Jean’s Coffees.

    Lees ook:

  • PTT Philippines to open more Cafe Amazon outlets

    PTT Philippines to open more Cafe Amazon outlets

    Thai gas-stations operator PTT plans to open up to 20 new Cafe Amazon outlets across the Philippines next year, as part of the company’s non-oil expansion plans.

    PTT Philippines President and CEO Thitiroj Rergsumran said the company is allotting 80 million pesos (US$1.6 million) to expand the Cafe Amazon network, which currently stands at about 15.

    Rergsumran said the expansion is driven by the country’s vibrant economy and the strong reception it receives from customers.

    “We expect to duplicate our target next year, so you could expect us to be more visible in various areas in the Philippines especially in the provinces,” he said.

    PTT also plans to open 40 new gas stations next year, in addition to its existing 170.

    A subsidiary of Thailand-based PTT Oil and Retail Business, PTT Philippines has been operating for 20 years. It introduced Cafe Amazon into the country in 2016.

    In Thailand, there are more than 2500 Cafe Amazon outlets trading, along with more than 200 abroad, including in Cambodia, Laos, Japan, Myanmar, Oman, Singapore, China and the Philippines.

    Lees ook:

  • Thai Cafe Ama​zon opens first China outlet

    Thai Cafe Ama​zon opens first China outlet

    Thai coffee chain Cafe Amazon has launched its first outlet in China.

    The new cafe has opened at a Sinopec-branded petrol station in the Guangxi provincial capital of Nanning.

    Cafe Amazon is owned by Thai petrol firm PTT Oil and Retail Business (OR), which is aiming to expand the chain globally. The Chinese operator is OR subsidiary PTT OR China (Shanghai), which will roll out the chain at other Sinopec petrol stations nationally.

    China is the 10th market in which the brand has launched.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Cafe Amazon preparing Coffee Shop concept to challenge Starbucks

    Cafe Amazon preparing Coffee Shop concept to challenge Starbucks

    Thai oil company PTT plans to spin off its Cafe Amazon division and build a coffee chain it says will one day rival Starbucks. The company says it will open 20,000 cafes globally, nearly 10 times the current network of 2300 outlets in Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Japan.

    PTT will invest US$1.3 billion in the Cafe Amazon brand over the next five years to develop the franchise business.

    “We aim to build the Cafe Amazon into a top 10 global brand over the next five years,” said PTT Oil and Retail CEO Jiraporn Khaosawas.

    The move signals PTT’s turn towards the retail business at a time when it stands poised to be floated next year, initially into China and the Middle East via franchise partnerships.

    PTT announced plans earlier this year to sell off half of its retail holdings, which generate 20 per cent of the group’s profits, including takings of THB10 billion (US$303 million) from Cafe Amazon last year. The firm has declined to reveal how much it expects to raise in the floatation, although experts have valued the firm’s retail unit at roughly THB120 billion ($3.6 billion).

    PTT’s executive VP for the retail oil business Suchat Ramarch said: “We will not only expand Cafe Amazon, but we will also expand our petrol stations and our lube oil retail business. However, Cafe Amazon will be the highlight, with strong potential to grow.”

    Informed estimates suggest it would cost about THB2.3 million ($70,000) to open a Cafe Amazon shop in a PTT gas station, and from $100,000 to $300,000 for a stand-alone outlet.

  • Cafe Amazon makes debut in Middle Eastern

    Cafe Amazon makes debut in Middle Eastern

    Thai petrochemicals and retail group PTT has opened its first Cafe Amazon in the Middle East.

    The launch of the Cafe Amazon Muscat store, in partnership with Oman Oil Marketing, will help PTT to study local market preferences for coffee, food, decor and atmosphere before making expansion plans.

    PTT currently operates 2557 branches of Cafe Amazon, most of them located in Thailand and run out of petrol stations.

    The brand has been subject to considerable expansion over the past four years in business, and now has a presence in Japan, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines, as well as the new Cafe Amazon Muscat. Plans are underway to launch in Mainland China later this year.

    PTT is aiming to reach 4000 outlets by 2023, with branches in 14 countries.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • PTT earmarks P500 million for coffee-fuel expansion mix

    PTT earmarks P500 million for coffee-fuel expansion mix

    PTT Philippines expects to spend PHP500 million (US$9.9 million) on beefing up its retail network, including a foray into the Japanese market.

    President/CEO Sukanya Seriyothin says that while the bulk of the expansion for the Thai oil and gas giant PTT subsidiary will be gasoline stations, it includes about 12 Cafe Amazon outlets, mainly in Luzon.

    Following its diversification into the coffee business, PTT has started investing in the Philippines to complement its more than 1850 stores in Thailand and other parts of Asia, including one in Japan, says the company.

    With a “notable landscape change” in its investment plan, the company aims to open 100 cafes in the near term, with six to be up and running by year end.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Village for Cafe Amazon’s Japan launch

    Village for Cafe Amazon’s Japan launch

    Rather than a big city, Thai coffee-shop chain Cafe Amazon has chosen a village for its launch into Japan.

    More than 200km from Tokyo, Kawauchi in the Fukushima prefecture has fewer than 2000 residents, and the community is still struggling to recover from the 2011 nuclear disaster.

    Cafe Amazon Japan store

    Kawauchi is about 25km away from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which had meltdowns after the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. The village was temporarily evacuated, with about 30 per cent of the registered population of 2700 yet to return.

    However, Thai state oil and gas company PTT, which owns the Cafe Amazon chain, believes that starting out in such a location could help to raise brand awareness.

    PTT president/chief executive Kevin Vongvanich, who travelled from Bangkok to attend the Kawauchi shop’s opening ceremony, says the company hopes to open other branches across Japan.

    Cafe Amazon Japan open

    He says one of PTT’s objectives in Kawauchi is to gather consumer feedback. “We have a special coffee designed for the Japanese – a bit lighter than coffee in Thailand. The testing will provide us with information so we can adapt our coffee to suit Japanese tastes.”

    Cafe Amazon is using the same Thai beans it offers in its 1600 domestic outlets. A basic cup of coffee in Kawauchi sells for 250 yen (US$2.30), and the 60-seat shop resembles a wooden house, with customers being asked to leave their shoes at the entrance.

    Japanese building materials maker Codomo Energy, which has a factory in Kawauchi, has the Cafe Amazon franchise for Japan, and the partners plan to open several more branches next year, starting in Osaka.

    For Kawauchi, the cafe represents a rare investment from outside the community. At the opening ceremony, Mayor Yuko Endo said he hoped more outsiders would visit the village because of the cafe.