The Thai speciality coffee segment is growing, with several local brands expanding their stores and foreign brands entering the market.
An industry veteran said small speciality café operators should focus on niche offerings and adapt quickly to trends.
Nattiti Ampaiwan, president of the Specialty Coffee Association of Thailand (SCATH), noted the growth across Thailand’s artisanal coffee value chain from plantations and processing to roasteries and cafés.
He said farmers are shifting from producing coffee for the mass market to focusing more on speciality coffee and improving their processing methods.
Thailand produced about 16,000 tonnes of coffee in the 2024/2025 crop year, according to the Office of Agricultural Economics.
Of that amount, Mr Nattiti estimates speciality coffee accounts for 30% of the volume.
“The association has encouraged the shift to speciality coffee, which delivers higher returns per unit of land,” he said.
The emergence of “speciality everyday” café chains in recent years, offering craft coffee at accessible prices, targets the mass market and has led to rapid expansion, said Mr Nattiti.
While speciality coffee shops generally charge higher prices, these chains offer a cup of coffee from 60 baht, aiming to attract the mass market.
These new chains are likely to compete with large international brands with limited impact on local small speciality coffee shops, he noted.
However, pricing could disrupt small operators if chains set prices below cost, said Mr Nattiti.
NICHE APPROACH
Smaller Thai cafés have an advantage in terms of agility and their ability to quickly adapt to trends, he said. Larger operators with extensive operations may not be able to offer the same level of niche services.
Smaller operators can adopt a niche approach by offering diverse products in a single store such as beans from different origins. Smaller cafés can swiftly update menus, provide varied price points and create unique store designs and customer experiences, said Mr Nattiti.
The entry of foreign speciality brands is positive, he said, as it energises the market and enhances the image of the country’s coffee market among consumers.
Last month Blue Bottle Coffee, a US-based speciality coffee chain now owned by Chinese private equity firm The Centurium Capital, launched two Bangkok stores.
SCATH is partnering with The Cloud, a Thai media and event organiser, to host Thailand Coffee Fest 2026, bringing together more than 400 operators across the coffee value chain and aiming to position Thailand as a global coffee destination.
The event runs from Sept 10-13 at Impact Exhibition Centre, featuring knowledge-sharing sessions on trends and innovations and competitions such as the Thailand National Barista Championship 2027.