Easy coffee a bubbling item
The ready-to-drink coffee market is enjoying double-digit growth this year following a 40-per-cent leap last year, says the Kasikorn Research Centre (KResearch).
Ready-to-drink and three-in-one coffee, which has coffee, cream and sugar in one package, had a market value of Bt4 billion last year - 30 per cent of the instant-coffee market. Thailand has also succeeded in selling three-in-one coffee on the global market, exporting 26,231 tonnes worth Bt1.76 billion last year, up 35 per cent from 2005. The main markets include the Middle East, the US and Asean. The study by KResearch revealed the total coffee market had grown 6.7 per cent so far this year. Half of the Bt25.6-billion market is instant coffee, 33 per cent canned coffee and 17 per cent ground coffee. Demand for coffee is growing because Thai consumers are drinking more of it outside their homes, providing good potential for coffee shops. Last year, new coffee-shop branches in petrol stations grew 4-5 per cent in a market worth Bt4 billion. KResearch believes the market will experience similar growth this year.
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