Dale Lee sees great potential.

Boutique coffee company Charles Martin is taking its Coffee Works catering service to China in a bid to cash in on that country's booming cafe culture.

The service has worked well in Thailand for more than two years and today brews 10,000-plus cups a day for 200 companies and their staff.

Managing director Dale Lee said the company served workers and company guests with fresh, roasted coffee without them leaving the office.

It provides coffee machines to any company spending more than Bt2,000 a month on beans.

Coffee Works roasts its beans at a Bangkok factory before shipping them to clients and another 300 cafes around the country.

"My business partner Andrew Stotz and I noticed back in the early '90s most companies offered staff and clients instant coffee only," Lee said.

Today many send out for expensive delicatessen brews.

Coffee Works offers blends from Kenyan to Colombian and espressos brewed on the premises for Bt3 to Bt11 a cup.

"It's just like a coffee shop next to your desk but without the investment, training or the Bt50 to Bt75 a cup price tag," said Lee.

Lee said the potential in Bangkok was "tremendous". Real-estate company CB Richard Ellis says the city has more than 1,000 office buildings.

The total coffee market is worth about Bt20 billion - almost three-fourths is instant coffee.

"We want to grow Coffee Works by five times in the next three to five years - when we will serve at least 1,000 corporate customers - and generate about Bt1 billion in sales," said Lee.

Charles Martin expects to achieve Bt45 million in sales this year, up from Bt28 million last year.

Coffee Works will expand to major markets in Asia within the next three years, starting with Shanghai and Beijing.

"We have seen great business potential in China, which enjoys the same coffee culture as Bangkok," Lee said.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation