Udon Thani coffee shop business looks to expand in Northeast
AFTER ITS INITIAL success generating annual sales of Bt12 million from two coffee shops in Udon Thani province, Dose Company plans to find partners for the opening of two branches in other provinces in the Northeastern region next year.
This will boost its annual sales growth into double digits, the company’s managing director and owner Naowarat Khuwachanakul said in an interview with The Nation.
Naowarat, now 35, got into the coffee-shop business three years ago after she learned the business in Sydney, Australia, from 2008 to 2014.
“After I gradated with a bachelor’s degree in food technology from Mahasarakham University, I worked in an agriculture firm for three years and saved up about Bt300,000 before resigning from the company and going to Sydney to study English,” she said.
Besides her studies, Naowarat gained experience working at a restaurant in Sydney and also learned to be a barista.
She then joined the barista staff at Dose Espresso Sydney for two years before deciding to come back to her home town, Udon Thani, and open a Dose Espresso outlet in Muang district, with money from her savings and her family fund worth a total of Bt1.5 million.
“I asked Sam, who owned Dose Espresso Coffee Sydney, if I could open a Dose Espresso Coffee shop in my home town in Thailand or not. He said yes and also supported my [business] by providing raw materials and a coffee menu for my branch,” she said.
In its first year of operation in 2014, Dose Espresso Coffee Udon Thani generated an average of Bt300,000 a month in income. Then the business grew strongly enough to open a second branch that has 100 seats, also in Muang district, in 2015.
The first branch has only 30 seats.
Thanks to repeat business from loyal customers and a growing clientele as they recommended Dose Espresso to their friends and family, monthly revenue grew to Bt1 million a month, or Bt12 million a year, Naowarat said.
She said she added new items to the menu every week and also had special events for her customers. The menu items were made from quality coffee beans, some of them a mix of imported and local raw materials.
Dose Espresso Coffee Udon Thani also roasts its own coffee beans so its beverages are fresh.
“I am concerned about quality, and that is the main reason for my success since opening in 2014.
“I also plan to open shops in other northeastern provinces,” she said.
