Laos' coffee giant eyes Thailand for expansion

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Laos' coffee giant eyes Thailand for expansion
Somluck Srimalee
The Nation


From left: Dao-Huang Group

BANGKOK: -- Dao-Heuang Group, a leading coffee producer in Laos, is set to enter Thailand next year via a contract to grow coffee on a 1,000-rai plot of land in the North.

This move is part of the company's plan to boost its production capacity to meet rising demands once the Asean Economic Community (AEC) is launched in 2015, the group's vice president Boonheuang Litdang said at a press conference yesterday.

"We will be growing coffee in Thailand in order to serve rising demand in Asean countries," she said.

The group, which is a member of the Laos PDR Coffee Federation, will also partner up with the Singapore Coffee Federation and other similar associations to set up an Asean Coffee Federation in the next two months. This is part of a move to promote coffee products produced in Asean to the global market, Boonheuang added.

She went on to say that the group was also planning to invest Bt20 million on a coffee-roasting plant in Ubon Ratchathani's Warin Chamrap district this year. This comes after the group recorded sale of coffee products worth US$20 million or Bt600 million in Thailand last year.

The group is also planning to open its first shop called the Tea Room by Dao Coffee in May to boost its growth in the Thai coffee market with the aim of achieving sales worth $40 million by 2018.

Meanwhile, Dao-Heuang's production base in Thailand should cover demand in the region and is part of the group's plan to meet 20-30 per cent growth on a yearly basis, Boonheuang said.

The group is also planning to open its first duty-free shop in Vietnam next year worth Bt10 million, she added.

Dao-Heuang's aim is to double its revenue growth target from $160 million this year to $320 million by 2018. Up to 80 per cent of the group's total revenue comes from its coffee business, and the rest from its other businesses such as duty free, hotel, retail and property business in Laos. Of its total revenue in the coffee business, 80 per cent comes from export.

The company exports coffee to Japan, the United States, Europe, China, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Separately, the group is also planning to spend $3 million on a 10-hectare coffee-drying yard in Laos this year, after it spent $100 million to build a coffee plant there last year.

With these expansion moves, Dao-Heuang hopes to be listed in the Laos Security Exchange in the next three years, she said.

Dao-Heuang Group, considered to be one of the largest firms in Laos, has a hand in retail, real estate, consumer products and hotel industries. The group, established in 1991 by Dr Hao Litdan and his wife Leuang, has also set up joint ventures and distributorships in other countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, China, Cambodia, and Japan.

In Thailand, the group has signed a joint venture with Sum By Dee Co Ltd, which imports Dao coffee from Laos and has also opened an outlet in Thanya Shopping Park on Srinakarin Road. The company is planning to open a tea room in Siam Square One next month.

-- The Nation 2014-04-22

[NongKhaiKid]

There's nice coffee available which is produced by hill tribes but I've only ever seen it in Foodland, Sukhumvit Soi 5.

It might be nice if that was given a sales boost but probably this Lao company have a better idea, and the wherewithal, to ensure ' business ' gets done.

[chainarong]

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There's nice coffee available which is produced by hill tribes but I've only ever seen it in Foodland, Sukhumvit Soi 5.

It might be nice if that was given a sales boost but probably this Lao company have a better idea, and the wherewithal, to ensure ' business ' gets done.

I use Thai coffee when in Thai NKK, find it ok , get it from lotus

[Beetlejuice]

I bought a packet of 3 in 1 Dao coffee last week when it was being promoted at Makros.150 baht for 50 sachets and thought I would give it a try.

The coffee tastes bland and it is weak, like a cup of hot water. That will be the last time I buy Dao coffee.

[NongKhaiKid]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

There's nice coffee available which is produced by hill tribes but I've only ever seen it in Foodland, Sukhumvit Soi 5.

It might be nice if that was given a sales boost but probably this Lao company have a better idea, and the wherewithal, to ensure ' business ' gets done.

I use Thai coffee when in Thai NKK, find it ok , get it from lotus

My local Lotus, Big C etc does stock Thai coffee but the hill tribe blends I mentioned are in small boxes and clearly indicate their source but I've only ever seen them in that one store.

[bigbamboo]

I hope they've got a bigger cart than that other guy.

[circusman]

I recently bought some Dao coffee at Makro HangDong and thought it was great. Depends on the grind if it is weak or strong. I grind my own. Now that particular coffee is gone from Makro.

[Maybole]

I agree that Dao coffee is wersh. I enjoy Duang Dee which is available in 1/2 Kg packs in Rimping stores.

[Sydebolle]

Laotian company investing in Thailand eyeing AEC 2015?

And those "communists" understood the building of a brand too?
And the coffee business is complemented with everything around coffee, i.e. sugar and bottled green tea!

The mind boggles! The future has arrived ......

Edited April 22, 2014 by Sydebolle

[focus27]

My experience of Thai coffee in both CM and BK is that it tends to be bitter, verging on being over-roasted to downright burnt.

Not sure if it is the coffee bean, the amount of sunshine or the processing.

If one dumps a load of high fructose corn syrup and Carnation on top of it I guess it makes no difference - but one cannot hide the flaws in a plain espresso.

Thanya is not far from me; will look out for Dao when I'm there.

[DrTuner]

Laotian company investing in Thailand eyeing AEC 2015?

And those "communists" understood the building of a brand too?

And the coffee business is complemented with everything around coffee, i.e. sugar and bottled green tea!

The mind boggles! The future has arrived ......

Might be pre-communist era entrepeneurs, French heritage ..

[richard10365]

I use to buy roasted coffee in Thailand but soon learned it is difficult to get the same roast all the time due to poor quality. I now only buy green beans and roast them myself at home. Only takes 30 minutes in a wok.

[Arkady]

I use to buy roasted coffee in Thailand but soon learned it is difficult to get the same roast all the time due to poor quality. I now only buy green beans and roast them myself at home. Only takes 30 minutes in a wok.

What level of smoke do you get from that. I was using an i-roast2 hot air roaster from Bona Cafe in JJ Market for about B10k that did the job pretty well in about 8 minutes until the glass chamber cracked. They don't sell replacement chambers and are out of stock of the machine. Now considering further options. The same outfit at JJ has a pretty good selection of green beans at reasonable prices by the kilo from different parts of the world but including Thailand and Laos.