Aroma Group seeks SET listing to expand its coffee stores

Aroma’s sales this year are expected to reach Bt1.3 billion. It is also in talks to set up a joint venture with PTT.
Executive director Kijja Wongvaree said yesterday that in two to three years the company plans to go public and raise Bt1 billion. Aroma has been in the fresh ground coffee market for over 50 years.
A Chao Doi franchise requires an investment of just under Bt300,000, while a 94 Degree coffee shop franchise costs less than Bt1 million. It currently has 35 stores under the 94 Degree brand.
“Aroma Group has about 4,000-5,000 individual customers, while chain customers are at 100. Next year, the company will invest Bt30 million to double production of coffee to 4,000 tonnes per year. This expansion is in response to the company’s rate of growth, which has been about 30-40 per cent every year,” he said.
The overall market for ground fresh coffee is valued at more than Bt6 billion per year.
Kasikorn Research Centre has found that Thais consume an average of about 130-150 cups per year. Regular coffee consumers account for 30 per cent of the population.
About 50 per cent of Aroma’s revenue comes from ground coffee sales, 40 per cent from coffee machine sales, 5 per cent from retail sales and 5 per cent from other sources.
“Regarding the progress of the contract between Aroma Group and PTT, which allows Amazon Cafe to operate at PTT filling stations, currently there are 700 branches and the contract will end next February.
“Aroma is discussing with PTT to set up a joint venture. Both sides have signed a preliminary confidential agreement and are preparing their own business plans to indicate how they each perceive the direction the joint venture should pursue.
“The parties will meet again next month to determine if both parties are satisfied with each other’s plans. If there is agreement, further details will be finalised. The overall process is expected to take less than four months,” he added.