Robusta coffee-maker Gong aims to double revenue this year after big jump in output

The company’s chief executive officer, Supot Kornprasitwat, said the demand for premium Robusta coffee has shown strong growth especially from European countries like Germany.
The company aims to increase production capacity of premium Robusta coffee by encouraging farmers who grow the coffee plant in Ranong and others provinces in the South of Thailand.
Southern Thailand has the capacity to grow 60,000 tonnes of coffee beans a year. Ranong province alone grows Robusta coffee on 80,000 to 90,000 rai.
“Most of them produce normal Robusta coffee, but we are trying to train them to grow the premium Robusta coffee to match the demands of the premium market.
This will boost their sale price over the community price since we established the business in 2012,” Supot said.
In 2012, the company joined hands with 30 farmers in Ranong to train them on growing premium Robusta coffee.
They were successful in growing about 5 tonnes, which sold for between Bt100 per kilogram and Bt120 per kilogram, more than double the community coffee price average of Bt45 per kilogram. This has improved the quality of life of farmers in Ranong province.
“We support farmers by training them on how to grow premium coffee and also find markets at home and overseas,” he said.
With the initial success in developing premium Robusta coffee under the band ‘Gong Coffee’, up to 30 per cent of its product is exported, especially to Germany, while the rest is for the domestic market.
The company plans to join local investors in Phuket to open its first coffee house under the brand ‘Gong Gong’ in Phuket.
The company will also expand the export market to the US, Australia, and other countries in Asia when it succeeds in boosting production capacity from 20 tonnes last year to 50 tonnes in this year.
“This will drive our total revenue to Bt10 million in this year and also improve the quality of life of the farmers as they will be earning much more than before,” he said.