Blue Bottle Coffee enters Thailand with two Bangkok cafés

Blue Bottle Coffee has opened its first two outlets in Thailand, at Central Park and EmQuartier in Bangkok. The California-founded chain now operates in seven markets globally and enters a Thai specialty coffee segment valued at about 30 billion baht (US$917 million).

Blue Bottle Coffee, the California-founded premium coffee chain with more than 140 outlets worldwide, has made its Thailand debut with two locations in Bangkok. The chain opened its first Thai café at Central Park in the Dusit Central Park development on Friday, followed by a full-experience flagship at EmQuartier on Monday, according to The Nation Thailand.

Thailand becomes the seventh country where Blue Bottle operates, joining the United States, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, China and Singapore. The two-site launch gives the brand an immediate presence at major mixed-use retail developments in Bangkok’s Silom-Rama IV and Sukhumvit areas.

The first outlet occupies more than 130 square metres (1,399 sq ft) on the first floor of Central Park at Dusit Central Park, according to Forbes Thailand. It is the first Blue Bottle location in Southeast Asia to feature the full-format, five-head Kyoto Style Espresso Tap Bar. The EmQuartier flagship spans more than 200 square metres (2,153 sq ft) with more than 80 seats, a full pour-over bar, hot and cold beverages, and merchandise exclusive to that branch.

A 2025 estimate by the Specialty Coffee Association of Thailand valued the country’s specialty coffee segment at about 30 billion baht (US$917 million), equivalent to 46 per cent of an overall coffee market worth 65 billion baht. The segment was estimated to be expanding by 10 per cent to 15 per cent annually.

Blue Bottle was founded in Oakland, California, by James Freeman, a former professional musician who began the business in 2002 with personal savings of about US$20,000 and a single coffee roaster. Freeman initially sold roasted beans from a small cart at the Old Oakland Farmers Market, later expanding to a network of cafés across the US and Asia. The brand built its identity around serving coffee while fresh, focusing on bean selection, roasting dates, brewing methods and extraction, with pour-over coffee as a central offering.

The chain’s international expansion has been accompanied by two major changes in ownership. Nestlé acquired a 68 per cent majority stake in the company in 2017 for about US$425 million, valuing the business at more than US$700 million at the time, according to Thairath Online. In April 2026, Nestlé confirmed an agreement to sell Blue Bottle to Centurium Capital, a Chinese private-equity company and the controlling shareholder of Luckin Coffee. Nestlé did not disclose the financial terms; earlier media reports valued the transaction at less than US$400 million.