South Korean coffee franchise Ediya Coffee has opened its first store in Laos, taking its international coffee-shop network to four overseas markets as the brand looks to build a larger Southeast Asian franchise footprint.
Ediya opened its first Lao outlet on August 8, 2026, at KokKok Mega Mall in the Patuxay area of Vientiane, the capital of Laos. The approximately 60-pyeong (around 198-square-metre) store is the brand’s first physical coffee outlet in the country and introduces Ediya’s Korean café concept to the Lao market.
The Laos entry follows Ediya’s master franchise agreement with Grandview Property Sole Co., a subsidiary of KOLAO Group, signed in January 2025. The agreement provides the local partner with rights to develop Ediya’s franchise business in Laos and also includes cooperation for potential expansion into Cambodia and Myanmar.
The master-franchise structure is significant for Ediya because it allows Grandview Property not only to open Ediya stores itself but also to sub-franchise outlets to third-party operators within the agreed territory. That gives the Korean brand a route to build a wider network without relying exclusively on directly operated stores.
The new Vientiane store has been designed around both Ediya’s established Korean menu and products tailored to the local market. Its beverage range includes Korean favourites such as Dalgona Latte, Strawberry Latte and Nuts Cream Latte, alongside locally adapted offerings including Caramel Custard Cream Latte and Matcha Cream Coconut Latte.
The food menu includes hodo-gwaja Korean walnut pastries, bungeoppang, hotteok, Buldak Cheese Panini and Bulgogi Cheese Panini. The store also sells Korean-inspired merchandise, including tumblers and keyrings featuring traditional Korean motifs.
Ediya said Laos offers potential because of its relatively young consumer base and growing interest in Korean culture and brands. The company is using the first store to combine products already popular in Korea with menu items adapted to local preferences.
Ediya was established in 2001, opening its first store in South Korea in March that year. The company grew primarily through franchising and became one of the country’s largest homegrown coffee chains.
The brand passed the 1,000-store milestone in October 2013, becoming the first Korean coffee franchise to reach that level. By December 2023, its cumulative number of stores opened had surpassed 3,900, putting the company on the path toward its 4,000th outlet.
In 2024, Ediya was approaching the 4,000-store milestone, with industry reporting describing it as one of South Korea’s largest coffee chains and highlighting the trust it had built with franchisees over more than two decades.
However, the company’s operating store count should not be confused with its cumulative openings. Yonhap reported that Ediya operated 2,581 stores in South Korea at the end of 2024. This is the most specific recent operating-store figure available in the latest reporting.
The difference reflects the distinction between cumulative stores opened over the company’s history and the number of outlets operating at a particular point in time.
Ediya’s franchise model has historically been built around accessible pricing, a broad beverage and food menu and relatively small-format coffee stores. Its domestic scale has given the company a substantial franchisee base and supply-chain infrastructure from which to pursue international growth.
Overseas Expansion Moves Beyond Korea
Ediya’s international coffee-chain expansion began with Guam in 2023, when it opened its first overseas outlet. The company subsequently entered Malaysia in 2024 and Canada in 2026 before opening its Laos store.
The Laos opening therefore represents Ediya’s fourth overseas market, but its first store in Laos.
Malaysia has been an especially ambitious part of the company’s international strategy. When Ediya signed its Malaysian master-franchise agreement in 2024, the company set an objective of reaching 200 stores in Malaysia by 2030, demonstrating that its overseas strategy is based on building scalable franchise networks rather than simply establishing individual flagship stores.
The company subsequently expanded into Canada, making Laos the fourth country in which Ediya operates its coffee-chain business outside South Korea.
Southeast Asia Becomes a Key Growth Market
The Laos deal is particularly important because it sits within a broader Southeast Asian development plan.
Ediya’s partnership with KOLAO Group covers Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, giving the Korean company a potential pathway into three emerging Southeast Asian markets through a single strategic partner. KOLAO has established business operations in areas including distribution and construction, providing local market knowledge and infrastructure for the rollout.
Ediya’s strategy also reflects the growing international interest in Korean food and consumer brands. Rather than replicating its Korean menu completely, the company is using localised products alongside its Korean signature offerings to establish relevance with consumers in each market.
For the Laos launch, that approach is visible in the combination of Korean drinks and snacks with locally adapted beverages.
Ediya’s international push comes as South Korea’s highly competitive coffee market becomes increasingly crowded. The company has been seeking new growth avenues while continuing to operate a large domestic franchise network.
Its domestic scale remains the foundation of the business. Ediya’s own corporate positioning emphasises its Korean roots, franchise relationships and coffee supply infrastructure, including its Dream Factory roasting and production facility.
The company has also built an international packaged-coffee business alongside its café expansion, giving it another route to take the Ediya brand into markets where a physical franchise network is still developing.
With the opening of its Vientiane store, Ediya now has a physical coffee-shop presence in South Korea plus four overseas markets: Guam, Malaysia, Canada and Laos. Its master-franchise arrangement with KOLAO could provide the next stage of growth if the company moves forward with the planned Cambodia and Myanmar expansion.
For Ediya, the Laos opening is therefore not simply the launch of another overseas café. It is a test of whether a Korean mass-market franchise model that has built thousands of stores domestically can be scaled across emerging Southeast Asian markets through local master-franchise partners.
