Thailand's Coffee Chains Halve Default Sugar in Nationwide Health Drive

A Less Sweet Start for Thailand's Daily Coffee

Nine major coffee brands in Thailand began cutting the default sugar content of drinks by half on February 11, 2026, under a Department of Health initiative called "Normal Sweetness Equals 50% Sweetness." The change makes a less sweet drink the standard order, while customers can still request the previous level of sweetness.

The partnership brings together seven companies operating nine major brands. The participating names listed are Café Amazon, Inthanin, All Café, Black Canyon, Punthai, Chao Doi, Kudsan Bakery & Coffee, and Bellinee's. Their reach stretches from petrol station cafés and convenience store counters to main street coffee shops, putting the change into places where many people buy their daily drinks.

Thailand's Department of Health is targeting a population described as consuming an average of 21 teaspoons of sugar a day. That is three and a half times the World Health Organization's recommended limit of six teaspoons cited in the campaign. A single sweetened drink can account for much of that daily amount before any food is eaten.

Iced coffee and tea have a familiar place in Thai daily life. For many people, a meal feels incomplete without a cold, sweet drink. Temperatures regularly climb above 30 degrees Celsius, and drinks made with condensed milk and syrup offer refreshment as well as a taste associated with satisfaction. Some people consume them three or four times a day. The initiative asks businesses to change that familiar starting point, so customers receive less sugar without having to remember to ask for it.

The Health Figures Behind the Change

Department of Health data for 2025 put obesity among Thais aged 15 and older at approximately 45%, or about 27.4 million people. Diabetes affects about 10% of the population, equivalent to 6.1 million adults, with many more people in borderline diabetic categories.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, affects 29.5% of the population, while 28.4% live with metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome describes a combination of health problems that increase the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Together, these figures show why officials are treating everyday eating and drinking habits as a public health priority.

Pakorn Tungkasereerak, deputy director general of the Department of Health, cited the 2025 obesity and diabetes figures as evidence that immediate intervention was needed. Health officials attribute much of the rise in chronic disease to dietary habits, particularly the consumption of sweetened beverages.

Healthcare professionals describe the benefits of reducing sugar as extending beyond weight management. Lower consumption is associated with improved skin health, less premature aging, better concentration, less fatigue and a lower risk of fatty liver disease. Officials also warn that excessive sugar intake is linked to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular complications and inflammation.

How Much Sugar Is in a Cup?

Bureau of Nutrition surveys found an average of nine teaspoons of sugar in a standard iced coffee of 22 ounces. A smaller serving of bubble milk tea, measuring 10 ounces, can contain as much as 12 teaspoons. Against the six teaspoon daily recommendation cited by officials, those drinks contain one and a half times and twice that amount, respectively.

Repeated purchases multiply the sugar consumed. Someone drinking several sweetened beverages during the day can pass the recommended amount through drinks alone. The campaign therefore focuses on the recipe served automatically, rather than relying entirely on customers to make a different decision at every purchase.

Under the new standard, an iced coffee of 16 ounces that previously contained roughly 7.3 teaspoons of sugar will contain approximately 3.7 teaspoons. Milk tea and iced tea will fall from about 6.6 teaspoons to 3.3 teaspoons per serving. The small difference between an exact half and the coffee figure reflects the rounded quantities used to describe the change.

A coffee containing 3.7 teaspoons would use about 62% of the cited six teaspoon daily allowance, compared with about 122% for the previous 7.3 teaspoon recipe. A milk tea containing 3.3 teaspoons would use 55%. The reduction leaves more room within that daily amount for sugar consumed in other drinks and food.

Changing the Default Without Removing Choice

The Department of Health is using "Nudge Theory," a concept developed by behavioral scientists. In simple terms, a nudge changes the easiest or automatic choice while leaving other choices available. Here, "normal sweetness" becomes 50% of the previous standard instead of 100%.

Customers who want a sweeter drink can still request it. The change is therefore a voluntary adjustment by businesses, rather than a sugar ban or a strict rule removing sweeter options. Its purpose is to make the healthier choice the one people receive when they place an ordinary order.

Most consumers tend to keep default settings. When full sweetness was the standard, choosing less sugar required an extra decision. With half sweetness as the starting point, requesting more sugar becomes the additional step. Officials hope that repeated exposure to less sweet drinks will gradually change what customers consider normal, making the old recipes taste excessively sweet.

Amporn Benjaponpitak, director general of the Department of Health, described the initiative as a watershed moment in the public health strategy. She said earlier campaigns depended on consumers actively deciding to reduce sugar, while the new approach changes the environment in which they make that choice.

This initiative is the first significant step to change consumers' sugar consumption behavior.

The practical difference is visible at the counter: a person can order their usual coffee and receive less sugar without making a separate request. Officials expect that small change, repeated across many purchases, to help reset preferences over time.

From a Sugar Tax to a New Standard Order

Thailand has been building its approach to sugar reduction for nearly a decade. The government introduced a tax on sugar sweetened beverages in 2017, targeting processed drinks. In 2020, the Department of Health launched the "Less Sweet Can Be Ordered" campaign, requiring sugar content labels in coffee shops and promoting choices from 0% to 100% sweetness in increments of 25%.

The campaign's labeling scale showed 0% as no added sugar, 25% as 2.5 teaspoons, 50% as five teaspoons, 75% as 7.5 teaspoons and 100% as 10 teaspoons. Giving the percentages a quantity in teaspoons made the choice easier to understand than a sweetness label alone.

The main steps leading to the February 2026 change were:

• 2017: Thailand introduced a sugar sweetened beverage tax targeting processed drinks.
• April 2020: Initial sales data from 9,674 participating coffee shops showed 32% of consumers choosing reduced sugar options.
• 2020: The Department of Health launched "Less Sweet Can Be Ordered" and introduced standardized sugar content labels. Within three months of the labels being introduced, the share choosing reduced sugar rose to 55%.
• 2023: The share of consumers selecting less sweet drinks reached 57%.
• 2025: A study published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia documented progress in reducing sugar consumption over five years.
• February 11, 2026: The participating coffee brands began making half sweetness the default.
• 2027: The Department of Health aims for 90% of consumers to choose less sweet beverages.

The latest initiative builds on the earlier system of labeled choices. Instead of only showing customers how to order less sugar, participating businesses now start with a reduced amount.

What Earlier Campaigns Achieved

The 2025 study published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia found that Thai consumers reduced sugar intake by 57% over five years. The coffee shop sales figures also recorded a change in purchasing behavior: the share choosing reduced sugar options rose from 32% in April 2020 to 55% within three months of standardized labeling, an increase of 23 percentage points.

By 2023, 57% of consumers selected less sweet drinks. Current figures cited in the campaign put the share of adults choosing drinks with 0% to 75% sugar content at 75%, with 34.1% choosing the lowest range, from 0% to 25%.

National sugar consumption was described as falling from 2.5 million tonnes annually in 2019 to 0.8 million tonnes, while per capita intake fell from 25 teaspoons to eight teaspoons a day. Those national consumption figures sit alongside the 21 teaspoon daily average used to explain the new initiative. No explanation was given for the difference between the eight teaspoon and 21 teaspoon figures.

The Department of Health's next target is for 90% of consumers to choose less sweet beverages by 2027. Reaching that goal would extend the change beyond customers who already seek reduced sugar, bringing more ordinary orders into the less sweet category.

Why Coffee Companies Are Taking Part

Freshly brewed drinks present a different challenge from bottled beverages. Bottled drinks can be taxed according to their sugar content per litre, while a café drink can vary with the recipe, serving size and preparation. Freshly prepared drinks have historically escaped similar regulation because of that variability.

The voluntary partnership addresses that gap by bringing businesses into the health campaign. For operators, using half as much syrup can reduce variable costs, meaning costs that change with the number of drinks made. Keeping retail prices unchanged while using less syrup can help protect profit margins against rising tax pressures and raw material inflation.

The initiative also coincides with the next phase of Thailand's sugar tax collection targets, cited at 578.2 billion THB, approximately $17.1 billion, for 2026. Presenting the change as a health initiative rather than a tax increase is intended to build goodwill while pursuing similar public health outcomes.

Industry representatives say customers are already moving toward less sweet options. For chains facing changing demand, adjusting recipes is also a business response. The partnership connects public health goals with efforts to control costs and retain customers whose tastes are changing.

Among the participating operators are Bangchak Retail Company Limited, which runs Inthanin Coffee; PTT Oil and Retail Business, which manages Café Amazon; and CP All, which oversees All Café, Kudsan Bakery & Coffee, and Bellinee's. Their presence in standalone cafés, convenience stores and roadside petrol stations gives the initiative access to customers across socioeconomic groups.

Customers Welcome the Change, With Some Reservations

Sirinya Kuiklang, an office worker in Bangkok, already orders drinks at 25% sweetness. She welcomed the initiative as a correction to widespread sugar consumption and said it would benefit people who have not yet changed their habits.

It's good for Thai people. I already order my drinks at just 25% of the standard sugar level, but I am aware that many others consume too much sugar.

Porwares Tantikanpanit, another office worker, described a different starting point. He enjoys his beverages other than coffee at their current sweetness levels, but expressed willingness to adjust if shops systematically reduce sugar. His response illustrates why officials are changing the standard recipe instead of leaving every reduction to individual discipline.

Social media announcements also prompted practical questions from customers about how to keep their preferred sweetness. Several brands clarified that the reduction applies only to specific menu items. Each brand can apply the initiative according to its operations, so the sugar content and drinks covered can vary by brand, location and beverage type.

Health officials acknowledge those variations and say the voluntary agreement gives businesses flexibility to adapt. For customers, the immediate result is a change in the default for participating drinks, with full sweetness still available on request. The transition is less uniform than a single recipe applied to every beverage at every shop.

What Visitors May Notice in Familiar Drinks

Visitors returning to Thailand may find that a familiar order tastes less sweet. International tourists often comment on the sweetness of Thai beverages, especially Cha Yen, or Thai milk tea, and iced coffee made with condensed milk. Under the new standard, covered drinks will contain less sugar unless the customer asks for the previous sweetness level.

The Thai Coffee Association supports the initiative and suggests that international visitors may welcome its alignment with global health trends. Customers who prefer traditional preparations can still request 100% sweetness, while those seeking a more moderate drink have easier access to that option.

Thailand's change keeps the choice of sweetness while shifting what happens when no special request is made. For regular customers and visitors alike, the effect will depend on which brand, location and drink they choose, because participating businesses have flexibility over implementation.

By February 13, 2026, the campaign had begun its move from a health message to a daily purchasing habit. Its launch during the Valentine's season carries a simple message about caring for health through less sugar, one cup at a time. The Department of Health's stated destination is 2027, when it wants 90% of consumers to choose less sweet beverages.

The Bottom Line

• Nine major coffee brands began making 50% sweetness the default for participating drinks on February 11, 2026.
• The initiative is voluntary, and customers can still request 100% sweetness.
• An iced coffee of 16 ounces is expected to fall from about 7.3 teaspoons of sugar to 3.7 teaspoons; milk tea and iced tea from about 6.6 teaspoons to 3.3 teaspoons.
• Department of Health figures for 2025 put obesity among people aged 15 and older at approximately 45%, or 27.4 million people, and diabetes at about 10%, or 6.1 million adults.
• The campaign uses a change in the default order to reduce sugar without requiring customers to make a separate decision each time.
• Earlier measures included the 2017 beverage tax and the 2020 "Less Sweet Can Be Ordered" campaign.
• Implementation varies by brand, location and menu item.
• The Department of Health aims for 90% of consumers to choose less sweet beverages by 2027.