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Charoen Pokphand Group Company Limited
Charoen Pokphand Group is a Thai conglomerate that owns and runs businesses in animal feed and farming, food retail, telecommunications, and many other industries across Asia.
Charoen Pokphand Group is one of Asia's biggest family-run conglomerates, and most people in Thailand know it simply as CP. It started in the seed and animal feed business and grew into a sprawling collection of companies that touch daily life across the region: chicken and pork farming, 7-Eleven convenience stores, telecom networks, real estate, and more.
The heart of the business is still food. CP makes and sells animal feed, raises chickens and pigs, and processes meat, which is why you'll find CP-branded chicken and eggs in supermarkets across Asia and beyond. Its retail arm runs the 7-Eleven chain in Thailand, so a huge number of Thais grab their morning snack and late-night drinks from a store CP owns and operates. A separate arm, CP Axtra, runs cash-and-carry wholesale and other retail formats. The group also owns a big slice of CP All, the listed company that operates those 7-Elevens, and it controls telecom operator True Corporation, which merged with Total Access Communication in 2023 to create one of Thailand's largest mobile networks. Add in real estate, insurance, and a stake in Chinese insurer Ping An, and you get a conglomerate that is less a single business than a portfolio of bets across Asia.
What makes CP strong is its scale in agriculture and its grip on everyday retail and telecom in Thailand — the kind of businesses people use whether the economy is booming or slowing. Its size and reach also bring scrutiny: it has faced criticism over labor practices and environmental issues in its supply chains, and its dominant position in Thai retail and telecom raises competition questions. Controlled by the Chearavanont family, it remains one of the wealthiest and most powerful business groups in Southeast Asia.
Saved answer · last researched 10 Nov 2026
BIG PICTURE
CP's 7-Eleven holds 73.6% of Thailand's convenience store market
- 73.6% 7-Eleven (CP All)
- 26.4% Other convenience store chains
In Thailand, CP Group's 7-Eleven chain holds 73.6% of the convenience store market as of March 2026. That means roughly three of every four quick-stop shops a Thai shopper walks into belong to the same owner. The company runs over 16,000 of these stores, and it also supplies much of the food sold inside them through its own factories, so the money moves between group companies rather than across a bargaining table. Source: ASEAN Scope, data from 2026
Timeline
A Seed Shop on Song Wat Road
In 1921, two brothers, Chia Ek Chor and Chia Jin Hyang, opened a small seed shop in Bangkok's Chinatown. They imported vegetable seeds from China and sold them under the Airplane brand, the first farm product in Thailand with a quality guarantee. That little store was the seed of what became Charoen Pokphand Group.
Feed Mill in a Parking Garage
The brothers had been selling seeds to farmers. Decades later, they took the next step and built their first animal feed mill, using a grinding and mixing machine in the parking garage of their house on Chan Road. It grew into a modern feed mill, and the business moved beyond seeds into feed.
A Formal Group Is Registered
As the business spread at home and abroad, the family registered Charoen Pokphand Group Co., Ltd. to manage it all. That gave the growing collection of ventures its formal corporate identity.
Business License Number 0001 in Shenzhen
Soon after China opened its economy, CP became the first foreign investor to register in Shenzhen, receiving business registration number 0001 for feed production and distribution. It used the name Chia Tai, or Zheng Da, for all its China investments. That early bet helped make it one of the largest foreign investors in China's feed market.
From Feed to Retail
Having built a big agribusiness, the group pushed into selling directly to people. It set up Makro, a wholesale channel for small businesses, and founded C.P. Seven-Eleven to run convenience stores. Retail and distribution became a major arm of the group alongside its farming roots.
The 1997 Crisis Hits
In July 1997, Thailand devalued its currency, setting off the Asian financial crisis and crashing the family's wealth. The empire was carrying about a billion dollars in foreign loans, so Dhanin froze debt payments, halted dozens of ventures and sold assets to keep the group alive. After the storm, CP pulled itself together around three lines: foods, retail and telecommunications.
A Stake in Ping An
Later, CP got clearance to buy HSBC's stake in the Chinese insurer Ping An. The deal pushed the group's financial investments into one of China's largest insurers.
The Tesco Auction
In 2020, CP won the auction for Tesco's operations in Thailand and Malaysia, beating two rival Thai groups in one of the country's largest ever acquisitions. Because CP already owned 7-Eleven and Makro, the deal needed competition approval. The Tesco brand was dropped and the stores became Lotus's, ending Tesco's long run in Thailand.
True and DTAC Merge
A few years later, True and DTAC officially merged into True Corporation Public Company Limited, creating Thailand's largest mobile operator with nearly 49 million subscribers. That same year, Siam Makro renamed itself CP Axtra, pulling wholesale and retail under one roof.
An AI Data Center
The group's next frontier was digital. True IDC launched Thailand's first AI Hyperscale Data Center, which CEO Suphachai Chearavanont framed as a step toward making Thailand a digital hub for the region. CP also put money into humanoid robots, AI and energy with Chinese technology partners as new growth engines.