Coffee of sorts
Coffee shops are part of culture and the beverage has varieties of taste and ambience
Coffee is an integral part of the Arab world and the coffee culture is ingrained into the social fabric of this region. There is hardly anyone who doesn’t love unwinding or catching up with friends at one of the global café chains or the quaint, neighbourhood inspired coffee shops with their unique offering of beverages, all day breakfast and contrasting cuisines. In fact, the region is waking up to the potential of its home-grown brands, possible expansion into other world markets, exporting locally roasted coffee and developing indigenous franchise models and concepts internationally.
According to a survey of more than 200 industry leaders conducted by Allegra World Coffee Portal, as much as 75 per cent of people believe there is still plenty of growth potential in the UAE’s lucrative coffee shop market. In fact, UAE has one of the most developed coffee shop markets in the Middle East, with Dubai being the hub for coffee experiments of all kinds, where Western coffee chains mushroomed here in the 90’s making their presence felt.
But it was not till the 2010’s that the UAE witnessed a boom in foreign-invested specialty coffee shop chains, with leading brands vying with each other to grab the lion’s share of the coffee pie. Interestingly, the UAE market once again proved its uniqueness, with convenience taking centre stage, ahead of variety, quality and service standards. Even today, the UAE customer is more likely to visit a coffee shop that is easily accessible, over a world-class café chain with impeccable service, located far away. Customers have also become more discerning, demanding special coffee varieties, with some of them going even as far as to prefer certain methods of preparation over the others.
The rising star of this coffee culture has been the Geisha Coffee, with its magical tasting notes. Today, it is not unusual for a coffee enthusiast to walk into a café and specifically ask for a geisha coffee from a particular region, ignoring every other concoction prominently displayed on the counter. As a result, coffee shops find themselves having to constantly innovate, with new products, and ideas to stay relevant and attract a niche clientele.
It is in this context that freshly roasted specialty coffees have gained traction, with their ability to provide the perfect fullbodied flavour and aroma, making coffee drinking a memorable experience. To keep up with the rising demand, those in the industry are beginning to adopt sustainable procurement practices, in order to preserve the integrity of the coffee bean and ensure the best possible taste and flavour. Today, cafe and roaster are joining hands directly with large traders and farmers to ensure good quality Arabica beans at a fair price.
Research reveals a robust growth pattern for coffee shops in the Middle East, with the graph expected to soar skywards in the coming years as western cafes become more customer-centric with a renewed focus on ambience and luxury as integral to the whole coffee experience. In fact, Kuwait and Saudi have already made inroads into their coffee landscape, with their liberalisation policies and thrust on the FB sector.
This is not to say there are no challenges. Those in the know say that the main problem lies in customer awareness of the diverse range and type of coffee on offer. Catering to the changing and evolving needs of coffee drinkers is essential to the business but equally as important is for customers to understand why certain type of coffee costs more than others or why a good quality coffee is not served in oversized cups.
Training and constant upgradation of equipment, transfer of skills to the employees and ensuring a perfect coffee experience, are also part of the challenge. In this context, the need of the hour is innovation, education and a constant finger on the public pulse, to navigate any obstacles to the growth of the coffee culture.