Good day took caribou location in airport departure

Mohammad Hamad Al Mana Group has entered into an agreement with Alghanim Industries, granting them the sub-franchise rights of Wendy’s restaurants in Qatar. The companies are two of the largest privately-owned companies in the Mena region, according to a statement. The agreement will enable Mohammad Hamad Al Mana Group to open a series of Wendy’s restaurants in Qatar, with the first restaurant opening today (June 1) in Doha, at Andalus Petrol Station (C-Ring Road). The employees at Wendy’s Qatar received a comprehensive training programme equipping them with the required skills and expertise to provide an exceptional dining experience to customers in Qatar. Abdel Rahman al-Mana, managing director of Mohammad Hamad Al Mana Group said: “We are pleased to have this opportunity with Wendy’s, which is one of the leading restaurant companies in the world, and renowned for its high-quality food and service. We would like to reiterate our commitment to bringing an exciting new restaurant brand to Qatar, and we are confident that this new agreement will add value to the food market in the country.” Adnan Zahra, head of Wendy’s Qatar said: “Wendy’s is not just a fast food restaurant, it is a symbol of freshness and high-quality products. The American restaurant brand is a global system of more than 6,600 restaurants across the world, and Qatar represents a new dynamic market.” Mohammad Hamad Al Mana Group is one of the leading business conglomerates in Qatar that deals with different sectors including automobiles, real estate, public services as well as food and beverage. Alghanim Industries, Wendy’s regional master franchisee, is one of the largest privately-owned companies in the Mena region. Founded over a century ago, in Kuwait, the company today employs more than 15,000 people in 30 businesses across 40 countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia.

Dubai: Caribou Coffee is on an aggressive expansion streak that will see the popular coffee shop brand operating over 350 stores in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey region by 2021. In an interview with Khaleej Times, Hamad Al Sayer, managing director of Al Sayer Franchising Company, which has the regional franchising rights for the brand, explained that the brand’s expansion had consistently been on the cards for a while. “We have been performing extremely well over the past eight to nine years,” said Al Sayer. “We have been recording a double-digit growth in the Mena region this year, and over the past five years. Currently, we have around 180 stores in the region and as a brand have been successful in serving the best-quality coffee to our customers.” Highlighting the brand’s expansion in the UAE, Al Sayer said that Caribou Coffee will have a total of 53 stores in the country by the end of this year. “We have store openings scheduled in Ajman, Al Ain, and Dubai. Our aim is to open 60 stores in the UAE by 2015. Most of our stores are located in Dubai, but we are looking to open several more stores in the other emirates as well,” he said. “We have around 33 stores in Turkey currently, with three more opening by the end of this year.” “Expansion has constantly been on the cards,” he added. “If you believe in the brand, you have to constantly take it forward and expand it. Caribou’s expansion has been going on steadily and consistently. Our vision is to be everywhere that our customers want us to be. We want to take that step forward and be ready for our customers before they come to us.” Asked what made Caribou Coffee different from its competitors, Al Sayer said: “Everybody on our team loves what they are doing, and always try to aim for perfection. We try to be close to our customers on how they want their food and coffee served, and on what they want to see in our stores. For instance, we noticed that a lot of people were looking for healthier eating options so we added a lot of healthy eating ranges on our menu, and we increased the number of salads we offer. In addition, customers can also get gluten free and lactose free options on our menus.” Al Sayer also stressed that the company followed a very customer-centric approach. The best thing to do is to put yourself into the customers’ shoes and understand what they really want, he stated. Recently, the company decided to include Dream Factory Bakery products by Cheesecake Factory on their menu. “We added the Dream Factory products to our bakery division,” Al Sayer said, adding that the brand was always looking for new ways to innovate. “Our latest innovation is the Blended Cupcake Snowdrift; you can now drink a cupcake. We originally started with the Red Velvet flavour snowdrifts, and now have Peanut Butter and Fudgy Wudgy Chocolate blended cupcake snowdrifts. We are trying to bring in more and more innovative products every year,” he said. The coffee shop also launched its holiday campaign on November 1. The holiday menu this year features the new Gingersnap Cookie Mocha, as well as a returning favourite, the Spicy Mocha. Other additions on the festive holiday menu include the holiday turkey sandwich, which is served with cranberry sauce, and the traditional red velvet cheesecakes and holiday cookies. “Some of our products became so popular that we decided to make them a permanent addition to our menu. The Salted Caramel Mocha is one example,” Al Sayer revealed. “Our seasonal campaigns give us a chance to test the public’s reaction to a new menu item and if the response is great, we decide on adding it to our fixed menu.” Al Sayer also revealed that Caribou Coffee was launching its mobile app, that will be available by the third quarter of 2015, on both iOS and Android devices. “The most important things in this business are mobile devices and coffee,” he joked. “No, but seriously, this is the way of the future. Mobile phones are now a necessity and we are constantly looking for ways to get closer to our customers. You have to adapt, and adapt quickly since technology is evolving at a very fast pace.” Asked about Caribou’s future targets, Al Sayer said: “We are pushing double digit growth aggressively and will continue to see it as such in the coming years. We are optimistic on our growth and are constantly raising the bar, when it comes to what our customers expect of us.” rohma@khaleejtimes.com

Dubai: The premium coffee chain operator and the second largest in the US after Starbucks, Caribou, is finally brewing the right mix of locations across its Middle East network. “In the past there was an issue getting the right locations as Caribou was not a known brand compared with some of the other names already present here ... that’s changing now,” said Hamad Al Sayer, managing director at Al Sayer Retail Est, a Kuwaiti group which has the regional franchisee rights. “But I agree that we have to be much faster with our retail presence rollout.” Even while facing down scepticism from prospective landlords, Caribou has still managed to plant a presence in 140 locations and which Al Sayer wants to raise to 170 outlets by 2015. That could be anywhere from a 1,000 square metre supersized outlet to a 16 square metre “condensed area”. All of the leading international coffee chain brands are in expansion mode, with Tim Hortons being particularly aggressive in seeking out new locations. Of late, local F & B groups such as Diamond Hospitality have also been experimenting with slightly more upscale café concepts, while the Danube Group, primarily into building materials, intends to steam ahead with the Cha Cha Chai tea outlets. “Tim Hortons coming in shook up the market radically and showed there was potential for new offerings within premium coffee options,” said Al Sayer. “For our expansion, we intend to be aggressive, but will not commit to any location that does not make economic sense — we are not interested in losing money.” Interestingly, there is a Gulf flavour to Caribou Coffee’s back story. The Bahraini bank Arcapita held a stake in the entity until late 2011. More recently, in December 2012, Germany’s Joh. A. Benckiser Group (JAB) announced a merger under which an affiliate acquired Caribou for $340 million. JAB’s other interests include upscale labels such as Bally and Jimmy Choo. “Under JAB’s ownership, there’s a clear mandate to grow the Caribou brand and have enough allocations to support those expected growth levels,” said Al Sayer. “Saudi Arabia and Turkey represent the biggest opportunities to take the brand forward — we already have 25 locations in Turkey. “There could be other F & B concepts Al Sayer Retail could take up ... but again it will be a gradual step. We are not interested in being a brand collector.”

Caribou Coffee entered the Kuwaiti market in 2005 after signing an exclusive franchise agreement with Al-Sayer Imtiazat General Trading and Contracting . Caribou is currently under the legal umbrella of Gulf Coffee Co. for Restaurant Management WLL which is also owned by Al-Sayer family. Despite the 6 years lag from its main competitor Starbuck in the Kuwaiti market, Caribou proved itself as a strong competitor in the selected locations, coffee and outlet standards, and marketing campaigns.

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- JAB Beech Inc. ("JAB"), a member of the Joh. A Benckiser Group, today announced the successful completion of its previously announced acquisition of Caribou Coffee Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBOU) ("Caribou") for $16 per share, or approximately $340 million in the aggregate. JAB acquired Caribou through a tender offer and subsequent merger. As a result of the completion of the merger, Caribou has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of JAB and the common stock of Caribou ceased trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on January 24, 2013. BDT Capital Partners ("BDTCP"), a Chicago-based merchant bank that provides long-term private capital solutions to closely held companies, is a minority investor in this transaction alongside the Joh. A Benckiser Group. In addition to BDTCP's capital investment, BDT & Company served as a financial co-advisor to the Joh. A Benckiser Group with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP acted as legal advisor to the Joh. A Benckiser Group in this transaction. Moelis & Co LLC served as an exclusive financial advisor to Caribou in connection with this transaction and Briggs and Morgan P.A. acted as Caribou's legal advisor. About The Joh. A Benckiser Group The Joh. A Benckiser Group is a privately held group of affiliated companies focused on long term investments in companies with premium brands in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods category. The Joh. A Benckiser Group's portfolio includes a majority stake in Coty Inc., a global leader in beauty, a majority stake in Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc., a premier specialty coffee and tea company, a minority stake in Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, a global leader in health, hygiene and home products and a minority investment in D.E Master Blenders 1753 N.V., an international coffee and tea company. The Joh. A Benckiser Group also owns Labelux, a luxury leather goods company with brands such as Jimmy Choo, Bally and Belstaff. The assets of the group are overseen by its three senior partners, Peter Harf, Bart Becht and Olivier Goudet. About BDT Capital Partners BDT Capital Partners provides family-owned and entrepreneurially led companies with long-term capital, solutions-based advice and access to an extensive network of world-class family businesses. Based in Chicago, BDT Capital Partners is a merchant bank structured to provide advice and capital that address the unique needs of closely held businesses. The firm has a $3 billion investment fund as well as an investor base with the ability to co-invest significant additional capital. Through its advisory business, BDT & Company works with family businesses to pursue their long-term strategic and financial objectives. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that are not historical facts and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this communication include statements regarding the anticipated benefits of the transaction; statements regarding the expected timing of the completion of the transaction; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. All forward-looking statements are based largely on current expectations and beliefs concerning future events, approvals and transactions that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties. Factors that may cause or contribute to the actual results or outcomes being different from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements include are discussed in the Company's filings with the SEC, including in its periodic reports filed on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q with the SEC. Copies of the Company's filings with the SEC may be obtained at the "Investors" section of the Company's website at www.cariboucoffee.com. The forward-looking statements made in this communication are made only as of the date of this communication, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update them to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. SOURCE JAB Beech Inc.