Caribou Coffee in aggressive regional expansion streak

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