Dubai-based Coffee Planet, the UAE's leading coffee company has taken its unique retail concepts to Asia with the launch of its first café in Malaysia.

Covering an area of 1,500 sq ft, the 76-seat Coffee Planet café is located in Shah Alam, the modern upmarket state capital of Selangor province, near the capital Kuala Lumpur.

The new outlet brings the company’s growing portfolio to six stores, four in the UAE including the flagship café in Sharjah City Centre mall and a recently opened outlet in Muscat, Oman.

The company has plans for three other store openings in Malaysia in 2012, as well as10 cafés and kiosks in operation in the UAE by the end of next year.

Coffee Planet rose to prominence through its hugely successful ‘on-the-go’ express coffee machines located in over 150 Adnoc and Enoc/EPPC petrol stations throughout the UAE.

Coffee Planet operates its own state-of-the-art roastery facility in Dubai, which gives the brand an added point of differentiation and control over its supply chain.

It sources its 100 percent Arabica green beans directly from farms across the globe, before hand blending and roasting them locally to ensure the highest quality and freshest coffee.

The design of the Shah Alam outlet replicates the company’s UAE venues down to the café’s trademark IT hub, but also incorporates a number of local design elements that reflect different aspects of Malaysian culture.

“Each Coffee Planet café will have the same signature buzz, the same great coffee, but we also want our franchise partners to bring in an element of their own individuality, creating unique venues under the brand umbrella, not just generic copies of the original,” said Richard Jones, managing director, Coffee Planet.

Indeed the opening had a touch of contemporary Malaysian culture and glamour with singing star Yuna performing several songs from her new album to an audience of 150 specially invited guests. – TradeArabia News Service