UAE-based Coffee Planet, a multi-solutions coffee company supplying every market sector in the coffee retail chain, has launched its new $2 million roastery at the Gulfood expo in Dubai.

Gulfood, the region’s premier event promoting food and beverage-related products, will run till March 2 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
 
"The  new roaster will boost Coffee Planet’s capacity to over 160 tonnes per month of premium Arabica coffee. In 2010 we served around 4 million cups of coffee, by 2013 we hope to be serving almost 6 million cups a year, which means we’ll be serving one cup of coffee every 5 seconds,” said, Richard Jones, managing director, Coffee Planet.

Having enjoyed strong demand for its coffee since launching in Dubai six years ago, Coffee Planet’s annual turnover has increased exponentially.

Since it began locally roasting in 2008, Coffee Planet’s production has grown from five tonnes per month to nearly 15 tonnes per month in 2010, with projections of 60 tonnes per month by 2013 as it takes on wider regional roasting contracts and expansion.

"Strong financial performance supports Coffee Planet’s $2 million investment in the new state-of-the-art roasting facility in Jebel Ali. Annual revenue has grown steadily year-on-year, from Dh600,000 in 2005 to a projected Dh44 million by 2013," he added.

Commenting on future prospects, Jones said there was a strong demand for coffee, with global production currently forecast to grow from 5 million tonnes in 2010 to more than 7 million tonnes by 2012.

“Global consumption of coffee has continued to climb over the last decade, rising steadily each year, despite green bean price rises recently fuelled by concerns over consecutive annual bad harvests in key coffee-producing regions,” the official added.

"Since 2004, overall coffee consumption in the region has posted steady increases, with the UAE growing by 85 per cent, Morocco and Saudi Arabia by over 30 per cent and Egypt by 20 per cent," he said citing data.

Coffee Planet is capitalising on this growth, boosting capacity and bringing new levels of coffee quality to the market,” said Jones.

Another of Coffee Planet’s trademark secrets is its veteran roastmaster, Rosco Franklin. He has more than 16 years experience in sourcing beans from the best growers, roasting and creating different blends and flavours.

“Our role at Coffee Planet involves ensuring the final coffee in the cup is the best it can be. We are passionate about our coffee and take a lot of care in its production, striving to deliver some of the best blends you will ever taste,” he added

In addition to its new roastery, Coffee Plant is expanding its regional presence, further growing from five retail outlets and 140 petrol station outlets in the UAE in addition to manned mobile kiosks for special events.

Its newest retail opening was in Oman, with further outlets planned for Malaysia, India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and South Korea.-TradeArabia News Service