Journey to Coffee Planet

TRADITIONAL consumption patterns show that coffee, whether brewed or instant, is one of the top beverages amongst a broad demographic in the Middle East. Since the 1990s, demand has been on the rise as a result of Western coffee retailers entering the market, offering endless new and trendy flavours and a cosy coffee shop ambiance to match. The United Arab Emirates has the most number of cafés, one of which is Coffee Planet. Despite the presence of older and more established coffee chains in the area, Coffee Planet has not seen a slow day.

The philosophy at Coffee Planet is quite simple – Bringing the best people together, the best quality coffee beans and the most sophisticated machines results in the fastest and freshest coffee available in UAE, says managing director Robert Jones. Coffee Planet is working to create a number of coffee solutions for its customer, ensuring they get their cup of coffee just the way they deserve it: hot, steaming, fresh and tasty.

As the head of the company, Mr Jones is responsible for providing the strategic platform and direction of Coffee Planet, as well as in ensuring the development of the brand. In a recent interview with Food Manufacturing Journal - Middle East and Africa, he shares his company’s aspirations, strategies and vision going forward.

What was the under lying concept behind introducing another coffee solution like Coffee Planet?

We created Coffee Planet back in 2005 initially to provide a great quality gourmet coffee on the go! We coupled the best 100% Arabica beans and one of the world’s best fully automatic machines to produce an excellent cup of coffee within 30 seconds.

Since then we have expanded into supplying coffee to hotels, restaurants and catering companies as well as airlines and supermarkets together with creating our own branded coffee outlets (cafés, kiosks and carts) which are stationed in the UAE and five other countries. It’s been a busy few years!

Can you give us an idea of how much coffee beansNew Balance