Jump to the Arabian Peninsula for Coffee Berry

By Giorgos Lampiris

The Coffee Berry chain of coffee shops enters Saudi Arabia, which in this way takes another step in entering a foreign market, after Cyprus where it maintains an extensive presence and Egypt where it has already developed a network of stores.

According to sources close to the company, the expansion to the Arabian Peninsula will be implemented in agreement with a local partner, who is going to develop the network of the Greek chain of interests using the master franchise method. This move follows the agreement signed by the two sides, which is valid for twelve years. The plan resulting from the cooperation of the two sides concerns the construction and operation of a total of 22 stores in this country. The first four stores will operate during the first year of implementation of the agreement, while gradually the remaining 18 stores will be created up to the fifth year of the cooperation.

The plan is to enter other Arab countries in the coming years

According to the same information, in fact, Coffee Berry is planning to enter other Arab countries, as this particular geographical area is a field of interest for the expansion of the company in the coming years. In this context, relevant discussions with interested parties are already underway, so that after Saudi Arabia, further actions will be taken to develop the chain’s network in other countries as well.

The estimated turnover of 2022 is 20 million euros

It should be noted that Coffee Berry has been moving upwards in recent years in terms of financial results. In 2021 its turnover was 14.2 million euros, with the projected turnover for 2022 reaching the level of 20 million euros. At the moment, the chain’s network of stores has around 205 stores in Greece, Cyprus and Egypt.

The company that started its business in coffee with a focus on processing, moved almost six years ago to enter retail. The coffee market in Greece is currently proving to be one of the most competitive, which is reflected at the same time in the price of the drink where the average price for a freddo espresso in take away even with the imposition of the environmental fee for the glass and lid and despite the increases that have been passed on to the market due to inflation, it does not exceed 2 euros.

The constantly growing take away coffee market in Greece

NielsenIQ data on the take away coffee market show that in recent years it has been a growing market, which was even more strongly favored during the pandemic. It is characteristic that while in 2016, the on the go stores had a share of the total coffee sales in the catering sector, at the levels of 41.3%, this percentage in the months of March and April 2021 had now reached 77.7%. At the same time, while in 2016 50.9% of coffee consumption was found in coffee bars and 7.8% in coffee shops, now reaching April 2021, the corresponding percentages were 21.3% in coffee bars and only 1 % in coffee shops, based on the same data.