Why Australia’s Coffee Club added to the UAE cafe culture

Australian coffee in the UAE? The general manger of the newly launched The Coffee Club reveals how its offering from Down Under fills a gap in the market left by the big global chains.

Michael Chick, the general manager of The Coffee Club in Yas Mall. Silvia Razgova / The National

The UAE has no shortage of coffee shops – from Starbucks to Costa, Nero and illy, many international brands are available here. And a little less than a month ago they were joined by one more, The Coffee Club. The chain was launched in 1989 in Brisbane, Australia, by two friends looking for somewhere to go for a coffee late at night. Today it has more than 300 outlets in Australia and many more in international markets including New Zealand, southern China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Maldives and Egypt. Michael Chick, general manager for The Coffee Club, explains why the brand – which recently opened its first outlet in Abu Dhabi's Yas Mall – added the UAE to the list of its international locations.

Why Australian coffee in the UAE?

Actually we wanted to come to the UAE about five years ago and it was just a matter of trying to find the right partner at the time. We always thought this was an excellent market for coffee. Our concept is a cafe, so it is food and coffee together. People love to go out and eat and people love to drink coffee.

But people here also love brands, and most people living here probably haven’t heard of The Coffee Club.

I think initially you have to give them some sort of reason or some sort of incentive to try. The important part of this business is that you have to deliver in terms of quality.

What reasons have you given people to try?

We have aligned ourselves with a company called Snap, which is an online loyalty programme. That will give customers the opportunity to earn points electronically and then redeem for free products. I think in general what we wanted to do was give consumers the opportunity to have coffee or have a meal or have both under one roof and give them a relaxed sort of ambience that they can come to.

What is different about The Coffee Club from Starbucks, Costa and all the other global chains that operate here?

The key difference is that we have a kitchen and we prepare meals freshly, so we are more of a European-style cafe style concept. We do breakfast, lunch and dinner and everything is made to order in the kitchen.

There is a big coffee culture here but every mall has several chains. Are you not worried that it’s saturated now?

I think they fill a niche in the market, those chains. But I don’t think the market is oversaturated. It’s about having a high-quality product and then let the consumer choose where they want to go.

So what is the plan in the UAE? How many outlets are you going to open and where are they?

Our plan is to have 45 outlets within the next five years and we are also looking at the wider GCC in the same period of time with 45 outlets outside of the UAE as well.

How many are you opening with?

We have just opened our first outlet at Yas Mall. But we will have 12 outlets open by the end of this year.

How has the branch at Yas Mall been doing?

Very, very well. There has been a good mix of expats and Emiratis as well. We are very pleased so far and the feedback from customers has been very positive.

Where will the rest of your coffee shops be located?

All the emirates. We have seven locations already for Abu Dhabi and Dubai but we are looking in Al Ain and Fujairah and those places as well. Wherever there is enough population and a desire for our style of product.

You say you make your own food. Is the menu the same here as it is in Australia? Is it something Australians would recognise?

Yes I think there are similarities between the menus. The core menu is pretty much the same as what it would be in Australia. There is some localisation in all of the markets we have gone to. For example in Thailand we have Thai food on the menu as well. Here we have introduced flavours that are recognisable to the region without taking it to be completely Arabic style. There is enough there that I think Australians would recognise the menu but it is contemporary.