ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – The coffee market in the United Arab Emirates is expected to grow by more than 30 per cent in the next four years as the country’s trading hub emerges as a key supply cog in the global coffee supply chain. With more than 4,000 tea and coffee houses now operating in the country and 82 per cent of the population saying they consume coffee each day, according to Zagat, the F&B online resource, the UAE is increasingly seen as both a growing consumer and re-export market.
Euromonitor International says the country sits at the centre of a region that now accounts for 8 per cent, or $6.5 billion, of the $85 billion global consumer spend on coffee – and that this could increase by up to a third by 2030.
Trixie LohMirmand, Senior VP, Exhibitions and Events Management, Dubai World Trade Centre, which hosts Gulfood next month, said: “Coffee is more than just a drink in the Middle East, it is an inherent part of the culture… Add to this the region’s rising population and the UAE’s anticipated hospitality boom in the run-up to Expo 2020 Dubai and the growth landscape is obvious.”
