MAKKAH: Saudi coffee is set to go global after a delegation from Starbucks visited the Jazan region in the Kingdom’s southwest.
Coffee is one of the region’s most important factors in its economic growth and is an important source of income for the people in the mountainous region.
Jazan territories are the home of Khawlani coffee cultivation and establishing a global partnership is seen as crucial in the expansion of the local product.
Director-General of the Jazan Mountains Development Authority, Dafer Ayed Al-Fahad, received the delegation from Starbucks, headed by Vice President Marco Paolucci, to discuss potential areas of collaboration.
The discussion looked at the feasibility of investing in and introducing high-quality Saudi coffee beans into “Starbucks Reserve” coffee shops worldwide.
The visit included representatives from the Saudi Public Investment Fund, Ministry of Investment, the Saudi Coffee Company and Alshaya Group.
The authority is the only governmental source of coffee seedlings in the Kingdom, and Al-Fahad spoke about the achievements and efforts made by the organization to promote and provide services to all coffee farmers.
He told Arab News that the delegation toured the authority’s facilities, including its coffee nurseries and experimental fields, and the sites where it is establishing a state-of-the-art Saudi Coffee Center and an automated facility to increase capacity to over 1 million seedlings per year in partnership with Saudi Aramco.
He said the authority is in discussions with the Ministry of Culture to establish the Saudi Coffee Museum as well as a dedicated academy to train farmers and entrepreneurs in partnership with SCC.
The authority has already proposed Saudi Arabia’s application to the World Coffee Organization, which would ensure the promotion of the industry in line with the objectives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030.
During the last International Coffee Day on Oct. 1, it participated in an exhibition and presented a paper at the opening ceremony of the Saudi Coffee Sustainability Forum in Jazan.
Al-Fahad said: “It’s worth noting that the authority has always been a strategic partner and active participant in all coffee festivals and workshops in the Kingdom.”
