COFE App, a leading online coffee platform, has signed an agreement to officiate its partnership with the Saudi Coffee Company on Tuesday, according to a recent press release.
COFE App, founded in Kuwait in 2018, will be the top online partner for SCC, enabling them to extend their market reach as well as drive Saudi Arabia’s coffee industry into the digital world to facilitate an easy and convenient relation between local producers and end users.
“It is a pleasure to be partnering with COFE App. Their passion for the cumulative growth of the coffee industry is very evident, and we are happy to say that they share both our vision and values,” stated Mohammed Zainy, marketing director of Saudi Coffee Company.
The arrangement also intends to boost the Kingdom’s e-commerce sector through making local coffee beans available to the public via COFE’s mobile app.
Ali Al Ebrahim, COFE App founder and CEO, noted: “We hope that this partnership will help in giving Saudi coffee the visibility and reach that it truly deserves. Through our work in Saudi, we hope to take this integral part of our culture and tradition to the world.”
He added: “It is truly the beginning of something great.”
The public’s opinion complements the owner’s optimism, as the platform was listed as one of the top 10 most downloaded food delivery and restaurant apps in the Kingdom in 2021, according to a survey by the Communication & Information Technology Commission of Saudi Arabia.
On the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh on Oct 25, SCC’s CEO Raja AlHarbi told Arab News that SCC, solely owned by the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, currently produces 300 tons of coffee a year, but is aiming to hit 2,500 tons.
AlHarbi said the company also has plans to open 25 coffee shops globally as he revealed details of a strategic plan comprising five pillars to elevate the coffee production industry in Saudi Arabia.
“PIF is targeting to help in the diversification of the Saudi economy. Agriculture and coffee play a major role in this diversification. Coffee is the second biggest product globally after oil. So, imagine one day Saudi Arabia is the major oil producer, and one of the major coffee producers,” he added.
He also noted that the development of the coffee industry in the Kingdom will help create jobs, and open businesses; both small and medium.
The company aims to invest more than $319 million in the Kingdom’s coffee sector over the next ten years, raising the annual output from 300 tons today to over 2,500 tons by 2030.
The domestic coffee market in Saudi Arabia was valued at $1.96 billion in 2021 and is estimated to increase to $2.78 billion by 2025.
