Appetite for coffee heightens in Saudi Arabia with an ever growing investment in restaurants and coffee shops. Local investors and businessmen estimate that around SR11 billion have been poured into the sector in the Kingdom, considered as the biggest market in the Middle East with an annual growth rate of around 18 percent. They also stressed that the volume of the fast food market has reached up to more than SR3 billion, of which around 100 million fast food meals are being consumed every year. The facts and figures were disclosed during the launch of the first “Nestlé Toll House” located on Tahliyah Street earlier this month. Saudi businessman Eimad Al Aboud and the owner of the international Nestlé franchise in Saudi Arabia, said that food and beverage sector in addition to restaurants and coffee shops, are capable of providing around more than one million jobs for Saudis in the next 10 years. He noted that his company is planning to expand its business by opening more than 50 branches of Nestlé Toll Houses around the Kingdom with estimated investments of about SR150 million. “We should be aware that the Saudi cafe market is witnessing an upswing where several international companies and franchises have entered the market which consequently helped in stirring up the degree of competition in such an industry,” he added. Shawnon Bellah, the vice president, domestic and international operations at Nestlé Toll House, who was invited for the opening of the Nestle Toll House, said that Nestle has tapped the Saudi market because it sees a great competition on the local and international levels. She said that any visitor to big cities in the Kingdom could notice that there are many international names that exist in the café and restaurant sector. “The international franchises have played a big role in the region in changing the entire concept of coffee shops and restaurant as many of them provide a comfy and luxurious ambience at five stars level of services. Thus many families prefer to spend their lunch or dinner times especially during weekends at these places,” Bellah said. “According to a recent study I read, Jeddah City is marked as the top city embracing the most popular restaurants and cafés in the Kingdom, followed by Riyadh and after that A-Khobar on the Eastern coast. The study also assumes that this sector is probably owned and run by Saudi youth who make this market grow briskly and competitively. The café and restaurant market has recorded a growth of around 30 percent in the last three years,” Bellah noted. __
