Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/694455
STiR tea & coffee industry international 17 NEWS STiR: There is a largely untapped domestic coffee market in Africa where per capita consumption is less than 1kg in most of countries. This is expected to double given Africa's young and growing middle class. There appears to be a lot of potential in big markets like Nigeria, South Africa, and Ethiopia where coffee consumption is 2.2 kg per person. This raises the possibility of a virtuous cycle where Dubai cleans and processes Africa's green coffee for export; then roasts some of this coffee for domestic markets where the UAE enjoys many treaty benefits lowering trade barriers. Bin Sulayem: The challenge in coffee, ultimately, is that it's a relatively inexpen- sive commodity. There's a lot of difference in margins between that and diamonds. And even between coffee and tea — but margins are just one part of the equation here. When I look at coffee, I believe we were going to learn, as we progress with this, that it might end up where we just focus on speciality coffee. It will for instance be beneficial to host a forum or conference where people discuss what they want to see from Dubai. We'll be talking to people like yourself to see what their forecasts are, and what they've experienced the past few years. There are clearly advantages to Dubai and if tea can succeed I wouldn't say it's any harder than coffee — there are complications I'm sure but we won't know until we start exploring it. And I feel the time has come where we have to give it it's justified focus and attention. Market participants in Ethiopia were certainly receptive when we discussed it. They offered a lot of recommendations and suggestions. I feel that DMCC has gained enough confidence and trust from the market that people are confident this will progress into some- thing more than where we are today in the coffee business. I do see similarities with tea from certifying to redistribution, re-packaging, and all that. The Middle East region; and the GCC regions have enormous potential according to industry experts as in their view Europe and the US have reached the maximum maturity that they can. It's a great opportunity to have the coffee industry set its foot firmly down in Dubai. So, I'm excited about the prospect of that.