Robert Jones, managing director of Coffee Planet speaks to Hotel News Middle East about his company’s latest offerings across the region
When was your company established and how many years have you been active in the region? Coffee Planet has been supplying customers in foodservice, retail and business across the Middle East and beyond since 2005 and is now one of the largest speciality coffee vendors in the region.
What’s the company’s vision and values? The Coffee Planet mission is to provide customers with the finest global Arabica coffee, roasted and delivered perfectly every time. We only roast specialty-grade, 100% Arabica coffee beans and our uncompromising quality has always been a key attribute. As the UAE’s leading roaster, our vision is to cater to an increasing number of consumers with our 360-degree approach to coffee solutions for the foodservice industry.
What are your core products/services for the hospitality sector? We offer a full suite of products and services to ensure customers receive everything they need from crop-to-cup. In addition to all coffee and related consumables we also provide full support and training, machine delivery and installations and 24-7 technical support. At Coffee Planet, the comprehensive nature of our offering means we can cater to a wide range of customers within the foodservice industry including five-star hotels, offices, restaurants, catering companies, airlines and many more.
What new products or innovations have you launched in 2018? We are continuously exploring new options to remain responsive and adaptable to trends in the market and changes in the demands of consumers. Currently, we are getting ready to launch our new Reserve range into the foodservice sector, which will include nitro coffee, cold brew coffee and Nespresso-compatible capsules expertly blended from a selection of our finest 100% Arabica single origin coffees. Another area in which we always strive to remain innovative is with our machinery. Recently, we have had several high-profile customers opting for our line of automatic Franke machines which represent the ultimate performance heavyweight for individual beverage creations. These machines provide an unparalleled capacity, guaranteeing exceptional quality at high volumes. We currently have four different varieties in our range; the A200, A400, A600 and A800.
What’s your best-seller? Two of our most requested coffees within the foodservice category come from our Professional Series range of 100% Arabica specialty whole bean and ground coffee. The Professional Series Roast no.70 is a popular full-bodied blend with a natural sweetness and notes of dark chocolate and walnut. The Professional Series Organic 50 is also a favourite and features a blend of UTZ-certified coffee from Peru. The Coffee Planet Professional Series offers a diverse portfolio designed to cater to a wide variety of taste profiles so there will always be something that appeals to the most discerning palates. Some of our other best-sellers include our high-quality single origin and micro-lot coffees. We relaunched our Origin range in 2017 with 11 new varieties from 11 different farms across the bean belt.
What makes your company stand out on the market? One of our biggest strengths has always been in our position as a local coffee solutions provider, meaning we are on the doorsteps of our clients and consumers. Our Dubai-based roastery has recently undergone an expansion and we now have 26,000 square feet of space dedicated to roasting and packaging, which supports our promise of freshly roasted coffee every time. With a weekly output of well over 20,000 kilos of coffee we can also guarantee a consistent supply, delivered quickly and at a competitive price.
