Dubai Italian coffee chain operator Saquella will be defined by its choice of locations. Through a finely brewed marketing and branding strategy the operator is rolling out two concepts for its UAE and Gulf operations through its master franchisee Enoc Retail Systems.
The first, the Saquella Espresso Club, targets customers who want their coffee breaks to have all the trappings of a premium ambience. The first of these has opened in Dubai Festival City.
Then there is the no-frills Saquella Café designed to catch the attention of takeaway customers and just as likely to be found at a corner of a petrol station. And the menu card has a slight discount — of 10 per cent or thereabouts — compared to the Club.
In short, the brand wants to have it both ways when catching the attention of the growing base of customers for gourmet coffee. But, are customers taking notice?
Truly Italian flavour
"There are lots of different coffee chains in the US and Europe, but what we are trying to give is a flavour that is truly Italian," Ilaria Saquella, a member of the family that has owned the business since 1856, said. "The idea of the Club and Café is to offer a new way to live the coffee experience."
UAE and GCC residents will have a lot of locations to take a sip of the Saquella brews. According to Abdullah Al Huraimel, sales and marketing manager at Enoc Retail Systems' franchise and food services department, the plans are to saturate the GCC markets with 100 locations, which will include sub-franchising opportunities. The sign-up fees are Dh60,000 for the Café and Dh75,000 for the Club.
The Café concept itself has three variants — the standard coffee shop, the corner and the island. In terms of locations, they would lend themselves to being in petrol stations as well as the high street or residential neighbourhoods.
"Enoc has come up with a clear expansion strategy that will be backed by an advertising and marketing push," Saquella said.
As for the Club experience, more likely than not, the Saquella outlets will be found in the leading malls… but not in the food courts, she hastens to add. "We are not used to being in the food courts; where we are likely to be is in the fashion cluster at a mall alongside the boutiques operated by Italian designer brands," Saquella said.
Since 2007, the brand has been taking wings. It's there in China, Germany and, recently, Australia, as well as in the more exotic locales of Panama and Costa Rica.
"The espresso is Italian and it's the authentic Italian experience we serve up," Saquella added.
Dubai Global prices of raw coffee, which had been boiling for the better part of the 12 months to last September, have started to simmer in recent weeks. Even then, the current levels are still a long way from the pre-spike prices, which means the coffee experience will continue to be a dear one for drinkers and producers alike.
"While there's a little drop in the raw prices, the final cost for us is not just based on stocks that change hands in the market but the spread we pay on them," Ilaria Saquella said. "That spread has gone up in the last month.
"Also, being an Italian producer, the exchange rates for the euro and the dollar are very important." Coffee prices started showing extreme volatility in July 2010 and touched a peak last September.
Since October there has been an easing from the peaks.
According to Saquella, the volatility had nothing to do with crop shortfalls in the producing markets, but all to do with speculative activity.
"Unfortunately, it led to a situation where it was impossible for the producer to gauge how the market was going," she added.
"Thankfully, the recent drop in coffee prices has been 10 per cent from the peak in September 2011. Now, it is close to the January 2011 levels. We remain optimistic these prices will remain stable."
