Multinational coffeehouse chain Starbucks has opened its 400th store in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The latest milestone was announced by the Alshaya Group in a Facebook Post.
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The new store is in Jeddah’s shopping and entertainment centre, Jeddah Park.
Zawya reported that this is also the first Reserve store opened by Starbucks in Jeddah.
It has now joined the limited number of Reserve stores in Saudi Arabia, including the store on Riyadh Boulevard.
Reserve stores are known for offering “bespoke coffee craft experience” to customers. Such stores allow baristas to display their coffee craft and brewing expertise and techniques.
The report informed that the Jeddah Park Reserve store will exclusively serve Starbucks’ newest beverage, the ‘Oleato’.
A combination of Partanna extra virgin olive oil and arabica coffee, Oleato was launched in May this year in Saudi Arabia, Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Kuwait.
Starbucks debuted its first store in Saudi Arabia in 2000. Since then, it has been investing “heavily” in new stores.
According to Zawya‘s report, this investment aligns with the country’s Saudi Vision 2030 mission and contributes to the country’s broader “nationalisation” agenda.
Alshaya Group Starbucks president Andy Holmes said: “We are proud to mark the opening of 400 Starbucks stores in the Kingdom, which would not have been possible without the hard work of our partners (employees) and the support of the local communities we proudly serve.
“Reaching this milestone is a testament to our unmatched coffee expertise, commitment to bringing bold new beverage innovations to Arab coffee lovers and evolving our dynamic store concepts to meet our customers’ needs where they are.
“We have big ambitions to continue our accelerated growth in the Middle East and this will be driven primarily through our ongoing investment in the recruitment, development and empowerment of young national talent.”
