Why Dubai is the new global hub for tea and coffee
UAE is one of the largest re-exporter of tea in the world with a 60 per cent share
The DMCC Coffee Centre’s Premier Training Campus is certified by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and offers professional courses in grading, green and sensory analysis, baristas and brewing and roasting techniques. Nearly 1,000 baristas have benefited from it.
The unmistakable aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans wafts through the air as you step inside the sprawling coffee centre at the heart of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) in Jebel Ali.
The massive facility not just offers a raft of customised services for the storage, roasting, packaging and delivery of coffee, it also conducts certified barista training courses to help coffee enthusiasts master the art of making the perfect cuppa.
For decades, working in the coffee industry has been viewed as an in-between job on the way to another more lucrative career. But of late, things have changed. Today, coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages globally. Between 2018 and 2019, a staggering 165.35 million coffee bags, each weighing 60kg were consumed worldwide, up from 158 million bags in the previous year. Coffee and tea tasters are some of the most highly paid jobs in the world.
Sure enough, in just a little over one year since its launch, the Dubai Coffee Centre has emerged as a one-stop shop for international coffee giants and aspiring baristas alike.
Buoyed by the overwhelming response, and the recent visit of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, the DMCC Coffee Centre has now decided to raise its game.
Earlier this month, DMCC’s executive chairman and chief executive officer Ahmed Bin Sulayem announced plans to increase capacity threefold, with an eventual goal of processing 20,000 tonnes of green coffee worth over Dh360 million.
“It’s one thing to go after the target, it’s another to go where the target will be in the coming years,” said Bin Sulayem, who has been spearheading one of the world’s biggest free zones for the past 19 years, managing 17,000 businesses across various sectors including precious metals.
New Global Hub
“We want to boost international trade through Dubai, support the UAE’s growing speciality coffee scene and transform the city into a new global hub for coffee trade and tea trade.”
A coffee aficionado himself, Bin Sulayem has an unusual penchant for turning conventional wisdom on its head by venturing into uncharted territories.
Not many gave him a chance when he forayed into diamonds. But he proved the naysayers wrong. Today, DMCC’s Almas Tower office houses the world’s largest diamond trading floor.
Similarly, there was a great deal of scepticism when he launched the DMCC Tea Centre 15 years back. What’s the point of having a tea centre in a city which doesn’t grow even a single blade of tea leaf, many wondered.
Cut to 2020. The DMCC is the largest site for re-exporting tea globally with an enviable market share of 60 per cent with annual exports of about 48,000 tonnes.
Teas from 13 different tea-producing countries are processed at the purpose-built facility and scores of companies including some of the world’s biggest tea producers and brands use it as a base for their operations.