Startup of the Week: Qcoffee: A treat for coffee lovers

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the Middle East, and many in Saudi Arabia have been turning their love for the drink into profitable businesses.
Cafes are a favorite haunt of youths in the Kingdom, and due to their huge popularity, international coffee brands have made their products available in sachet form for people on the go.
Based on the same idea, startup Qcoffee — founded in 2017 in Alkhobar — introduced its distinct Saudi coffee in sachets so that customers could enjoy coffee whenever and wherever they chose.
Ahmed Habib Al-Abbad, a founding partner at Qcoffee, said he and his four brothers — all coffee lovers — came up with the idea.
“My brother Zaki is a coffee taster; he studied and designed the product. We worked hard to gain a foothold in the market of specialized distilled coffee,” he said.
Qcoffee offers a creative solution that allows consumers to make distilled coffee anytime and anywhere using a lightweight readymade sachet — a convenient choice for those who want to store it in their office or carry it in a travel bag to enjoy later.
“Most of our customers love specialized coffee. Our product is made from the finest coffee beans and according to international standards. We also pay great attention to packaging, allowing our consumers to prepare coffee more quickly and easily,” Al-Abbad said.
“We are always looking for the finest crops of coffee with our partners in Saudi Arabia. We also ensure that the testing and evaluation of our product meets international standards. We aspire to have our own roastery in the future,” he added.
Al-Abbad noted that coffee, whether instant or gourmet, has become a profitable business in the Kingdom and across the world.
“It is in a growth stage, as evidenced by the increasing number of cafes. This will contribute to the creation of full-time and part-time jobs,” Al-Abbad said.
“Our project is growing rapidly. We began with e-marketing, and then we relied on partners at sale points. We are working on opening a store in Alkhobar city,” he told Arab News.
Initially, Al-Abbad and his brothers wanted to establish a foothold in the Saudi market, which itself is significant. Gradually, they began expanding their operations into the wider Gulf region.
“We have received a lot of orders from Gulf countries. We directly ship these orders to clients and sometimes coordinate with them to deliver their orders when they visit the Kingdom to perform Umrah,” he said.