Gloria Jean’s Coffees taps into Chinese superpower

Australian owned global specialty coffee brand, Gloria Jean’s Coffees International has announced its first expansion into the China market with the appointment of Master Franchise Partner, Dash Brands Limited.

A leading food retail company, Dash Brands Limited is already well known for its role in bringing international sandwich chain Subway® to the Shanghai region.

Under the agreement Dash Brands will open stores across a large and prosperous area of China defined by Gloria Jean’s Coffees as the North and East regions of the country which include the municipalities of Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin and the provinces of Anhui, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jinin, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong and Zhejiang.

The coffee shop franchise company will focus its initial efforts in Shanghai and the broader Pearl River Delta before developing the coffee brand’s presence in the country’s capital. The first store is expected to open in Shanghai by mid-2009 with the first Beijing coffee house operational before Chinese New Year in 2010.

Dash Brands Limited plans to open 600 cafe franchise stores across the territory covered under the Master Franchise Agreement within the next 15 years with approximately 30 of those outlets expected to be in operation by the end of 2010.

Executive Chairman of Gloria Jean’s Coffees, Nabi Saleh said the China announcement was a significant company milestone.

“China represents a truly enormous opportunity for the Gloria Jean’s Coffees brand as one of the fastest developing economies in the world,” Mr Saleh said.

“We believe key to our success in this market is finding the right partner to take on the Master Franchise Agreement, which is why we have invested significant time and resources in our selection process.

“Dash Brands is an organisation that not only has significant experience in opening and operating an international franchise in this market but has also shown the serious long term commitment and shared vision, mission and values that we are looking for in a partner.

Gloria Jean’s Coffees International’s efforts to recruit master franchise partners for the Greater China Region are ongoing and it has plans to identify qualified and experienced partners for provinces across the South and South-West region of China and in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

“China is becoming an increasingly sophisticated market for international brands and new Western cultural influences. We believe Gloria Jean’s Coffees’ introduction of a superior specialty coffee experience will be warmly welcomed in this market,” Mr Saleh said.

“We are confident that our successful expansion into Shanghai and Beijing will allow us to attract additional partners in the South aswell as in Hong Kong and Taiwan.”

The China deal comes less than 15 months after signing on India, bringing two of the world’s economic powerhouses into the company’s international presence of 36 Master Franchise Agreements in 35 countries and 915 stores worldwide.