It is fascinating to travel to one of the most beautiful piers in the worlds in seconds, as if you flashed into place. That’s what you get when you visit Cappuccino in Jeddah. On one occasion I spent three hours taking the whole scene in, since I couldn’t wrap my brain around the idea that I am still in Jeddah. We sat with the franchisee holding company’s CEO Mr. Ahmad Akkawi to explain the magical experience that Cappuccino offers.
WU: Here is a question I have been asking myself since you opened. Cappuccino is a well known Spanish brand that never opened anywhere off of the Spanish shores, what made the brand leap all the way to start its first international expansion in Jeddah?
AA: Actually there is two sides of that story, since a Saudi businessman approached Cappuccino to start their first international expansion. Mr. Mohammed Wali the franchisee is a frequent traveler to Palma de Mallorca and one of Cappuccino regular clients for years, so over the time he fell in love with the concept behind what Cappuccino offers. And since both Mr. Mohammed and Mr. Juan Picornell share an artistic perspective, they instantly clicked when they first met, and the result of this chemistry was franchising the brand of Cappuccino. Now bare in mind that Cappuccino wanted to start an expansion, since they were thinking of expanding to Madrid, and Barcelona, yet they never thought of making such a leap to the other side of the world, to start their first branch out of the island of Palma de Mallorca, that soon.
WU: I thought that they had branches in Spain.
AA: Not really Cappuccino has all its 14 branches in the island of Palma de Mallorca, yet they are in the process of expanding to the Spanish mainland. And now after the great success the brand got by this international expansion, the founder Mr. Picornell was awarded the 2009 Businessman of The Year Award by Ernest & Young, for creating such a successful expansion with this franchise, if you can run a place on the other side of the world, with the same efficiency, you can run it anywhere.
Our team here in Jeddah helped Cappuccino adapt to the region and the culture, to facilitate this expansion. And now Cappuccino has plans for further expansion in the Arab world.
WU: What really makes Cappuccino different than any other lounge or cafe? And should any Cappuccino cafe be on a pier?
AA: Well let me answer the second part first, it isn’t necessary to be located on a pier, Cappuccino has downtown city branches in Palma de Mallorca, now what makes Cappuccino special is the mixture of many elements and components, and to deliver the experience we have to gather all these elements and present them in one basket.
WU: So what are those elements and components?
AA: First the location, the concept, the interior design and décor, the mood, the music, the lighting, the elegance, and the simplicity that people need in their lives.
You have to understand that Cappuccino didn’t come with something new, it simply filled a gap in the market. To satisfy an existing demand. We were the pioneers in bringing luxurious coffee shops that are so simple, yet so elegant and quite well done. Not only does our clients appreciate the quality of food and service, they also highly appreciate the mood we offer them.
WU: Being in this location gives you an advantage, since I have written about this spot being capsulated from Jeddah when I talked about Park Hyatt, making the location one of the best in town, but isn’t it confusing people, making them think you’re part of the nearby hotel?
AA: Many people still think we are associated with Park Hyatt, which in fact we are not, yet we are proud of sharing one space under the roof of the Equestrian Club of Jeddah. We have our own entrance which is open to any of our clients, but what our location really offers is a unique place to boost creativity.
WU: I can imagine that, working on a project here in front of the pier, with all this marvelous relaxed ambiance, I can see myself getting my laptop and working on What’s Up issues.
AA: You are more than welcome to do so, plus you can surf the web on our complimentary high-speed wireless connection.
WU: What about your menu?
AA: Cappuccino’s menu is very well selected and handled by top notch chef’s to guarantee a sophisticated taste. All Cappuccino branches share the exact same menu, we only added three items, since every branch has some special local items to offer so that each branch would get a special character that people can recognize it with.
WU: Was it hard to source the ingredients for your menu?
AA: We focus on quality ingredients, so we tend to import some of our food items, while getting other ingredients from our suppliers here who ensure the quality of standards we offer to our clients.
WU: How would you classify your clients?
AA: To make things clear, we don’t offer anything out of this world, what we offer is well done regular items, it is not the fine dining place, Cappuccino is a maestro, it’s a coffee shop that will offer you some ”well done” food whenever you want to eat well, our food is well presented and well served, with extra good quality. We are not targeting sophisticated, we are targeting all levels ranging from students, businessmen, male, females, basically any one who appreciates simplicity that is done to perfection, we believe that if you want to make something sophisticated it will take a lot of energy, and to make something simple it will even take you more energy.
That said, Cappuccino is the place where the elite can socialize naturally, since whomever appreciate Cappuccino know that he or she belongs here, and will click with the place and the concept of the café. While if someone doesn’t fit, they will feel that they don’t belong to this crowd, and will feel awkward being here, yet this has never happened.
WU: I can see some fine art pieces around the cafe, is this part of the spirit of Cappuccino?
AA: Cappuccino is all about those small touches of art, since designer John Powson who created this branch is a guru of simplicity, this branch as the case with all of our branches is a gathering of artistic pieces laid around with harmony, we don’t add art pieces just because they are expensive, we added them to create harmony from the floor to the lamps, the chairs, the sofa, the paintings, and even the music we are famous for. In the end, it is a big picture that you absorb as one. Cappuccino feels like a flowing river from the first step you take into the place till you leave.
WU: Are you planning other branches to open in Jeddah?
AA: We are planning on opening many branches here in Jeddah, and since we are very picky, we are taking our time to find the perfect locations to spread to. But once we find those locations we will present a different style of Cappuccino to our clients to appreciate. Yet I will leave the details for later.
WU: Are you planning to open in other main cities like Riyadh?
AA: We have plans to expand to other major cities in the Kingdom, but we are not going to make the mistake of expanding blindly, we have a long term investment in the brand,although Riyadh is our serious target for the very near future.
WU: I am wondering, what are your opening hours?
AA: Cappuccino serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so we open from 8am till 2am on weekdays, and till 3am on weekends depending on the demand we get from our clients.
WU: In our previous issue of What’s Up we talked about Cappuccino being “The Place” where celebrities like to come and relax, would you elaborate on that?
AA: Cappuccino is the place where many celebrities flock to from all over the world, and the Jeddah branch is no exception to that, we are getting many Saudi celebrities coming here all the time, since this is where they can come enjoy a sandwich or a cup of coffee with no fuss
WU: My first visit to the cafe was at night, and I felt the coziness and warmth that surrounded me, and now with day light, I can feel another experience?
AA: That is the beauty of our location, since every hour of the day gives you a new experience, and that is also emphasized with our exclusive music selection that we play during our opening hours.
WU: Tell us more about your music?
AA: Our music is a very important part of the whole Cappuccino experience, since we have our own compilation of selected CDs that we play from early morning till late at night, depending on the time of day, many of our clients love our selection and that is why we made all our CD available for sale at all Cappuccino branches, we were surprised to see the demand on purchasing them here in Jeddah that met the same demand we are getting at cappuccino branches in Palma de Mallorca. That shows that our Jeddah’ client’s behavior matches the global taste.
WU: Interesting observation, what other trends have you noticed since opening in Jeddah?
AA: People and Shisha, you surely know that Cappuccino serves Shisha as one of the adaptation into the concept and thus we were able to fabricate a shisha that also matches the elegancy of the place.
WU: What do you mean by fabricated Shisha?
AA: We have modified an existing design to match Cappuccino style, our Shisha is different in its shape, charcoal and in its quality tobacco,
In Cappuccino’s gazette, we try to emphasize on our Saudi lifestyle since we have a very special relationship between two great nations to share our cultures and passion. We are looking for a long lasting experience we can offer, and that is why Cappuccino Jeddah will never compromise five things, the quality of food and beverages, the quality of service, the quality of the outlet itself, quality of employees, and the quality of clients. Compromising any of these things is a clear sign for failure, and we have saw many businesses fail to be true to the spirit of their brand. Cappuccino doesn’t offer anything fancy, nothing out of this world, we are a bistro that offers a relaxed feeling, while maintaining the highest quality ever.
November 3rd, 2010 at 8:34 am
Excellent article. I’ve been searching for information on this topic for a long time and this is the best information I could find. Thank you.
February 9th, 2011 at 6:11 am
Excellent Article, Mr Akkawi really believes in his place, and made us do too. I can’t wait to visit the place in jeddah.