Saudi Arabia's PIF Establishes Coffee Company in Jazan

Saudi's Sovereign Wealth Fund PIF Establishes a Coffee Company in Jazan shortly after the Visit of the Co-founder of Starbucks in the Region

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund (PIF), one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world in total assets, established the Saudi Coffee Company in Jazan with the objective to grow the Kingdom's coffee production. PIF plans to invest SAR 1.2 billion (USD 320 million) over the next 10 years to develop the coffee industry in the Kingdom and boost the production of coffee beans to 2,500 tons annually, from around 1,800 tons currently. The production of coffee in the Kingdom is mainly located in the southwestern provinces of Jazan, Al-Baha and Asir with more than 2,500 farms including 398,000 coffee trees.

According to the CEO of Saudi Coffee Company, Raja Al-Harbi "the goal of the company is to highlight the Kingdom as the main home of Khawlani coffee, which is considered the most famous in the world, and is grown in the Jazan region, by strengthening the local techniques used in the production of local coffee, and providing the necessary training for local farmers." Traditional Arabic coffee and Arabica is made from Khawlani coffee beans, and has flavor notes of dried fruit, raisins, dates, spicy notes, cardamom, cinnamon, and dark chocolate according to Almohanad Al-Marwai, co-founder and CEO of Arabian Coffee Institute in an interview with Arab News.

This announcement follows a viral video on March 27 by social media influencer Ibrahim Al-Asiri on Twitter showing Zev Siegl, one of the three co-founders of Starbucks, praising the Khawlani coffee beans in Jazan while touring the region, dressed up in Jazan traditional attire. Zev quoted "Saudi Khawlani coffee is going to be one of the wonderful exports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

Earlier this year, Saudi Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan announced that 2022 would be the "Year of Saudi Coffee". The goals of this initiative are to celebrate coffee as a cultural product of Saudi Arabia and to showcase the Kingdom\u2019s Khawlani coffee beans.