The land of the Pyramids becomes a speciality coffee haven

14th May 2008

Many of us have a vision of Egypt as an historical nation, complete with the Pyramids, the Nile, the desert, and a lot of tea drinkers. But if you are in coffee, think again.

In the not too distant future, 100 million people will be living in Egypt, most of them youngsters, with new habits and new preferences. Among Cairo’s 20 million alone, there are some 1,500 to 2,000 modern coffee bars—in addition to all the ancient ones. The estimated coffee imports into Egypt were 200,000 tonnes last year, not counting soluble. Out of that, 85% is processed into traditional Egyptian coffee, using the method inspired by Turkey (or was it the other way round?). Filter coffee comes next with 10%, and the remaining 5% is espresso.

Right: Serving traditional coffee 

Coffee University

Brewing traditional coffee

Modern shopping mall coffee shop

The total market is increasing, and the best evidence of that is a lot of international coffee bar chains entering the market. If their ambitions are added up, new bars will be opening at a rate of 15 to 20 per month. There are good reasons to believe that these ambitious plans will be met. In Cairo’s largest shopping mall alone, there are between 25 and 30 bars: international chains, Italian cafes also serving single origin espressos, Lebanese coffee bars, national clones of the multinationals, and even some really innovative Egyptian coffee houses—all walks of coffee life are there. In these coffee bars, the major part of the turnover—about 80%— is made up of lattes and cappuccinos. 10% is filter (or diluted espresso served as filter), with the rest shared between local traditional coffees and espresso.

Main street coffee roaster in Hurghada and below, inside the roastery

Shop roaster in Hurghada

This is central Cairo, but coffee is also branching out into the suburbs, and to other cities like Alexandria and Hurghada. It is encouraging to see that the large hotels, or at least most of them, are taking coffee seriously. They have become quality coffee front-runners, and they use quality and variety in coffee as a sales argument, and as proof of being modern, international and quality-orientated. That sure is different from other countries!—Alf Kramer (photos by the author)

Below: Traditional brewing with sugar and spices