Cravia: over 25 Million served, Billions more to go

What a decade it has been for the people at Cravia – the parent company of the much loved franchises Cinnabon, Seattle’s Best Coffee and Zaatar W Zeit (ZWZ). Born out of a desire to satisfy cravings, the company has grown from its humble beginnings in 2001 to become synonymous with good taste and world class hospitality.

From a decade of achievement to a future of progress and expansion, the company has grown in more ways than one - from one Cinnabon outlet in Abu Dhabi, Cravia now owns and operates 23 Cinnabon,15 Seattle’s Best Coffee and 9 Zaatar W Zeit (ZWZ)outlets. Getting down to the astounding statistics, Cravia has serviced over 25 million customers with a smile in just a decade. The company looks to triple and even quadruple those figures in the next few years with more franchises and outlets in the pipeline as part of Cravia’s strategic expansion plans.

Walid Hajj, CEO of Cravia, commented, “Our focus on the future is four fold: organic with our existing brands, geographical into new regional markets, horizontal with new franchises and grass root with our new brand concepts that draw upon years of experience and know-how.”

Cravia, itself, has been internationally recognised over the yearsfor remarkable sales growth and development, compassion for the community, performance and excellent consumer service. More recently, Cravia has recorded excellent first two quarter figures for 2011, which are only a prelude to what will be achieved in the coming year and beyond.

The company also recognises the voice of its consumers, running leading fan pages on social media networks that allow patrons to share valuable feedback and contribute to the company’s on-going efforts to improve and expand.

Hajj continued, “Customers continue to show their love and appreciation for Cravia and its brands, because they realise that to us they are more than just customers, they are our guests. As such, we always treat them to exceptional service with a smile and are ready to hear about ways we can get better. I believe that this has been the key to our success over the years, and that is a fundamental element that will always be a piece of Cravia’shistory.”

Consumers are not the only fans, employees continue to inject passion in all of their endeavours spurred by their inherent love for the company and all that it stands for. In order to celebrate the support of the employees who have helped make everything possible, Cravia holds annual events - bringing together all employees to recognise notable achievements.  All of these come as a token for their hard work and as a reminder to keep working towards another successful decade.

Along with enterprises within the company, Cravia’s CSR initiatives are not miniscule in the least, as they are always ready and approachable with ideas where the names, products and services of their beloved franchises can be used to benefit the community at large.

“We believe it is our responsibility to contribute to causes that perpetuate the idea of helping a neighbour. Just like our franchises are joined by one, so is the community joined by humanity; in order to have a healthy unit you need healthy individuals. CSR is something that will continue to matureand intensify at Cravia, as more resources allow us to do more good for the public,” added Hajj.

As Cravia continues to grow and excel, so willits successful franchises. Cinnabon and Seattle’s Best Coffee have opened four new outlets this year alone, with plans for further expansion in the coming year.  Zaatar w Zeit (ZWZ) is set to increase its accessibility to diners with a conveniently located venue planned to open in Dubai Marina, while also becomingone of the first casual dining restaurant in Dubai to allow customers to place their orders onlineand the first to have new mobile applications. Plans are underway for new additions to the list of franchises, in a way that would leverage Cravia’s existing infrastructure, experience, resources, and relationships.

Cravia is also working on entering nearby regional markets through its existing portfolio of brands along with totally new concepts. The physical proximity of countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others makes it easier for Cravia to apply its learnings across borders.

“As we continue to move ahead, looking back has been a pleasure as it is astounding what we have achieved in so little time. Now it’s time to look forward, and make even more of our future than anything we were able to achieve in our past.”