Cooks Global Foods has signed a master franchisee agreement in Oman and Qatar which will mean at least 16 new Esquires Coffee Houses opening.
Esquire is a subsidiary of the alternatively listed Cooks, and it says the new deal means it has commitments for more than 80 coffee stores in the Middle East.
Cooks chairman Keith Jackson says the first outlets in Oman and Qatar are expected to open within the next six months, while a further 10 stores are planned across the whole region this year.
He says the existing 16 stores will go to a total of 80 stores within a five year period in the Gulf co-operation states.
Mr Jackson says the market is booming in terms of coffee with growth averaging 8 percent per annum in a retail environment that has only been growing at zero to 1 percent.
