The Real Thing
“The cost of investment was high,” asserts Camille Aoun, director business development Al Jassim Group. “Everything from the lights to the parquet to the sofa, bar and machinery has been made-to-order, to specification and to the exact dimensions,” he says.
While in part the reason for this was to make the brand “match the profile” of the Dubai Mall, a bigger reason was the education for the city on what true Italian coffee is. Damian Burgess, master trainer adds that to those who know their coffees, sticking an Italian label on the tin is just not good enough.
“Even though coffee has a long history, Italians are the ones that started with the word espresso over 110 years ago. When it came to Europe, it came through the ports of Italy and all the ideas and cultures came from Italy where they import in and specialise in roasting and creating blends.
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The Italians have a wonderful, wonderful idea of taste. They’re the ones who realised coffee from Ethiopia, combined with some from Brazil and sweeteners from St. Flamingo work well together and that’s more than an Italian label. It’s experience.”
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