Filli Cafe Case Journal

For Abdul Rafih, the founder and owner of Filli cafe in the United Arab Emirates, the

massive success of his company left him with one question–how would he expand his brand to

go global? The challenge he had to consider was how to adapt his company to a fast-changing

marketplace. Rafih first got his start in 2004 when he took over his father’s cafeteria business as

the manager. He observed customer behavior and noticed that the tea products were a popular

item. Rafih decided to focus on this and started to sell a unique tea with a different taste and

look. He priced it higher because his tea was marketed as distinct and special and soon

incorporated saffron into the blend. Saffron was a popular spice in the Middle East and the

tea–known as Zaffron Tea–became an instant hit among customers. Four years later Rafih

opened up a second location of his business in an upper-class location, and by 2018 the company

had 30 outlets across the United Arab Emirates.

Rafih never took out a loan nor invested money into marketing. Rather, he focused on

word-of-mouth marketing to promote his brand. Customers were able to sample products so they

could develop a taste for the tea. Another way Rafih promoted his tea was through social media.

He believed that this was a crucial aspect of advertising because opinions had so much power

and one bad review could make or break a company. He announced openings and updates on

social media platforms and even created a contest called “Sip a Selfie” where customers could

take a picture holding their tea and use the hashtag #OneNationOneTaste for a chance to win tea

vouchers.
 Rafih’s expansion plan came to fruition through his goal of opening 100 outlets by 2020.

His primary focus was to figure out which countries had a preference for tea and then target

those areas. The countries he ended up settling on were The United Kingdom, the United States,

Canada, countries in North Africa, Asian nations and the Gulf Cooperation Council. In the table

shown in Exhibit 3, China leads the top-tea-drinking countries with 70.383 million liters of hot

tea brewed and 15.292 million liters of cold tea brewed. India and Russia came second and third

respectively for hot tea with 26.870 and 26.735 million liters. Japan and the United States had

6.279 and 5.630 million liters of cold tea. After examining the top countries, Rafih decided to use

the franchising model and he enlisted the company Francorp to help him with the process.

The Filli tea brand was built on its uniqueness and innovation. It was a cup of tea that

was unlike any other and Rafih made sure that the marketing reflected this image. This was

shown through the high quality of their cups, which were made of thick paper and had orange

and mahogany brand colors. He also paid special attention to the design of the outlets, wanting to

create an experience for tea lovers to socialize and use the product more interactively. Rafih

chose the locations for his outlets very particularly, making sure to have places with good

visibility, accessibility and convenient customer parking. He also crafted a menu with snack

items that were chosen to enhance the taste of the tea. The brand’s customer segment was

comprised of Arabs, Indians and other nationalities including South East Asians and South East

Asians. This diverse demographic helped the Filli tea brand by offering a product to those who

drank tea and those who wanted to try it.

 The tea market was always in competition with coffee and both markets were expected to

increase by 30% by 2021 and reach a worth of $242.7 million by 2019. The coffee market grew

at a faster rate than coffee, however, and grew by 9% as opposed to 7% for tea. A big contributor

to the tea and coffee demand is the growth of the tourism sector in the United Arab Emirates.

The traditional coffee culture surrounding the country and the expanding tea market lead to a

worth of between $350 and $400 million.

The next step for Rafih is to maintain customer loyalty while trying for international

expansion. It’s a question of whether he will continue to go without investing funds into

marketing or if he will change up his plan to reach a wider audience.