Australia’s The Coffee Club partners with Luqman Petroleum for 2025 Kenya debut

A Luqman Petroleum petrol station in Nairobi, Kenya | Photo credit: Luqman Petroleum

Australian café group The Coffee Club is set to debut in Kenya in the first quarter of 2025 after signing a franchise deal with Nairobi-based petrol retailer Luqman Petroleum. 
 

The two organisations will invest KES 646m ($5m) to tap into ‘growing café culture in Kenya’, with an initial focus on the Kenyan capital. The first store of the partnership will open at Luqman Petroleum’s petrol station site in Lavington, Nairobi. 

In a press release, Luqman Petroleum said rapid urbanisation and a growing middle class with rising disposable income levels presents ‘huge opportunities’ for international food and beverage brands in East Africa.  

Luqman Petroleum also plans to launch The Coffee Club in neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda as part of the Australian chain’s planned expansion across the African continent.  

“We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Luqman Petroleum as we bring The Coffee Club to East Africa. This marks a significant milestone in The Coffee Club’s expansion journey, and we couldn’t envision a better partner to lead the way in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda,” said Charl Badenhorst, CEO, The Coffee Club. 
 

The Coffee Club opened its first store in Brisbane in 1989 and is has been owned by Australian retail food franchisor MinorDKL, a subsidiary of Bangkok-based hospitality group Minor International, since 2007. 

The coffee chain currently operates 229 stores across Australia and a further 170 across 13 international markets, including China, Indonesia, the Maldives, Qatar and the UAE. 

Established in 2008, Luqman Petroleum operates 14 petrol stations in Kenya and has petrol distribution networks across Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).