The premium chain now operates across eight Middle East markets and will seek to follow its Basra launch with stores in Baghdad, Karbala, and Erbil
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Kyan Café has a heavily iced coffee menu comprising espresso-based beverages alongside Saudi and Turkish coffee | Photo credit: Kyan Café
Saudi Arabia’s Kyan Café has debuted in Iraq with a drive-thru outlet in the port city of Basra.
The premium coffee chain, which offers an extensive iced coffee menu with espresso-based beverages alongside Saudi and Turkish coffee, is seeking to establish itself as a leading operator in the market and plans to open further stores in Baghdad, Karbala, and Erbil.
Founded in 2009, Kyan Café is the sixth largest branded coffee chain in the Middle East with over 350 stores across eight markets. Iraq is the Al Qassim-based coffee chain’s eighth market in the region and second new market launch within three months following its first store outside the Middle East in New York, US, in November 2024.
Kyan Café highlighted Iraq’s potential as a growing market for premium coffee consumption, driven by increased demand for espresso-based beverages and interest in western café concepts.
World Coffee Portal’s Project Café Middle East 2025 report shows that Iraq is the 13th largest branded coffee shop in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with 85 outlets.
The market comprises domestic chains, including market leader Ridha Alwan Coffee, Gulf State operators, including the UAE’s Shaghf Coffee and Kuwait’s Dose Cafe, as well as European brands such as Italy’s Caffè Vergnano 1882, Turkey’s Espressolab and Greece’s Mikel Coffee.
Despite continued economic instability, investment in Iraq’s travel, tourism and hospitality industries has increased over the last few years, presenting new opportunities for branded coffee shops in a country with a large population but less market competition than neighbouring Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. World Coffee Portal forecasts the total Iraqi branded coffee shop market will grow 10% over the next five years to surpass 130 outlets by the end of 2029.
Kyan Café’s Middle East presence comprises stores in Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE.