Title: Caribou Coffee enters the Middle East

Authors: Golam Mostafa Khan; Syed Jamal Uddin

Addresses: College of Commerce and Economics, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 20, Al Khodh 123, Sultanate of Oman. ' University of Ballarat at IIBIT, 841 George St., Sydney, NSW 2000 Australia

Abstract: This case illustrates how a small US specialty coffee company is striving to go international. It provides an opportunity to analyse and comment on the company|s international market entry strategy. Relevant information has been compiled from publicly available sources. Osiris database has been used to generate the company|s financial data. Caribou first expanded to regional US states and then entered the Middle East through franchising. Although coffee is popular in the Middle East, Caribou, a late mover, has not been able to achieve its target primarily because of stiff competition. This is perhaps the first case on a coffee company that entered the Middle East. It provides an insight into company|s leadership, strategies, organisational and cultural realities as well as franchising issues. Academics and practitioners will find this case interesting and useful.

Keywords: specialty beverages; franchising; internationalisation; Middle East; Caribou Coffee; franchises; USA; United States; market entry; entry strategies; international markets; financial data; competition; leadership; organisational realities; cultural realities; cultures; Bahrain; Kuwait; Oman; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates; UAE; Jordan; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; entrepreneurs; entrepreneurship.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2011.042762

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2011 Vol.14 No.3, pp.425 - 439

Published online: 21 Oct 2014 *

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