Kenya's growing middle class force popular restaurant to open two new outlets

david nganga

June 27, 2017 12:30 PM

The giant coffee house has now expanded its outlets to two popular towns outside Nairobi.

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With the growing Kenyan middle class population, comes a taste for the fine things in life.

And one of these things certainly has to be food and drinks of which Java House comes to the fore in serving such interests to the upcoming middle class.

The popular restaurant chain has now sought to quench the preferences of this growing class in the vast Rift Valley region.

The giant coffee house announced that it will in the next two months open two new branches in Eldoret and Kericho, marking its entry into the two vibrant Rift Valley towns.

The restaurant’s new outlets are part of its growth plans targeting counties outside Nairobi.

The chain at the moment has branches in Nanyuki, Kisumu, Naivasha and Nakuru with plans to open more in Thika and Athi River.

“This year we have so far managed to open five branches and our expansion plans have seen us expand to new cities outside of Kenya,” said Java House chief executive Ken Kuguru.

Java also has four branches across Kenya’s borders namely in Kampala, Jinja, Kigali and Entebbe.

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The expansion of the coffee house has been mainly attributed to the funds injected to the restaurant chain following the acquisition of a majority stake by American private equity firm Emerging Capital Partners in 2012.

The capital injection has spurred Java’s growth and enabled it open additional branches in various part of Nairobi including one along Mama Ngina Street, another at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Wilson Airport, ReInsurance Plaza previously occupied by Walker’s and at Embassy House, just off Harambee Avenue.

The growth plan also involves opening additional branches of the sister brands, Planet Yogurt and 360 Degrees Pizza. The restaurant chain targets to open at least one 360 degrees pizza yearly and Planet Yogurt.

david nganga