19
BUSINESS
Blending new fl avors
in an ancient cup
BY ROB CHILTON
on the expectation that I am going to
buy it. We all took a hit,” says Hassan.
With restrictions lifted, it’s busi-
ness as usual in Dubai and Hassan is
focused on growth. The company gen-
erated $4.1 million in 2021, up 25%
year on year. He is particularly proud
of Seven Fortunes’ expansion into
his home country of Egypt, where he
now has 20 outposts. And he’s eagerly
awaiting a shipment of a rare coff ee
variety from East Africa called Euge-
nioides; Seven Fortunes is one of only
10 roasteries in the world set to re-
ceive a share of the crop, which boasts
a unique sweet fl avor. “It’s a big win
for us,” Hassan says. “It’s like a high-
end diamond.”
DUBAI MAY NOT IMMEDIATELY COME TO MIND AS ONE OF
the world’s foremost coff ee capitals. But over the past fi ve
years, the local coff ee scene has developed to the point
where the city should be considered right up there with
global coff ee meccas like Melbourne, Seattle, and Port-
land, Ore., argues local entrepreneur Karim Hassan. “Dubai
is defi nitely top fi ve,” he says.
He should know. Back in 2015, Hassan founded Seven
Fortunes, which has since grown into one of the most suc-
cessful of a crop of Dubai-based small-batch coff ee roast-
eries, many of which are experimenting with bold fl avors
and novel blends. Indeed, Dubai is in the middle of an ex-
plosion in all things coff ee; registrations for local coff ee
businesses spiked nearly 150% last year, to 171 applications
compared with 69 in 2020. Seven Fortunes’ roasts, mean-
while, are now off ered at around 100 cafés, hotels, and res-
taurants around Dubai and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Coff ee has deep cultural roots in Dubai—it’s “in the blood
of the people,” says culinary expert Holly Williams-Lloyd,
founder of the Huntr, a Dubai food site. But in the past,
drinkers preferred traditional Arabic styles and big-batch
off erings from foreign chains. Hassan and others like him
found success by introducing new, often exotic and complex
blends, though his roasts weren’t an immediate hit. “People
were expecting traditional dark-chocolate fl avors, so when
they tried my coff ee that had fl avor profi les of mango, pine-
apple, and passion fruit, they freaked out,” he says. “Educa-
tion was a huge part of the business in the early days.”
Hassan started Seven Fortunes as a “side hustle” when
he was 22 and working in fi nance at HSBC; it’s a product
of his personal frustration with the boring local off erings
of the time. “I wasn’t satisfi ed with the quality of the cof-
fee that was being off ered in the market, so I started mak-
ing it myself,” he says. Before long, he was selling his blends
to area businesses—including his former employer. But
his early success came at a cost. “I was super driven, work-
ing 19-hour days,” he says. “I burned out many times and
should have had a better work-life balance.”
Still, Hassan stuck with it, learning about both beans
and bean counting as he went. “I was young when I started
the business; I didn’t have a clear vision or years of experi-
ence. I had to learn by doing,” he says. Hassan’s dedication
and coff ee obsession have made him and Seven Fortunes
“stand out in [Dubai’s] competitive coff ee market,” says
local food critic Laura Coughlin.
AS IT DID with almost every business in the world, the
COVID-19 pandemic took a big toll on Seven Fortunes be-
ginning in March 2020, aff ecting every part of its supply
chain. “Some of the farmers are small producers who we
order from a year in advance. They grow their crop based
△
Karim Hassan of
Seven Fortunes
Coff ee Roasters in
Dubai on Feb. 17
NATALIE NACCACHE FOR TIME
