Ajman: The latest outlet of Blends & Brews Coffee Shoppe, the UAE-born chain of international coffee shops owned by Thumbay Group, was inaugurated at the Department of Land & Real Estate Regulation, Al Jurf, Ajman on Monday (18th June). The outlet also had the privilege of welcoming H.E. Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Nasser Al Nuaimi, Director of the Office of H.H. Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Humaid Al Nuaimi andH.E. Yafea AlFaraj, General Director of the Department of Land & Real Estate Regulation, in the presence of Mr. Farhad. C – Director of Thumbay Group’s Hospitality Division, at the inaugural function.

Introducing the new technology that lets customers get their photos printed on their lattes and cappuccinos, Blends & Brews marked the ‘Year of Zayed’ by printing the photograph of the late His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Founding Father of the UAE, in the first coffee made at the inaugural function.

Welcoming Blends & Brews to the Department of Land & Real Estate Regulation, H.E. Yafea Al Faraj said, “We are happy to have Blends & Brews Coffee Shoppe here, to serve the employees and visitors at the department. The outlet has an impressive design and good taste.”

A fast-growing chain of coffee shops with ambitious global expansion plans, Blends & Brews operates multiple coffee shops in the UAE, in addition to an outlet in Hyderabad – India. The growing popularity of the brand has ensured its presence in major shopping malls, offices, universities, government offices, hospitals, health clubs, etc. and the numbers are growing. It has a drive-thru outlet in Ajman, as well as ELITE outlets catering to upmarket customers.

Riding high-on its reputation built over the years, Blends & Brews is pursuing an ambitious expansion plan in the Middle East region, Africa and India, in line with Thumbay Group’s strategic plans. “The strategic plan of Thumbay Group includes the addition of 100 Blends & Brews outlets by 2022, and extend franchise offers to partners in countries including India and the MENA region,” said Dr. Thumbay Moideen, Founder President of Thumbay Group, adding, “We are confident that our UAE-born brand will find acceptance the world over.”

In addition to hot and cold beverages including its signature blends, Blends & Brews also has a short-eats menu designed in accordance with the local palate, to ensure quick service to customers without having them wait. Blends & Brews also has its own range of sugar-free delicacies including drinks, cookies and cakes. The stores are designed as attractive open spaces and the interiors are coffee-themed, based on the concept of modernity. The Baristas are professionals who are keen on giving customers a taste of the brand’s values, besides great coffee.

Commenting on the new coffee shop, Mr. Farhad C, Director of the Hospitality Division of Thumbay Group said, “Like all our other outlets, the new Blends & Brews coffee shoptoo endeavors to provide the best and most satisfying coffee experience to customers. As the brand is growing, our priority is to maintain quality and consistency. We are in the process of innovating new beverages and food menus in line with the trends of the seasons. Moreover, we are focusing on staff quality and retention as well as increased efficiency and profitability.”

About Thumbay Group

Established by the Founder President Dr. Thumbay Moideen in 1998, today Thumbay Group is a diversified international business conglomerate headquartered in Dubai, with presence across 20 sectors of business including Education, Healthcare, Medical Research, Diagnostics, Retail Pharmacy, Health Communications, Retail Opticals, Wellness, Nutrition Stores, Hospitality, Real Estate, Publishing, Technology, Media, Events, Medical Tourism, Trading and Marketing & Distribution. Thumbay Group follows a strategic plan, according to which the Group aims to expand its businesses over ten times, with global presence. The strategic vision plan aims to increase the employee strength to 25,000 by the year 2022.

Hospitality Division

The Hospitality Division of Thumbay Group operates three different brands: The Terrace Restaurant, Blends & Brews Coffee Shoppe, and Body & Soul Health Club & Spa. The Terrace Restaurant is a multi-cuisine restaurant chain operating multiple outlets across Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman and Fujairah. Blends & Brews Coffee Shoppe has outlets in Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Hyderabad (India). Body & Soul Health Club & Spa operates five clubs in the UAE, including ‘ELITE’ and ‘LADIES ONLY’ facilities, offering extensive sports, recreation, fitness, health, social and youth programs, with the sixth club slated to open in Fujairah shortly.

 

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Patna (PTI): Bihar inched towards a political transition on Sunday with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar convening a meeting of his cabinet on April 14, following which the JD(U) president is likely to relinquish the post to make way for a BJP-led government.

According to a notification issued by the cabinet secretariat department, the meeting will take place at 11 am, after which the longest-serving CM of the state, who got elected to the Rajya Sabha last week, was expected to submit his resignation to Governor Syed Ata Hasnain.

Earlier, Kumar's close aide and JD(U) national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha had told reporters that the process of formation of a new government was likely to "roll out after April 13".

Meanwhile, the BJP, which has been approaching the prospect of having its first- ever chief minister in the state with considerable restraint, got down to business and named Shivraj Singh Chouhan as a "central observer", who would oversee the change of guard.

A statement issued by the BJP headquarters in Delhi said the parliamentary board has appointed Chouhan, a Union minister and a multiple-term former CM of Madhya Pradesh, as “central observer for electing the leader of legislature party in Bihar”.

Senior JD(U) leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, had said here earlier in the day "the new chief minister will be elected by the NDA, upon the recommendation of the BJP, which has a big role to play".

Speculations are doing the rounds that Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, who holds the crucial Home portfolio in the outgoing government, is the frontrunner among contenders for the top job.

BJP leaders in the state, who have been making frantic visits to Delhi in the recent past, are keeping their cards close to the chest.

"Who will be the next CM is a decision to be taken by our central leadership," minister Dilip Jaiswal, who is a former state BJP president, had said a day ago, adding, "I am not at all in the race".

Other than Choudhary, who had joined the BJP less than a decade ago, those whose names are doing the rounds include Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai and state ministers Lakhendra Paswan and Shreyasi Singh.

According to BJP sources, all these leaders fit the bill in different ways. Choudhary is a ‘Koeri’, and his elevation could ensure that the ‘Luv Kush’ (Kurmi Koeri) equation nurtured by Kumar during his 20-year-rule remained intact in favour of the NDA, after the JD(U) supremo's departure.

Rai is a Yadav and brings the promise of support of the largest caste group in Bihar, which has been with Lalu Prasad's RJD, the BJP's principal rival in the state, for decades.

Paswan is a Dalit and his elevation could help the BJP transcend its "pro-upper caste" image, which brings its own disadvantages in the Hindi heartland, where the Mandal agitation of the 1990s has cast a long shadow, the sources said.

Singh, in her 30s, is an upper caste Rajput, but her elevation could be projected as the party giving preference to young blood.

Moreover, the party has also been trying to present itself as a champion of gender equality, by pushing through the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ that ensures 33 per cent reservation to women in both Houses of Parliament.

However, the BJP sources admitted that there was a strong possibility of the central leadership springing a "surprise", citing examples of many states ruled by the party, where less fancied leaders have landed the top job in the recent past.

Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, a Trinamool Congress MP who spent nearly three decades in the BJP, had said, while commenting on the political situation in Bihar that "we have plenty of deserving people here but we must be beware of a baba who may arrive with a parchi".

The allusion was to Rajasthan, where Bhajan Lal Sharma was named the chief minister two years ago at a legislature party meeting, where Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was seen on camera taking out a piece of paper with the name of the first-term MLA written on it.