A Cinnabon store in the US | Photo credit: Cinnabon 

US bakery and café chain Cinnabon has entered the Iraqi market with a store Baghdad neighbourhood of Al Jadiriyah. 

The Focus Brands-owned operator joins a handful of international brands in Iraq's hospitality market, which is predominantly led by domestic independent businesses. 

US coffee chain Green Beans Coffee operates seven stores in the country, predominantly at military bases, while The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has one store in Erbil. Additionally, Italian chains Café Barbera, Caffé Vergnano and Segafredo Zanetti collectively operate eight stores, while Lebanon’s Moka & More and Turkey’s Yemen Kahvesi have two and one stores respectively.  

Food-focused chains include Jordan’s Tche Tche, Turkish brands Mado and Simit Sarayi and Malaysia’s Pappa Roti. 

World Coffee Portal research shows the total Iraqi branded coffee shop market comprises 49 outlets and is expected to reach 110 outlets by 2027. 

Global franchise group Focus Brands opened its first Cinnabon stores in Bahrain and Indonesia in 2022 and said it will bring the bakery café chain to Guyana, Singapore, Taiwan, Uzbekistan and Morocco in 2023.  

Founded in 1985, Cinnabon positions itself as the ‘market leader among cinnamon roll bakeries’. Primarily located in high footfall shopping malls, airports and train stations, the company currently has more than 1,600 franchise locations across 48 countries.